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Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

Lawes, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Lawes, Henry lôz [key], 1596–1662, English composer. Both he and his brother William were prominent musician-composers, and Henry served the royal family in various capacities until the civil war. ...

Shrapnel, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Shrapnel, Henry shrăpˈnəl [key], 1761–1842, British general, inventor of the shrapnel shell. The shell, consisting of a steel case filled with bullets and an explosive charge, is fired in midair ...

Confederation of the Rhine

(Encyclopedia)Confederation of the Rhine, league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria a...

William II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)William II (William the Good), c.1153–1189, king of Sicily (1166–89), son and successor of William I. He married (1177) Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. As an ally of Pope Alexander III and ...

Welser

(Encyclopedia)Welser vĕlˈzər [key], German family of wealthy merchants and bankers at Augsburg. It reached the height of its prosperity under Bartholomäus Welser, 1488–1561, who had advanced large sums to Hol...

Miller, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Henry, 1891–1980, American author, b. New York City. Miller sought to reestablish the freedom to live without the conventional restraints of civilization. His books are potpourris of sexual ...

Lombard League

(Encyclopedia)Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...

William, count of Holland

(Encyclopedia)William, count of Holland, 1227?–1256, German king (1254–56), previously rival king (1247–54) to Conrad IV. William was chosen by Pope Innocent IV to succeed Henry Raspe (d. 1247) as antiking to...

Lymington and Pennington

(Encyclopedia)Lymington and Pennington lĭmˈĭngtən [key], town (1991 pop. 11,614), Hampshire, S England, on the Solent channel at the mouth of the Lymington River. It is a market town, resort, and port; coast tr...