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Huguenots

(Encyclopedia)Huguenots hyo͞oˈgənŏts [key], French Protestants, followers of John Calvin. The term is derived from the German Eidgenossen, meaning sworn companions or confederates. In the reign of King Louis ...

dragonnades

(Encyclopedia)dragonnades or dragonades both: drăgənādzˈ [key], name given to a form of persecution of French Protestants, or Huguenots, before and after the revocation (1685) of the Edict of Nantes (see Nantes...

Alès

(Encyclopedia)Alès älāˈ, älĕsˈ [key], city, Gard dept., S France, in Languedoc, at the foot of the Cévennes Mts., on the Gardon River. Once noted for cloth and silk, its industr...

Saint-Lô

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Lô săN-lō [key], town (1990 pop. 22,819), capital of Manche dept., NW France, in Normandy. It is an agricultural center and has famous horse stables. Wood products, plaster, and clothing are ...

Niort

(Encyclopedia)Niort nyôr [key], city (1990 pop. 58,660), capital of Deux-Sèvres dept., W France, in Poitou. An old agricultural marketplace, it now has plywood, chemical, metallurgy, clothing, tobacco, and printi...

Francis II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Francis II, 1544–60, king of France (1559–60), son of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. He married (1558) Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart), and during his brief reign the government was in ...

Bassompierre, François, baron de

(Encyclopedia)Bassompierre, François, baron de fräNswäˈ bärôNˈ də bäsôNpyĕrˈ [key], 1579–1646, marshal of France. Under King Henry IV he distinguished himself in the army and as a courtier, and after ...

Montauban

(Encyclopedia)Montauban môNtōbäNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 52,278), capital of Tarn-et-Garonne dept., S France, on the Tarn River. It is a commercial and industrial center where aeronautic and electrical equipmen...

Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly

(Encyclopedia)Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly fēlēpˈ də môrnāˈ sānyörˈ dü plĕsēˈ-märlēˈ [key], 1549–1623, diplomat and publicist for the French Protestants, or Huguenots, during th...

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