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Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of därˈbē [key], 1435?–1504, English nobleman. During the Wars of the Roses, Stanley was ostensibly a supporter of the Lancastrian Henry VI, but he had Yorkist sym...

Celestine V, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Celestine V, Saint, 1215–96, pope (elected July 5, resigned Dec. 13, 1294), an Italian (b. Isernia) named Pietro del Murrone; successor of Nicholas IV. Celestine's election ended a two-year deadlock...

Tommaso da Modena

(Encyclopedia)Tommaso da Modena, c.14th–15th cent., Italian painter. He painted 40 panels for a Dominican chapter house (San Nicolo, Treviso) that depicted monks engaged in reading, writing, and prayer. On a comm...

Rafa

(Encyclopedia)Rafa or Rafah both: räˈfä [key], town in the present Gaza Strip on the Egyptian border. The ancient name was Raphia. There in 217 b.c., Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus III. ...

Langdon, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Langdon, Harry, 1884–1944, American silent film comedian and director, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa. He repeatedly ran away from home to join traveling shows and circuses as a youngster, and later develo...

Gadshill

(Encyclopedia)Gadshill gădzˈhĭl [key], low hill, Kent, SE England, near Rochester. In Shakespeare's Henry IV it was the scene of Falstaff's robberies. Charles Dickens lived there, at Gadshill Place, from 1856 un...

Apollonius

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius ăpˌəlōˈnēəs [key], in the books of the Maccabees. 1 Governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia for Seleucus IV. He oppressed the Jews and was killed by Judas Maccabaeus. 2 Governor of Coe...

Alexander Balas

(Encyclopedia)Alexander Balas bāˈləs [key], d. 145 b.c., ruler of Syria, putative son of Antiochus IV. He seized power from his uncle Demetrius I (c.152 b.c.); Jonathan the Maccabee supported him. He died in bat...

Sorø

(Encyclopedia)Sorø sôˈrö [key], town (1992 pop. 6,454), Vestsjælland co., E Denmark. It is a cultural and resort center. There is an academy founded by Christian IV in 1623 and other educational institutions e...

Monts, Pierre du Gua, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Monts, Pierre du Gua, sieur de pyĕr dü gwä syör də môN [key], c.1560–c.1630, French colonizer in North America. A wealthy Huguenot and a favorite of Henry IV, he was the holder of a trade mono...