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Amberg

(Encyclopedia)Amberg ämˈbĕrk [key], city, Bavaria, S central Germany, on the Vils River. The large iron mines have been worked since the Middle Ages. Until 1810, Amberg was capital o...

Hérault de Séchelles, Marie Jean

(Encyclopedia)Hérault de Séchelles, Marie Jean märēˈ zhäN ārōˈ də sāshĕlˈ [key], 1759–94, French revolutionary. A lawyer, he became a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette, but nevertheless joined the r...

Cinq Mars, Henri Coëffier Ruzé d'Effiat, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Cinq Mars, Henri Coëffier Ruzé d'Effiat, marquis de äNrēˈ kōĕfyāˈ rüzāˈ dĕfyäˈ märkēˈ də săNmärˈ [key], 1620–42, French conspirator. Introduced at court by Cardinal Richelieu a...

La Fontaine, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...

Dunois, Jean, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Dunois, Jean, comte de zhäN kôNt də dünwäˈ [key], c.1403–1468, French general, called the Bastard of Orléans; natural son of Louis, duc d'Orléans. He joined the Armagnacs in the civil war du...

Collot d'Herbois, Jean Marie

(Encyclopedia)Collot d'Herbois, Jean Marie zhäN märēˈ kōlōˈ dĕrbwäˈ [key], 1750–96, French revolutionary, originally an actor and playwright. Although a member of his Jacobin club, he favored a constitu...

Cambacérès, Jean Jacques Régis de

(Encyclopedia)Cambacérès, Jean Jacques Régis de zhäN zhäk rāzhēsˈ də käNbäsārĕsˈ [key], 1753–1824, French revolutionary and legislator. He was deputy to the National Convention and to the Council of...

overture

(Encyclopedia)overture, instrumental musical composition written as an introduction to an opera, ballet, oratorio, musical, or play. The earliest Italian opera overtures were simply pieces of orchestral music and w...

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