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Clootz, Anacharsis

(Encyclopedia)Clootz or Cloots, Anacharsis änäkärsēsˈ klōts [key], 1755–94, French revolutionary, self-styled Orator of the Human Race. Born near Cleves and a member of the lesser German nobility, his given...

École des Beaux-Arts

(Encyclopedia)École des Beaux-Arts ākôlˈ dā bōzärˈ [key][Fr.,=school of fine arts], French national school of fine arts, on the Quai Malaquais, Paris, founded in 1648 by Charles Le Brun with the consent of ...

farming, in taxation

(Encyclopedia)farming, in the history of taxation, collection of taxes through private contractors. Usually, the tax farmer paid a lump sum to the public treasury; the difference between that sum and the sum actual...

Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la

(Encyclopedia)Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la pyĕr gōtyāˈ də värĕnˈ syör də lä vāräNdrēˈ [key], 1685–1749, explorer in W Canada and the United States, b. Trois Rivières (Three...

East India Company, French

(Encyclopedia)East India Company, French, 1664–1769, commercial enterprise planned by Jean Baptiste Colbert and chartered by King Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. It failed to found...

Bibliothèque nationale

(Encyclopedia)Bibliothèque nationale bēblēōtĕkˈ näsyônälˈ [key], national library of France, in Paris, a government archive, and one of the foremost libraries of the world. It originated with the collecti...

Louvois, François Michel Le Tellier, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Louvois, François Michel Le Tellier, marquis de fräNswäˈ mēshĕlˈ lə tĕlyāˈ märkēˈ də lo͞ovwäˈ [key], 1641–91, French statesman, minister during the reign of King Louis XIV. After 1...

Notre-Dame de Paris

(Encyclopedia)Notre-Dame de Paris nôˈtrə-däm də pärēˈ [key] [Fr.,=Our Lady of Paris], cathedral church of Paris, a noble achievement of early Gothic architecture in France. It stands upon the Île de la Cit...

Reims

(Encyclopedia)Reims or Rheims răNs, rēmz [key], city (1990 pop. 185,164), Marne dept., NE France, in Champagne. The center of the champagne industry, Reims is situated amid large vineyards. Before the champagne i...

Iberville, Pierre le Moyne, sieur d'

(Encyclopedia)Iberville, Pierre le Moyne, sieur d' pyĕr lə mwän syör dēbĕrvēlˈ [key], 1661–1706, French Canadian naval officer, founder of the French territory of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (in present Mon...