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Joseph I

(Encyclopedia)Joseph I, 1678–1711, Holy Roman emperor (1705–11), king of Hungary (1687–1711) and of Bohemia (1705–11), son and successor of Leopold I. Joseph became Holy Roman emperor in the midst of the Wa...

Walewska, Countess Maria

(Encyclopedia)Walewska, Countess Maria märēˈä välĕfˈskä [key], 1789–1817, Polish noblewoman. She became (1807) the mistress of Emperor Napoleon I and bore (1810) him a son, Alexandre Walewski. ...

Merian, Maria Sibylla

(Encyclopedia)Merian, Maria Sibylla märēˈä zĭbüˈlä māˈrēän [key], 1647–1717, German naturalist, entomologist, and painter of insects and flowers, b. Frankfurt; daughter of Matthäus Merian, the elder....

Narváez, Ramón María

(Encyclopedia)Narváez, Ramón María närväˈĕth [key], 1800–1868, Spanish general and statesman. He distinguished himself fighting for Isabella II against the Carlists (1834–39). When Espartero rose to pow...

Montessori, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Montessori, Maria märēˈä mōntās-sôˈrē [key], 1870–1952, Italian educator and physician. She was the originator of the Montessori method of education for young children and was the first wom...

Edgeworth, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Edgeworth, Maria, 1767–1849, Irish novelist; daughter of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. She lived practically her entire life on her father's estate in Ireland. Letters for Literary Ladies (1795), her fi...

María de Molina

(Encyclopedia)María de Molina dā mōlēˈnä [key], d. 1321, queen of Castile, consort of Sancho IV. As regent (1295–1301) for her son, Ferdinand IV, she defended his throne against several pretenders, who were...

Taglioni, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Taglioni, Maria, 1804–84, Italian ballerina, b. Stockholm. Taglioni is considered the first and foremost ballerina of the romantic period. She made her debut in Vienna in 1822 in a ballet created fo...

Grimaldi, Francesco Maria

(Encyclopedia)Grimaldi, Francesco Maria fränchāsˈkō märēˈä grēmälˈdē [key], 1618?–1663, Italian physicist and mathematician. A Jesuit and professor at Bologna, he studied in detail and named the dark ...

Halifax, urban area, England

(Encyclopedia)Halifax, urban area, Calderdale metropolitan district, central England, on the Hebble, a small tributary of the Calder River. Halifax is an industrial t...