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Rulers of France since 987 (table)

(Encyclopedia)Rulers of France since 987(including dates of reign) The Capetians House of Valois House of Bourbon The First Republic The First Empire Bourbon Restoration House of Bourbon-Orléans T...

Brest, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Brest brĕst [key], city, Finistère dept., NW France, on an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

Charles IX, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Charles IX, 1550–74, king of France. He succeeded (1560) his brother Francis II under the regency of his mother, Catherine de' Medici. She retained her influence throughout his reign. After 1570, ho...

Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de dük də väNdōmˈ [key], 1654–1712, marshal of France; grandson of César de Vendôme and son of Laura Mancini. He fought in the War of the Grand Alliance. In the W...

Le Vau, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Le Vau, Louis lwē lə vō [key], 1612–70, French architect, involved in most of the important building projects for Louis XIV. He settled on the Île Saint-Louis, where he built his own house and t...

Benedict XIV

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XIV, 1675–1758, pope (1740–58), an Italian (b. Bologna) named Prospero Lambertini; successor of Clement XII. Long before his pontificate he was renowned for his learning and wrote a class...

Verdun, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Verdun vĕrdŭnˈ, Fr. vĕrdöNˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 23,427), Meuse dept., NE France, in Lorraine, on the Meuse River. A strategic transportation center, Verdun has varied industries and is situat...

Ryswick, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Ryswick, Treaty of, 1697, the pact that ended the War of the Grand Alliance. Its signers were France on one side and England, Spain, and the Netherlands on the other. It was a setback for Louis XIV, w...

Louis Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Louis Philippe lwē fēlēpˈ [key], 1773–1850, king of the French (1830–48), known before his accession as Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans. The son of Philippe Égalité (see Orléans, Louis Phili...

Berwick, James FitzJames, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Berwick, James FitzJames, duke of bĕrˈĭk [key], 1670–1734, marshal of France; illegitimate son of King James II of England and Arabella Churchill, sister of the duke of Marlborough. Born and educ...