Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Noailles, Louis Marie Antoine, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Noailles, Louis Marie Antoine, vicomte de də nōīˈyə [key], 1756–1804, French general and statesman. During the American Revolution he fought with the marquis de Lafayette at Yorktown. As a mem...

Riesener, Jean Henri

(Encyclopedia)Riesener, Jean Henri zhäN äNrēˈ rēzənĕrˈ [key], 1734–1806, French cabinetmaker, one of the major artists who made important contributions to the formation of the Louis XVI style in France. B...

Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse

(Encyclopedia)Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse zhän bāküˈ kôNtĕsˈ dü bärēˈ, do͞obărˈē [key], 1743–93, mistress of King Louis XV of France. A courtesan of illegitimate birth, she was the mistress of...

Louis VIII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VIII, 1187–1226, king of France (1223–26), son and successor of King Philip II. He fought (1215, 1219) against the Albigenses in S France. Invited by English lords in rebellion against their...

Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de

(Encyclopedia)Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de pyĕr lwē môrōˈ də mōpĕrtüēˈ [key], 1698–1759, French mathematician and astronomer. For his skillful support of Newton's theory he was admitted to the Ro...

Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Lemoyne, Jean Baptiste ləmwänˈ [key], 1704–78, French sculptor. Much of his work, including three equestrian statues of Louis XV, was destroyed in the French Revolution. His picturesque portrait...

Chemin des Dames

(Encyclopedia)Chemin des Dames shəmăNˈ dā däm [key] [Fr.,=ladies' road], road running along a crest between the Aisne and Ailette rivers, N France. Built during Roman times, the road was the site of the battle...

Falconet, Étienne Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Falconet, Étienne Maurice ātyĕnˈ môrēsˈ fälkōnāˈ [key], 1716–91, French sculptor; pupil of Lemoyne. Under Louis XV he became director of sculpture at the Sèvres porcelain factory, where ...

Fleury, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Fleury, Claude flörēˈ [key], 1640–1723?, French ecclesiastical historian, a Roman Catholic priest, confessor to Louis XV, and author of the learned and unbiased Histoire ecclésiastique. This gr...

Orléans, Louis Philippe Joseph, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Orléans, Louis Philippe Joseph, duc d' āgälētāˈ [key], 1747–93, French revolutionist; great-grandson of Philippe II, duc d'Orléans (see Orléans, family) and great-great-great-grandson of Kin...