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Field of the Cloth of Gold

(Encyclopedia)Field of the Cloth of Gold, locality between Guines and Ardres, not far from Calais, in France, where in 1520 Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France met for the purpose of arranging an alliance...

Florida, Straits of

(Encyclopedia)Florida, Straits of, passage, c.90 mi (145 km) wide, between the Florida Keys in the north and Cuba in the south. It connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Frederick II, 1194–1250, Holy Roman emperor (1220–50) and German king (1212–20), king of Sicily (1197–1250), and king of Jerusalem (1229–50), son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and of Consta...

Vischer, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Vischer, Peter fĭshˈər [key], the elder, c.1455–1529, German sculptor, foremost of the bronze founders in Germany. Beginning as the assistant of his father, Hermann Vischer, Peter set up his own...

Scheidemann, Philipp

(Encyclopedia)Scheidemann, Philipp fēˈlĭp shīˈdəmän [key], 1865–1939, German Social Democratic leader. A member of the Reichstag from 1898, he became (1918) secretary of state without portfolio in the cabi...

Henry II, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry II, 973–1024, Holy Roman emperor (1014–24) and German king (1002–24), last of the Saxon line. He succeeded his father as duke of Bavaria. When Otto III died without an heir, Henry, who was...

John of Brienne

(Encyclopedia)John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...

Díaz, Porfirio

(Encyclopedia)Díaz, Porfirio pôrfēˈryō dēˈäs [key], 1830–1915, Mexican statesman, a mestizo, christened José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz. He gained prominence by supporting Benito Juárez and the liberals ...

Otto of Freising

(Encyclopedia)Otto of Freising frīˈzĭng [key], b. after 1111, d. 1158, German chronicler, bishop of Freising. He was a son of Leopold III of Austria, a half-brother of Emperor Conrad III, and an uncle of Emperor...

Philip of Swabia

(Encyclopedia)Philip of Swabia swāˈbēə [key], 1176?–1208, German king (1198–1208), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. After the death (1197) of his brother, German King and Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, ...