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Peter II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Peter II, 1648–1706, king of Portugal (1683–1706), younger son of John IV; brother and successor of Alfonso VI. In 1667, he seized power from his incompetent brother and ruled the country as princ...

Nattier, Jean-Marc

(Encyclopedia)Nattier, Jean-Marc zhäN-märk nätyāˈ [key], 1685–1766, French painter; son of the painter Marc Nattier and the miniaturist Marie Courtois. His early works include historical and mythological pai...

False Decretals

(Encyclopedia)False Decretals dĭkrēˈtəlz [key], collection of documents, partly spurious, treating of canon law. It was composed between 847 and 852 probably in France, either at Reims or in the province of Tou...

Isabey, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Isabey, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ ēzäbāˈ [key], 1767–1855, French portrait painter and miniaturist. He was a pupil of J. L. David and was greatly influenced by Fragonard. His portraits are ...

Régnier, Henri de

(Encyclopedia)Régnier, Henri de äNrēˈ də rānyāˈ [key], 1864–1936, French poet, one of the young symbolists of the circle of Mallarmé. His early Poèmes anciens et romanesques (1891) showed skill in free ...

Bassompierre, François, baron de

(Encyclopedia)Bassompierre, François, baron de fräNswäˈ bärôNˈ də bäsôNpyĕrˈ [key], 1579–1646, marshal of France. Under King Henry IV he distinguished himself in the army and as a courtier, and after ...

Talma, François Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Talma, François Joseph fräNswäˈ zhôzĕfˈ tälmäˈ [key], 1763–1826, French actor. The greatest tragedian of his time, he broke with tradition and foreshadowed the romanticists. He continued L...

Stendal

(Encyclopedia)Stendal shtĕnˈdäl [key], city (1994 pop. 47,252), Saxony-Anhalt, N central Germany, on the Uchte River. It is a major rail junction and has sugar refineries, metalworks, food canneries, and chemica...

Poison Affair

(Encyclopedia)Poison Affair, in French history, scandal implicating a number of prominent persons at the court of King Louis XIV. It began with the trial of Marie Madeleine d'Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers (c.163...

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