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Guarino da Verona

(Encyclopedia)Guarino da Verona gwärēˈnō dä vārôˈnä [key], 1374?–1460, Italian humanist, considered the greatest teacher of his time. Associated with several universities, he translated various Greek and...

Cavalieri, Francesco Bonaventura

(Encyclopedia)Cavalieri, Francesco Bonaventura fränchāsˈkō bōnävānto͞oˈrä kävälyāˈrē [key], 1598–1647, Italian mathematician, a Jesuit priest. Professor at Bologna from 1629, he invented the method...

Margaret of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Valois välwäˈ [key], 1553–1615, queen of France and Navarre, daughter of King Henry II of France and of Catherine de' Medici. She was known as Queen Margot. Her wedding (1572) with He...

flagellants

(Encyclopedia)flagellants flăjˈələnts, fləjĕlˈənts [key], term applied to the groups of Christians who practiced public flagellation as a penance. The practice supposedly grew out of the floggings administe...

Francis I, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Francis I, 1708–65, Holy Roman emperor (1745–65), duke of Lorraine (1729–37) as Francis Stephen, grand duke of Tuscany (1737–65), husband of Archduchess Maria Theresa. He succeeded his father ...

Petrarch

(Encyclopedia)Petrarch fränchĕsˈkō pāträrˈkä [key], 1304–74, Italian poet and humanist, one of the great figures of Italian literature. He spent his youth in Tuscany and Avignon and at Bologna. He returne...

ivy

(Encyclopedia)ivy, name applied loosely to any trailing or climbing plant, particularly cultivated forms, but more popularly a designation for Hedera helix, the so-called English ivy, and some related species of th...

Busto Arsizio

(Encyclopedia)Busto Arsizio bo͞oˈstō ärsēˈtsyō [key], city, Lombardy, N Italy. It is a leadi...

Lugano

(Encyclopedia)Lugano chārāˈzyō [key], narrow and irregular in shape (c.20 sq mi/50 sq km), which lies between Switzerland and Italy. ...

Mont Blanc

(Encyclopedia)Mont Blanc môN bläN [key], Alpine massif, on the French-Italian border, SE of Geneva. One of its several peaks, also called Mont Blanc (15,771 ft/4,807 m), is the highest peak in France and the seco...