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William, count of Holland

(Encyclopedia)William, count of Holland, 1227?–1256, German king (1254–56), previously rival king (1247–54) to Conrad IV. William was chosen by Pope Innocent IV to succeed Henry Raspe (d. 1247) as antiking to...

Lyons, Second Council of

(Encyclopedia)Lyons, Second Council of, 1274, 14th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It was summoned by Pope Gregory X to discuss problems in the Holy Land, to remove the schism of East and West, and...

Montfort, Simon de

(Encyclopedia)Montfort, Simon de mŏntˈfərt, Fr. môNfôrˈ [key], c.1160–1218, count of Montfort and earl of Leicester. A participant in the Fourth Crusade (1202–4), he did not join in the sack of Constantin...

Roches, Peter des

(Encyclopedia)Roches, Peter des dā rōsh [key], d. 1238, English churchman and statesman, b. Poitou. A chamberlain under Richard I of England, then entered the service of King John, who gave him rich estates and m...

Sixtus V

(Encyclopedia)Sixtus V, 1521–90, pope (1585–90), an Italian (b. near Montalto) named Felice Peretti; successor of Gregory XIII. He entered the Franciscan order in early youth. After ordination (1547) he became ...

Louis IV, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Louis IV or Louis the Bavarian, 1287?–1347, Holy Roman emperor (1328–47) and German king (1314–47), duke of Upper Bavaria. After the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII the Luxemburg party amo...

Inquisition

(Encyclopedia)Inquisition ĭnˌkwĭzĭshˈən [key], tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church established for the investigation of heresy. The Spanish Inquisition was independent of the medieval Inquisition. It was...

Borgia, Cesare

(Encyclopedia)Borgia, Cesare or Caesar bōrˈjä [key], 1476–1507, Italian soldier and politician, younger son of Pope Alexander VI and an outstanding figure of the Italian Renaissance. Throughout his pontificat...

Albigenses

(Encyclopedia)Albigenses ălbĭjĕnˈsēz [key] [Lat.,=people of Albi, one of their centers], religious sect of S France in the Middle Ages. In 1208 the papal legate, a Cistercian, Peter de Castelnau, was murdere...

Papal States

(Encyclopedia)Papal States, Ital. Lo Stato della Chiesa, from 754 to 1870 an independent territory under the temporal rule of the popes, also called the States of the Church and the Pontifical States. The territory...