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Aymer of Valence

(Encyclopedia)Aymer of Valence āˈmər, vəlĕnsˈ, väläNsˈ [key], d. 1260, bishop of Winchester; son of Isabella (widow of King John of England) and Hugh X, count of La Marche. He was thus half-brother of King...

Villafranca di Verona

(Encyclopedia)Villafranca di Verona vēlˌläfrängˈkä dē vārôˈnä [key], town (1991 pop. 27,036), Venetia, NE Italy. In 1859, Napoleon III and Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria met there after the Austrian d...

John, king of England

(Encyclopedia)John, 1167–1216, king of England (1199–1216), son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. John, though often cruel and treacherous, was an excellent administrator, much concerned with rendering...

Manuel I, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Manuel I (Manuel Comnenus) kŏmnēˈnəs [key], c.1120–1180, Byzantine emperor (1143–80), son and successor of John II. He began his reign with a war against the Seljuk Turks, the subjugation of R...

Pius IV

(Encyclopedia)Pius IV, 1499–1565, pope (1559–65), a Milanese named Giovanni Angelo de' Medici; successor of Paul IV. He was probably not related to the great Medici family. His career in Rome began in 1527, and...

Vatican Council, Second

(Encyclopedia)Vatican Council, Second, popularly called Vatican II, 1962–65, the 21st ecumenical council (see council, ecumenical) of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by Pope John XXIII and continued under Pau...

Georgian architecture

(Encyclopedia)Georgian architecture. It includes several trends in English architecture that were predominant during the reigns (1714–1830) of George I, George II, George III, and George IV. The first half of the...

Normans

(Encyclopedia)Normans, designation for the Northmen, or Norsemen, who conquered Normandy in the 10th cent. and adopted Christianity and the customs and language of France. Abandoning piracy and raiding, they adopte...

Dodge, Mary Mapes

(Encyclopedia)Dodge, Mary Mapes, 1831–1905, American writer of children's stories, b. New York City. During her lifetime she was the acknowledged leader in the field of juvenile fiction. Her story Hans Brinker; o...

papacy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 papacy pāˈpəsē [key], office of the pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is pope by reason of being bishop of Rome and thus, according to Roman Catholic belief, successor in the see ...