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Peterborough, Charles Mordaunt, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Peterborough, Charles Mordaunt, 3d earl of, 1658–1735, English general and diplomat. He supported the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and William III made him a privy councillor, first lord of the trea...

Ahmed I

(Encyclopedia)Ahmed I äˈmĕd [key], 1589–1617, Ottoman sultan (1603–17), son and successor of Muhammad III to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. The chief event of his reign was the Treaty of Zsitvatorok (1606...

Alexius III

(Encyclopedia)Alexius III (Alexius Angelus) ănˈjələs [key], d. after 1210, Byzantine emperor (1195–1203). He acceded to power by deposing and blinding his brother Isaac II. This act served as pretext for the ...

Clement VI, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement VI, 1291–1352, pope (1342–52), a Frenchman named Pierre Roger; successor of Benedict XII. His court was at Avignon. He had been archbishop of Sens, archbishop of Rouen, and cardinal (1338)...

Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu

(Encyclopedia)Pappenheim, Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu gôtˈfrēt hīnˈrĭkh gräf tso͞o päˈpənhīm [key], 1594–1632, German military leader, imperial field marshal in the Thirty Years War. A convert to Roma...

Norton, Joshua Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Norton, Joshua Abraham, 1818–80, colorful eccentric of San Francisco known as “Emperor Norton,” b. London. He went (1820) with his parents to Cape Town, South Africa, and news of the California ...

Byzantine Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 Byzantine Empire (c.1000) Byzantine Empire, successor state to the Roman Empire (see under Rome), also called Eastern Empire and East Roman Empire. It was named after Byzantium, which Emp...

Gonzaga

(Encyclopedia)Gonzaga gōntsäˈgä [key], Italian princely house that ruled Mantua (1328–1708), Montferrat (1536–1708), and Guastalla (1539–1746). The family name is derived from the castle of Gonzaga, a vil...

Basel, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Basel, Council of, 1431–49, first part of the 17th ecumenical council in the Roman Catholic Church. It is generally considered to have been ecumenical until it fell into heresy in 1437; after that i...

Hadrian's Wall

(Encyclopedia)Hadrian's Wall, ancient Roman wall, 73.5 mi (118.3 km) long, across the narrow part of the island of Great Britain from Wallsend on the Tyne River to Bowness at the head of Solway Firth. It was mainly...