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Quevedo y Villegas, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Quevedo y Villegas, Francisco de fränthēsˈkō gōˈmāth dā kāvāˈᵺō ē vēlyāˈgäs [key], 1580–1645, Spanish satirist, novelist, and wit, b. Madrid. In 1611 he fled to Italy after a duel...

John II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)John II (John the Good), 1319–64, king of France (1350–64), son and successor of King Philip VI. An inept ruler, he began his reign by executing the constable of France (whose office he gave to hi...

Breton Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Breton Succession, War of the, 1341–65, an important episode of the Hundred Years War. Duke John III of Brittany died in 1341 without heirs. The succession was contested by his half-brother, John de...

Piccolomini, Ottavio

(Encyclopedia)Piccolomini, Ottavio ōt-täˈvyō pēk-kōlôˈmēnē [key], 1599–1656, Italian general in the service of the Holy Roman emperor during the Thirty Years War (1618–48). He came of a distinguished ...

Waldemar I

(Encyclopedia)Waldemar I (Waldemar the Great) wälˈdəmär [key], 1131–82, king of Denmark (1157–82). In 1147, Waldemar, Sweyn III, and Canute (son of Magnus the Strong and grandson of King Niels) each claimed...

Walsingham, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Walsingham, Sir Francis wôlˈsĭng-əm [key], 1532?–1590, English statesman. A zealous Protestant, he went abroad during the reign of Queen Mary I but returned on the accession (1558) of Elizabeth ...

Carcassonne

(Encyclopedia)Carcassonne kärkäsônˈ [key], city, capital of Aude dept., S France, in Languedoc. The old city, ...

Ribera, Jusepe

(Encyclopedia)Ribera, Jusepe, José, or Giuseppe ho͞osāˈpā rēbāˈrä, hōsāˈ, jo͞ozĕpˈpā [key], c.1590–1652, Spanish baroque painter. He studied in Valencia and Rome but at an early age settled in Nap...

Siddons, Sarah Kemble

(Encyclopedia)Siddons, Sarah Kemble, 1755–1831, English actress. The most distinguished of the famous Kemble family, she had early theatrical experience in her father's traveling company, and at 18 she married Wi...

Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of ĕks-lä-shäpĕlˈ [key]. 1 Compact of May 2, 1668, that ended the French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands (see Devolution, War of). France kept most of its conquests in...