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Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d' zhäN lwē də nōgärāˈ dük dāpĕrnôNˈ [key], 1554–1642, French nobleman. He distinguished himself during the civil wars at the beginning of the reign ...

Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de pōl fräNswäˈ zhäN nēkōläˈ, vēkôNtˈ də bäräˈ [key], 1755–1829, French revolutionary. Although of a noble family, he joined the Jacobins...

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de zhäN bätēstˈ lə mwän syör də byăNvēlˈ [key], 1680–1768, colonizer and governor of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (on the site of Montreal), Canada; ...

February Revolution, in French history

(Encyclopedia)February Revolution, 1848, French revolution that overthrew the monarchy of Louis Philippe and established the Second Republic. General dissatisfaction resulted partly from the king's increasingly rea...

Masereel, Frans

(Encyclopedia)Masereel, Frans fräns mäsārālˈ [key], 1889–1972, Belgian painter and illustrator. Essentially self-taught, Masereel is famous for his many series of satiric, expressionist woodcuts. He illustra...

Vanloo

(Encyclopedia)Vanloo väNlōˈ, vänlōˈ [key], family of French painters of Dutch origin. Jacob or Jacques Vanloo, 1614–70, b. Holland, went to Paris in 1662, where he had great success as a portrait painter. H...

Leopold I, king of the Belgians

(Encyclopedia)Leopold I, 1790–1865, king of the Belgians (1831–65); youngest son of Francis Frederick, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After serving as a page at the court of Napoleon I and as a general of the Ru...

Foreign Legion

(Encyclopedia)Foreign Legion, French volunteer armed force composed chiefly, in its enlisted ranks, of foreigners. Its international character and the tradition of not revealing enlistees' backgrounds have helped t...

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