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Frederick VI, king of Denmark and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Frederick VI, 1768–1839, king of Denmark (1808–39) and Norway (1808–14), son and successor of Christian VII. After the court party had executed Struensee, expelled Frederick's mother, Caroline M...

John the Fearless

(Encyclopedia)John the Fearless, 1371–1419, duke of Burgundy (1404–19); son of Philip the Bold. He fought against the Turks at Nikopol in 1396 and was a prisoner for a year until he was ransomed. He continued h...

Burgh, Hubert de

(Encyclopedia)Burgh, Hubert de hyo͞oˈbərt də bûrg, bûrˈə [key], d. 1243, chief justiciar of England under kings John and Henry III. Having served as a royal minister and commander in France, he was appointe...

Rome, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Roman Empire (a.d. 117) CE5 Rome, Ital. Roma, city (1991 pop. 2,775,250), capital of Italy and see of the pope, whose residence, Vatican City, is a sovereign state within the city of Rome. R...

Roses, Wars of the

(Encyclopedia)Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later assoc...

Schleswig-Holstein

(Encyclopedia)Schleswig-Holstein shlĕsˈvĭkh-hôlˈshtīn [key], state (1994 pop. 2,595,000), c.6,050 sq mi (15,670 sq km), NW Germany. Kiel (the capital and chief port), Lübeck, Flensburg, and Neumünster are t...

investiture

(Encyclopedia)investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the symbols of spiri...

George of Podebrad

(Encyclopedia)George of Podebrad pôdˈyĕbrät [key], 1420–71, king of Bohemia (1458–71). A Bohemian nobleman, he became leader of the Utraquists, or the moderate Hussites, in the wars between Hussites and Cat...

Cato the Younger

(Encyclopedia)Cato the Younger or Cato of Utica, 95 b.c.–46 b.c., Roman statesman, whose full name was Marcus Porcius Cato; great-grandson of Cato the Elder. Reared by his uncle Marcus Livius Drusus, he showed an...

Roman Catholic Church

(Encyclopedia)Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. “Roman Cathol...