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Vicente, Gil

(Encyclopedia)Vicente, Gil Port. zhēl vēsĕntˈə, Span. hēl vēthĕnˈtā [key], 1470?–1536?, Portuguese dramatist and poet, considered second only to Camões. Vicente was attached to the courts of the Portug...

Villars, Claude Louis Hector, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Villars, Claude Louis Hector, duc de klōd lwē ĕktôrˈ dük də vēlärˈ [key], 1653–1734, marshal of France, the last of the great generals of Louis XIV. He fought in the Dutch War (1672–78) ...

Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

Chihuahua, breed of dog

(Encyclopedia)Chihuahua chəwäˈwə [key], a breed of small toy dog probably of Asian origin and introduced into Mexico by Spanish settlers. It stands about 5 in. (12.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 1 t...

Churriguera, José Benito

(Encyclopedia)Churriguera, José Benito chûrˌēgərĕskˈ [key] describes the architecture of the late 17th and early 18th cent. in Spain, marked by extravagance of design and capricious use of Renaissance motive...

Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon

(Encyclopedia)Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon trômp [key], 1597–1653, Dutch admiral. A sailor from childhood, he joined the navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant admiral in 1637. In 1639, by remarkable tactics, h...

O'Donnell, Leopoldo

(Encyclopedia)O'Donnell, Leopoldo lāōpōlˈdō ōᵺōˈnĕl [key], 1809–67, Spanish general and statesman; member of a branch of the Irish O'Donnells of Tyrconnel. He fought successfully for Isabella II agains...

Ostend Manifesto

(Encyclopedia)Ostend Manifesto, document drawn up in Oct., 1854, at Ostend, Belgium, by James Buchanan, American minister to Great Britain, John Y. Mason, minister to France, and Pierre Soulé, minister to Spain. W...

Gálvez, Bernardo de

(Encyclopedia)Gálvez, Bernardo de bĕrnärˈᵺō dā gälˈvāth [key], c.1746–1786, Spanish governor of Louisiana. He served in the Spanish army before going to Louisiana in 1776 as the young commandant of the...

Douai

(Encyclopedia)Douai do͞oˈā, do͞oāˈ [key], town, Nord dept., N France, in French Flanders, on the Scarpe ...