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Charles X, king of Sweden

(Encyclopedia)Charles X, 1622–60, king of Sweden (1654–60), nephew of Gustavus II. The son of John Casimir, count palatine of Zweibrücken, he brought the house of Wittelsbach to the Swedish throne when his cou...

Samara, city, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Samara səmäˈrə [key], formerly Kuybyshev, city (1989 pop. 1,254,000), capital of its region, E central European Russia, on the left bank of the Volga and at the mouth of the Samara River. It is a ...

Peter I, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Peter I or Peter the Great, 1672–1725, czar of Russia (1682–1725), major figure in the development of imperial Russia. Peter's personal traits ranged from bestial cruelty and vice to the most ...

Faisal II

(Encyclopedia)Faisal II or Feisal II both: fīˈsəl [key], 1935–58, king of Iraq (1939–58). He ascended to the throne on the death of his father, King Ghazi. After a long regency, Faisal attained his majority ...

Waldemar II

(Encyclopedia)Waldemar II, 1170–1241, king of Denmark (1202–41), second son of Waldemar I. In the reign of his brother, Canute VI, he defended Denmark from German aggression and then extended Danish control ove...

Tancred, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Tancred (Tancred of Lecce) tăngˈkrĭd;, lĕˈchā [key], b. 1130 or 1134, d. 1194, king of Sicily (1190–94), illegitimate son of Roger of Apulia and grandson of Roger II of Sicily. On the death of...

Alexander, king of Greece

(Encyclopedia)Alexander, 1893–1920, king of the Hellenes (1917–20), second son of Constantine I. After his father's forced abdication, he succeeded to the Greek throne with the support of the Allies, who distru...

Ashurnasirpal II

(Encyclopedia)Ashurnasirpal II äˈsho͝ornäˈzĭrpäl [key], d. 860? b.c., king of ancient Assyria (884–860? b.c.), also called Ashurnazirpal II and Assurnasirbal II. One of the earliest of the Assyrian conquer...

Lancelot, king of Naples

(Encyclopedia)Lancelot lădˈĭslôs, –ləs [key], c.1376–1414, king of Naples (1386–1414), son and successor of Charles III. Almost his entire reign was consumed by his struggle with the Angevin rival king o...

Conrad II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad II, c.990–1039, Holy Roman emperor (1027–39) and German king (1024–39), first of the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the Saxon line on the death of Henry II, the ...