(Encyclopedia) Louis XI, 1423–83, king of France (1461–83), son and successor of Charles VII.
A born diplomat, Louis skillfully checked his foreign and domestic enemies and set up an efficient…
Holy Roman Empire: EmperorsCharlemagne (Charles I), emperor of the West (800–814), Carolingian king of the Franks (768–814)Charles II, emperor of the West (875–77) and king of the West Franks (843…
(Encyclopedia) Northumberland, John Dudley, duke of, 1502?–1553, English statesman. The son of Edmund Dudley, minister of Henry VII, John was restored to his inheritance in 1512 after his father's…
(Encyclopedia) Gardiner, Stephen, 1493?–1555, English prelate. He was educated at Cambridge. He became secretary to Thomas (later Cardinal) Wolsey and later secured the favor of Henry VIII by a…
(Encyclopedia) Pinkie, battlefield, E of Edinburgh, Scotland. There the English under Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, defeated a larger Scottish force on Sept. 10, 1547. Somerset's invasion of…
(Encyclopedia) Æthelred, 965?–1016, king of England (978–1016), called Æthelred the Unready [Old Eng. unrœd=without counsel]. He was the son of Edgar and the half-brother of Edward the Martyr, whom…
(Encyclopedia) Alexander VI, 1431?–1503, pope (1492–1503), a Spaniard (b. Játiva) named Rodrigo de Borja or, in Italian, Rodrigo Borgia; successor of Innocent VIII. He took Borja as his surname from…
(Encyclopedia) Clement VI, 1291–1352, pope (1342–52), a Frenchman named Pierre Roger; successor of Benedict XII. His court was at Avignon. He had been archbishop of Sens, archbishop of Rouen, and…
(Encyclopedia) Paul VI, Saint, 1897–1978, pope (1963–78), an Italian (b. Concesio, near Brescia) named Giovanni Battista Montini; successor of John XXIII.
The broader international outlook of the…
(Encyclopedia) Adrian VI, 1459–1523, pope (1522–23), a Netherlander (b. Utrecht) named Adrian Florensz; successor of Leo X. He taught at Louvain and was tutor of the young prince, later Holy Roman…