(Encyclopedia) OrléansOrléansôrlāäNˈ [key], family name of two branches of the French royal line.
The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose…
(Encyclopedia) Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339…
(Encyclopedia) CampbellCampbellkămˈbəl [key], Scottish noble family, the head of which is the duke of Argyll. The Campbells of Lochow (Lochawe) rose to power in W Scotland in the later Middle Ages.…
(Encyclopedia) EsteEsteĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin…
(Encyclopedia) HohenzollernHohenzollernhōˌən-tsôlˈərn [key], German princely family that ruled Brandenburg (1415–1918), Prussia (1525–1918), and Germany (1871–1918).
Originating in S Germany and…
(Encyclopedia) Fish, family long prominent in New York politics.
Nicholas Fish, 1758–1833, b. New York City. He studied law before serving ably as a major in a New York regiment throughout the…
(Encyclopedia) Family Compact, name popularly applied to a small, powerful group of men who dominated the government of Upper Canada (Ontario) from the closing years of the 18th cent. to the…
(Encyclopedia) GaddiGaddigädˈdē [key], celebrated family of Florentine artists. Gaddo Gaddi, c.1260–c.1333, painter and mosaicist, is said by Vasari to have been associated with Cimabue and Giotto.…
(Encyclopedia) lily of the valley, common name for either of the two species of Convallaria, spring-blooming perennials of the family Liliaceae (lily family). C. majalis, the species usually in…
