(Encyclopedia) Casimir II, 1138–94, duke of Poland (1177–94), youngest son of Boleslaus III. A member of the Piast dynasty, he drove his brother Mieszko III from power at Kraków in 1177 and became…
(Encyclopedia) Ahmed II, 1642–95, Ottoman sultan (1691–95), brother and successor of Sulayman II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Soon after his reign began, the Turkish defeat at…
(Encyclopedia) Ptolemy II (Ptolemy Philadelphus)Ptolemy IItŏlˈəmē [key]Ptolemy IIfĭlədĕlˈfəs [key], c.308–246 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (285–246 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy I…
(Encyclopedia) Pius IIPius IIpīˈəs [key], 1405–64, pope (1458–64), an Italian named Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini (often in Latin, Aeneas Silvius), renamed Pienza after him, b. Corsigniano; successor…
(Encyclopedia) Ramses IIRamses IIrămˈsēz [key], Rameses II, or Ramesses IIRamesses IIboth: rămˈəsēzˌ [key], d. 1225 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty. The son of Seti I, Ramses was not…
(Encyclopedia) Richard II, 1367–1400, king of England (1377–99), son of Edward the Black Prince.
Richard is possibly the most enigmatic of the English kings. Some historians have attributed his…
(Encyclopedia) Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the…
(Encyclopedia) Oscar II, 1829–1907, king of Sweden (1872–1907) and Norway (1872–1905), younger son of Oscar I. He succeeded his brother, Charles XV. He refused to concede to Norway its own consular…
(Encyclopedia) Pedro II (Dom Pedro II de Alcântara), 1825–91, emperor of Brazil (1831–89). At the age of five, he succeeded under a regency when his father, Pedro I, abdicated. He was declared of age…
