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Sixtus IV

(Encyclopedia)Sixtus IV sĭkˈstəs [key], 1414–84, pope (1471–84), an Italian named Francesco della Rovere (b. near Savona); successor of Paul II. He was made general of his order, the Franciscans, in 1464 and...

Abd ar-Rahman Khan

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman Khan kän, khän [key], 1844?–1901, emir of Afghanistan (1880–1901); grandson of Dost Muhammad. He opposed his uncle, Sher Ali, and was forced into exile in 1869. He was, however, re...

Abd Allah ibn Yasin

(Encyclopedia)Abd Allah ibn Yasin: see Almoravids. ...

Clement IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement IV, d. 1268, pope (1265–68), a Frenchman named Guy le gros Foulques; successor of Urban IV. He was a lay adviser of King Louis IX of France, but after his wife's death he entered the church....

Frederick William IV

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William IV, 1795–1861, king of Prussia (1840–61), son and successor of Frederick William III. A romanticist and a mystic, he conceived vague schemes of reform based on a revival of the m...

Adrian IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian IV, d. 1159, pope (1154–59), an Englishman (the only English pope), b. Nicholas Breakspear at Langley, near St. Albans. He was successor of Anastasius IV. At an early age he went to France. T...

Raymond Berengar IV

(Encyclopedia)Raymond Berengar IV bĕrˈəngär [key], d. 1162, count of Barcelona (1131–62). He married Petronilla, daughter and heir of King Ramiro II of Aragón, after whose abdication (1137) Raymond also rule...

Abd ar-Rahman, sultan of Morocco

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman, 1778–1859, sultan of Morocco (1822–59). He sought, unsuccessfully, to take advantage of the overthrow of Turkish rule in Algeria in order to extend his territory. Later he allied hi...

Ottoman Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ottoman Empire (c.1683) Ottoman Empire ŏtˈəmən [key], vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution ...

Abd ar-Rahman, Muslim governor of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman äbˌdär-rämänˈ [key], d. 732, Muslim governor of Spain (721–32). Invading Aquitaine in 732, he won a victory over the Franks at Toulouse but was defeated in the battle of Tours by...