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Beyazid II

(Encyclopedia)Beyazid II, 1447–1513, Ottoman sultan (1481–1512), son and successor of Muhammad II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). With the help of the corps of Janissaries he put down the revolt o...

Agesilaus II

(Encyclopedia)Agesilaus II əjĕˌsĭlāˈəs [key], c.444–360 b.c., king of Sparta. After the death of Agis I (398? b.c.), he was brought to power by Lysander, whom he promptly ignored. After the Peloponnesian W...

Ahmed II

(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 Slankamen, Serbia ...

Urban II

(Encyclopedia)Urban II, c.1042–1099, pope (1088–99), a Frenchman named Odo (or Eudes) of Lagery; successor of Victor III. He studied at Reims and became a monk at Cluny. He went to Rome, as prior of Cluny, earl...

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...

Ksar el Kebir

(Encyclopedia)Ksar el Kebir ksär ĕl kĕbĭrˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 107,065), N Morocco. The name also appears as Alcazarquivir and Al Qasr al Kabir. Near the city on Aug. 4, 1578, the Moroccans soundly defeated...

Almohads

(Encyclopedia)Almohads ălˈməhădz [key], Berber Muslim dynasty that ruled Morocco and Spain in the 12th and 13th cent. It had its origins in the puritanical sect founded by Ibn Tumart, who stirred up (c.1120) th...

Khalid bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud

(Encyclopedia)Khalid bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud khälēdˈ ĭbˌən äbd ăl-äzēzˈ ăl-säo͞odˈ [key], 1913–82, king of Saudi Arabia (1975–82). He became king after the assassination of his half-brother Faisa...

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...

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