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Maurice of Nassau

(Encyclopedia)Maurice of Nassau năsˈô [key], 1567–1625, prince of Orange (1618–25); son of William the Silent by Anne of Saxony. He became stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland after the assassination (1584) of...

Diamond Necklace, Affair of the

(Encyclopedia)Diamond Necklace, Affair of the, scandal that took place at the court of King Louis XVI of France just before the French Revolution. An adventuress who called herself the comtesse de La Motte duped Ca...

Maastricht

(Encyclopedia)Maastricht mäsˈtrĭkhtˌ [key], city (1994 pop. 118,102), capital of Limburg prov., SE Netherlands, on the Maas (Meuse) River and on the Albert Canal system. It is an important rail and river transp...

Tilly, Johannes Tserklaes, count of

(Encyclopedia)Tilly, Johannes Tserklaes, count of yōhänˈəs tsĕrkläsˈ tĭlˈē [key], 1559–1632, general in Bavarian and later imperial service during the Thirty Years War. A younger son of a noble family o...

oral history

(Encyclopedia)oral history, compilation of historical data through interviews, usually tape-recorded and sometimes videotaped, with participants in, or observers of, significant events or times. Primitive societies...

Botticelli, Sandro

(Encyclopedia)Botticelli, Sandro älĕssänˈdrō dē märēäˈnō fēlēpāˈpē [key]. He was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi, whose delicate coloring can be seen in such early works as the Adoration of the Kin...

Italian literature

(Encyclopedia)Italian literature, writings in the Italian language, as distinct from earlier works in Latin and French. In the second half of the 19th cent. Francesco De Sanctis, literary critic and historian, la...

Armada, Spanish

(Encyclopedia)Armada, Spanish ärmäˈdə [key], 1588, fleet launched by Philip II of Spain for the invasion of England, to overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth I and establish Philip on the English throne; also call...

aria

(Encyclopedia)aria ärˈēə [key], elaborate and often lengthy solo song with instrumental accompaniment. In the 16th cent. it was a melody improvised over a strophic bass line, and a distinction was made between ...

romanticism

(Encyclopedia)romanticism, term loosely applied to literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and 19th cent. Romanticism in music was characterized by an emphasis on emotion and great freedom of form. It...

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