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Alexander Severus

(Encyclopedia)Alexander Severus (Marcus Aurelius Alexander Severus) sĭvērˈəs [key], d. 235, Roman emperor (222–35), b. Syria. His name was changed (221) from Alexius Bassianus when he was adopted as the succe...

Peter the Hermit

(Encyclopedia)Peter the Hermit, c.1050–1115, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade (see Crusades), and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople ...

John IV, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John IV (John Lascaris) lăsˈkərĭs [key], b. c.1250, d. after 1273, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1258–61), son and successor (under a regency) of Theodore II and last of the Lascarids. Michael Pa...

Baldwin IV, Latin king of Jerusalem

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin IV (Baldwin the Leper), c.1161–1185, Latin king of Jerusalem (1174–85), son and successor of Amalric I. Raymond, count of Tripoli, was regent from 1174 to 1176. Baldwin was constantly enga...

Pechenegs

(Encyclopedia)Pechenegs pätsĭnäksˈ [key], nomadic people of the Turkic family. Their original home is not known, but in the 8th and 9th cent. they inhabited the region between the lower Volga and the Urals. Pus...

Walter Sans Avoir

(Encyclopedia)Walter Sans Avoir, Fr. Gautier Sans-Avoir, d. 1096, French Crusader, known as Walter the Penniless. He joined Peter the Hermit as leader of an army to the Holy Land. In what came to be known as the Po...

Brentano, Franz

(Encyclopedia)Brentano, Franz brĕntäˈnō [key], 1838–1917, German philosopher and psychologist. He was a teacher (1866–73) at Würzburg, and in 1874 he became professor of philosophy at Vienna. In 1880 he r...

Henry VI, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VI, 1165–97, Holy Roman emperor (1191–97) and German king (1190–97), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Frederick Barbarossa). He was crowned German king at Aachen in 116...

Frederick IV, king of Denmark and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Frederick IV, 1671–1730, king of Denmark and Norway (1699–1730), son and successor of Christian V. He allied himself (1699) with Augustus II of Poland and Saxony and with Peter I of Russia against...

Trebizond, empire of

(Encyclopedia)Trebizond, empire of, 1204–1461. When the army of the Fourth Crusade overthrew (1204) the Byzantine Empire and established the Latin Empire of Constantinople, several Greek successor states sprang u...