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Floridablanca, José Moñino, conde de

(Encyclopedia)Floridablanca or Florida Blanca, José Moñino, conde de hōsāˈ mōnyēˈnō kōnˈdā dā flōrēˈᵺä blängˈkä [key], 1728–1808, Spanish statesman. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from S...

Peter the Cruel

(Encyclopedia)Peter the Cruel, 1334–69, Spanish king of Castile and León (1350–69), son and successor of Alfonso XI. His desertion of his wife, Blanche of Bourbon, for María Padilla and his favors to the Padi...

Frederick William III

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William III, 1770–1840, king of Prussia (1797–1840), son and successor of Frederick William II. Well-intentioned but weak and vacillating, he endeavored to maintain neutrality in the Nap...

Heliodorus

(Encyclopedia)Heliodorus hēˌlēōdôrˈəs [key], fl. 175 b.c., Syrian statesman. The treasurer of Seleucus IV (Seleucus Philopator), he murdered the king and attempted unsuccessfully to usurp the throne. Accordi...

Charles XIII, king of Sweden and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Charles XIII, 1748–1818, king of Sweden (1809–18) and Norway (1814–18). He became regent for his nephew, Gustavus IV, after the assassination (1792) of his brother Gustavus III. He introduced so...

William of Newburgh

(Encyclopedia)William of Newburgh, 1136?–1198?, English chronicler, monk of Newburgh, Yorkshire. He wrote the Historia rerum Anglicarum, a history of England from 1066 to 1198. Its chief value lies in the comment...

Tourville, Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Tourville, Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, comte de än ēläryôNˈ də kôtäNtăNˈ kôNt də to͞orvēlˈ [key], 1642–1701, French naval commander. He served in the wars of King Louis XIV and was mad...

Khafre

(Encyclopedia)Khafre kĕfˈrĕn [key], fl. 2565 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the IV dynasty, and builder of the second pyramid at Giza. His face is perhaps that represented on the Great Sphinx. An obscure king, ...

Lupescu, Magda

(Encyclopedia)Lupescu, Magda mägˈdä lo͞opĕˈsko͞o [key], 1896?–1977, wife of Carol II of Romania. Her given name was Elena. Carol renounced (1925) his succession to the throne for her, but after becoming ki...

League

(Encyclopedia)League or Holy League, in French history, organization of Roman Catholics, aimed at the suppression of Protestantism and Protestant political influence in France. It was foreshadowed as early as 1561 ...