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Joanna II

(Encyclopedia)Joanna II, 1371–1435, queen of Naples (1414–35), sister and successor of Lancelot. The intrigues of her favorites kept her court in turmoil. Her second husband, James of Bourbon, tried to seize po...

Portugal

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Portugal pôrˈchəgəl [key], officially Portuguese Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 10,418,000), 35,553 sq mi (92,082 sq km), SW Europe, on the western side of the Iberian Peninsula and inc...

Maximilian II, 1527–76, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian II, 1527–76, Holy Roman emperor (1564–76), king of Bohemia (1562–76) and of Hungary (1563–76), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Before acceding he evidenced a sy...

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...

Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Charles VI, 1685–1740, Holy Roman emperor (1711–40), king of Bohemia (1711–40) and, as Charles III, king of Hungary (1712–40); brother and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Charles was...

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...

Abravanel, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Abravanel or Abarbanel, Isaac əbräˈvənĕl, –bärbə– [key], 1437–1508, Jewish theologian, biblical commentator, and financier, b. Lisbon. He served as treasurer to Alfonso V of Portugal but ...

Sierra Nevada, mountain range, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Nevada syāˈrä nāväˈᵺä [key], chief mountain range of S Spain, in Granada prov., running from east to west for c.60 mi (100 km), parallel to the Mediterranean Sea. The range's highest p...

Roderick

(Encyclopedia)Roderick rŏdˈərĭk [key], d. 711?, last Visigothic king in Spain (710–711?). After the death of King Witiza, a group of nobles chose Roderick, duke of Baetica, as successor to the king. Having de...

Covadonga

(Encyclopedia)Covadonga kōˈväᵺōnˈgä [key], village, Oviedo prov., N Spain, in Asturias. A battle fought nearby sometime between 718 and 725 was the first victory of the Christians over the Moors; it had gre...