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Orosius, Paulus

(Encyclopedia)Orosius, Paulus ōrōˈshēəs [key], c.385–420, Iberian priest, theologian, and historian, b. Tarragona, Spain or Braga, Portugal. He went to see St. Augustine (c.413) and wrote, on request, a summ...

Elizabeth Farnese

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth Farnese färnāˈsā [key], 1692–1766, queen of Spain, second consort of Philip V; niece of Antonio Farnese, duke of Parma. Soon after her marriage (1714), arranged by Cardinal Alberoni an...

Tarik ibn Ziyad

(Encyclopedia)Tarik ibn Ziyad täˈrĭk [key], fl. 711, Berber leader of the Muslim invaders of Spain. When the heirs of the Visigothic king, Witiza, requested help from the Moors of N Africa against the usurper Ro...

Teixeira, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Teixeira, Pedro pĕˈdro͝o tāˈshārə [key], d. 1640, Portuguese explorer, one of the early voyagers on the Amazon. He commanded the expedition sent by the governor of Maranhão up the Amazon in th...

Borgia, Lucrezia

(Encyclopedia)Borgia, Lucrezia bōrˈjä [key], 1480–1519, Italian noblewoman, famous figure of the Italian Renaissance; daughter of Pope Alexander VI. Her first marriage (1492) to Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro was ...

Patkul, Johann Reinhold von

(Encyclopedia)Patkul, Johann Reinhold von yōˈhän rīnˈhôlt fən pätˈko͝ol [key], 1660–1707, Livonian nobleman. He incurred the wrath of Charles XI of Sweden by championing the rights of the Livonian gentr...

Alaric II

(Encyclopedia)Alaric II, d. 507, Visigothic king of Spain and of S Gaul (c.484–507), son and successor of Euric. He issued (506) at Toulouse the Breviary of Alaric for his Roman subjects. Alaric's adherence to Ar...

Farinelli, Carlo Broschi

(Encyclopedia)Farinelli, Carlo Broschi kärˈlō brôˈskē färēnĕlˈlē [key], 1705–82, Italian male soprano, greatest of the castrati (see castrato), pupil of Niccolò Porpora, in whose operas he sang (1734�...

Figueras, Estanislao

(Encyclopedia)Figueras, Estanislao āstäˌnēsläˈō fēgāˈräs [key], 1819–82, Spanish politician. After the overthrow (1868) of Isabella II, he became leader of the Republican party. He opposed King Amadeus...

Leiria

(Encyclopedia)Leiria lārˈyə [key], town (1991 pop. 27,531), capital of Leiria dist., W central Portugal, in Beira Litoral. It is an agricultural trade center producing leather goods and cement. There Alfonso I e...