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Valéry, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Valéry, Paul pōl välārēˈ [key], 1871–1945, French poet and critic. A follower of the symbolists, Valéry was one of the greatest French poets of the 20th cent. He was encouraged by Pierry Loü...

Saint-Denis, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Denis săN-dənēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 90,806), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France. It is an industrial suburb N of Paris. Metals, chemicals, machinery, electronics, and food produc...

Vosges, mountain range, France

(Encyclopedia)Vosges vōzh [key], mountain range, E France, between the Alsatian plain in the east and the plateau of S Lorraine in the west. It extends generally north and parallel to the Rhine River for c.120 mi ...

Valois, historic region, France

(Encyclopedia)Valois, historic region, now comprised in Aisne and Oise depts., N France. Crépy-en-Valois was its historic capital. It is a rich agricultural area. A county and later a duchy, Valois was the appanag...

Berry, former province, France

(Encyclopedia)Berry bĕrēˈ [key], former province, central France. Bourges, the capital, and Châteauroux are the chief towns. Cattle are raised on the Champagne Berrichonne, a semiarid plateau that covers most o...

Louis V, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis V (Louis the Sluggard), c.967–987, last French king of the Carolingian dynasty; son of King Lothair. His father had him crowned in 979, but he did not become king until Lothair's death in 986....

Louis VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VI (Louis the Fat), 1081–1137, king of France (1108–37). He succeeded his father, Philip I, with whom he was associated in government from c.1100. He firmly established his authority within ...

Louis VII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VII (Louis the Young), c.1120–1180, king of France (1137–80), son and successor of King Louis VI. Before his accession he married Eleanor of Aquitaine. A controversy with Pope Innocent II ov...

Louis VIII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VIII, 1187–1226, king of France (1223–26), son and successor of King Philip II. He fought (1215, 1219) against the Albigenses in S France. Invited by English lords in rebellion against their...

Louis IX, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis IX or Saint Louis, 1214–70, king of France (1226–70), son and successor of Louis VIII. His mother, Blanche of Castile, was regent during his minority (1226–34), and her regency probably la...