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Wall, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wall, Richard, 1694–1778, Spanish statesman. Born in France of Irish parents, Wall entered the Spanish military service as a young man and later held important diplomatic posts. He helped negotiate ...

Vélez-Málaga

(Encyclopedia)Vélez-Málaga vāˈlāth-mäˈlägä [key], town (1990 pop. 54,234), Málaga prov., S Spain, in Andalusia, on the Vélez River. Subtropical in climate, chirimoyas, bananas, olives, grapes, and sugar ...

León, region and former kingdom, Spain

(Encyclopedia)León lā-ōnˈ [key], historic region and former kingdom, NW Spain, E of Portugal and Galicia, now part of Castile–León. It includes the provinces of León, Salamanca, and Zamora, named after thei...

Medici, Francesco de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Francesco de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1541–87, grand duke of Tuscany (1574–87); son and successor of Cosimo I de' Medici. In his reign the decline of the Medici family...

Alfonso V, king of Aragón and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and ...

Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph

(Encyclopedia)Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph frēˈdrĭkh krĭsˈtôf dälˈmän [key], 1785–1860, German historian. He was dismissed from his professorship at Göttingen for protesting (1837) the abrogation of th...

Actium

(Encyclopedia)Actium ăkˈtēəm, –shē– [key], promontory, NW Acarnania, Greece, at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. There are vestiges of several temples and an ancient town. At Actium was fought the naval ba...

Ostia

(Encyclopedia)Ostia ŏsˈtēə [key], ancient city of Italy, originally at the mouth of the Tiber but now inland as the Tiber delta has grown. It was founded (4th cent. b.c.) as a protection for Rome, then develope...

Verrius Flaccus, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Verrius Flaccus, Marcus märˈkəs vĕrˈēəs flăkˈəs [key], fl. 20 b.c., Roman grammarian. A freedman, he was appointed by Augustus to educate his grandsons and died at an advanced age during the...

Bethsaida

(Encyclopedia)Bethsaida bĕth-sāˈĭdə [key] [Heb.,=house of the fisher], in the Gospels, birthplace of Jesus' disciples Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Herod Philip (4 b.c.–a.d. 33) is said to have renamed it Julia...