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Victor Emmanuel II

(Encyclopedia)Victor Emmanuel II, 1820–78, king of Sardinia (1849–61) and first king of united Italy (1861–78). He fought in the war of 1848–49 against Austrian rule in Lombardy-Venetia and ascended the thr...

Turin

(Encyclopedia)Turin to͝orˈĭn, tyo͝orˈ–, tyo͝orĭnˈ [key], Ital. Torino, city (1991 pop. 962,507), capital of Piedmont and of Turin prov., NW Italy, at the confluence of the Po and Dora Riparia rivers. It i...

Pisa

(Encyclopedia)Pisa pēˈsä [key], city (1991 pop. 98,928), capital of Pisa prov., Tuscany, N central Italy, on the Arno River. It is now c.6 mi (9.7 km) from the Tyrrhenian Sea, which once reached the city. Pisa i...

Risorgimento

(Encyclopedia)Risorgimento rēsôrˌjēmĕnˈtō [key] [Ital.,=resurgence], in 19th-century Italian history, period of cultural nationalism and of political activism, leading to unification of Italy. Sardinia a...

Renaissance

(Encyclopedia)Renaissance rĕnəsänsˈ, –zänsˈ [key] [Fr.,=rebirth], term used to describe the development of Western civilization that marked the transition from medieval to modern times. This article is conc...

Francis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Francis Joseph or Franz Joseph, 1830–1916, emperor of Austria (1848–1916), king of Hungary (1867–1916), nephew of Ferdinand, who abdicated in his favor. His long reign began in the stormy days o...

Emilia-Romagna

(Encyclopedia)Emilia-Romagna āmēˈlyä-rōmäˈnyä [key], region, 8,542 sq mi (22,124 sq km), N central Italy, bordering on ...

Machiavelli, Niccolò

(Encyclopedia)Machiavelli, Niccolò nēk-kōlôˈ mäkyävĕlˈlē [key], 1469–1527, Italian author and statesman, one of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance, b. Florence. Machiavelli's best-known work, ...

Handel, George Frideric

(Encyclopedia)Handel, George Frideric hănˈdəl [key], 1685–1759, English composer, b. Halle, Germany. Handel was one of the greatest masters of baroque music, most widely celebrated for his majestic oratorio Me...

Brook, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Brook, Peter, 1925–, English theatrical director, b. London, grad. Oxford (1943). An innovative, unconventional, and controversial figure, Brook mounts energetic productions in which the entire stag...