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Simeon II

(Encyclopedia)Simeon II, Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski, or Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1937–, czar (1943–46) and premier (2001–5) of Bulgaria. He succeeded his father, Boris III, under a regency. Aft...

Stephen II

(Encyclopedia)Stephen II, d. 757, pope (752–57), successor of Pope St. Zacharias. When Rome was threatened by the Lombard king Aistulf, Stephen went to Gaul and appealed to Pepin the Short for help. He became the...

Richard II

(Encyclopedia)Richard II, 1367–1400, king of England (1377–99), son of Edward the Black Prince. Richard is possibly the most enigmatic of the English kings. Some historians have attributed his behavior in ...

Huysmans, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Huysmans, Jacob hoisˈmäns [key], c.1633–1696, Flemish portrait painter. In the reign of Charles II he settled in England, where he became one of the fashionable painters of the court. His chief p...

Henry III, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Henry III, 1379–1406, Spanish king of Castile and León (1390–1406), son and successor of John I. His marriage (1388) to Catherine, daughter of John of Gaunt, ended a long dynastic conflict. Henry...

Charles IX, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Charles IX, 1550–74, king of France. He succeeded (1560) his brother Francis II under the regency of his mother, Catherine de' Medici. She retained her influence throughout his reign. After 1570, ho...

Orlov, Grigori Grigoryevich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Orlov, Grigori Grigoryevich, Count grĭgôrˈyəvĭch, ərlôfˈ [key], 1734–83, Russian nobleman. One of the first lovers of Catherine II, he and his brother led the conspiracy that deposed Peter ...

Sandwich, Edward Montagu, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Sandwich, Edward Montagu, 1st earl of mŏnˈtəgyo͞o [key], 1625–72, English admiral. He fought in the parliamentary army during the civil war, became (1653) a member of the council of state of the...

Banks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Thomas, 1735–1805, English neoclassical sculptor, studied at the Royal Academy. A traveling scholarship enabled him to study in Rome from 1772 to 1779. In 1781 he went to Russia, where Cather...

Derzhavin, Gavril Romanovich

(Encyclopedia)Derzhavin, Gavril Romanovich gəvrēlˈ rəmäˈnəvĭch dyĭrzhäˈvĭn [key], 1743–1816, Russian classical poet. His satirical ode to Catherine II, Felitsa (1782), won her favor, and he became poe...