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Peter II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Peter II, 1648–1706, king of Portugal (1683–1706), younger son of John IV; brother and successor of Alfonso VI. In 1667, he seized power from his incompetent brother and ruled the country as princ...

Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st duke of vĭlˈyərz, bŭkˈĭng-əm [key], 1592–1628, English courtier and royal favorite. He arrived (1614) at the English court as James I was tiring of his favori...

Philip VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip VI, 1293–1350, king of France (1328–50), son of Charles of Valois and grandson of King Philip III. He succeeded his cousin Charles IV, invoking the Salic law to set aside both Charles's dau...

Alfonso VI, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VI, 1643–83, king of Portugal (1656–83), son and successor of John IV. Slightly paralyzed and mentally defective, he led a dissolute youth until he came under the influence of the count of...

Charles V, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Charles V, 1500–1558, Holy Roman emperor (1519–58) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516–56); son of Philip I and Joanna of Castile, grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragón, Isabella of Castile, Ho...

Greville, Charles Cavendish Fulke

(Encyclopedia)Greville, Charles Cavendish Fulke grĕvˈĭl [key], 1794–1865, English diarist. As clerk of the Council in Ordinary (1821–59), he was closely associated with Wellington, Palmerston, and other poli...

Emmanuel Philibert

(Encyclopedia)Emmanuel Philibert āmänˈwĕl fēlēbĕrˈ [key], 1528–80, duke of Savoy (1553–80), called Ironhead. He succeeded his father, Charles III, who had been dispossessed of his duchy by Francis I of ...

Townshend, Charles Townshend, 2d Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Townshend, Charles Townshend, 2d Viscount tounˈzĕnd [key], 1674–1738, English statesman. A leading Whig in the reign of Queen Anne, he served as a commissioner to negotiate the union (1707) with S...

Maximilian II, 1527–76, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian II, 1527–76, Holy Roman emperor (1564–76), king of Bohemia (1562–76) and of Hungary (1563–76), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Before acceding he evidenced a sy...

Savoy, house of

(Encyclopedia)Savoy, house of, dynasty of Western Europe that ruled Savoy and Piedmont from the 11th cent., the kingdom of Sicily from 1714 to 1718, the kingdom of Sardinia from 1720 to 1861, and the kingdom of Ita...