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Calonne, Charles Alexandre de

(Encyclopedia)Calonne, Charles Alexandre de shärl älĕksäNˈdrə də kälōnˈ [key], 1734–1802, French statesman, controller general of finances (1783–87). Faced with a huge public debt and a steadily deter...

Frederick Henry

(Encyclopedia)Frederick Henry, 1584–1647, prince of Orange; son of William the Silent by Louise de Coligny. He became stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands upon the death (1625) of his brother Ma...

Orléans, Louis, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Orléans, Louis, duc d' dük dôrlāäNˈ [key], 1372–1407, brother of King Charles VI of France, whose chief counselor he was from 1388 to 1392. After 1392, when Charles VI suffered his first atta...

Berry, Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de

(Encyclopedia)Berry, Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de kärôlēnˈ fĕrdēnäNd lwēz, düshĕsˈ də bĕrēˈ [key], 1798–1870, wife of the French prince, Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry; daughter of Fran...

Charles IV, duke of Lorraine

(Encyclopedia)Charles IV, 1604–75, duke of Lorraine. He succeeded to the duchy in 1624 but was to lose it several times because of his anti-French policy. In 1633, French troops invaded Lorraine in retaliation fo...

Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of, 1389–1435, English nobleman; third son of Henry IV of England and brother of Henry V. At the death (1422) of his brother and succession of his 9-month-old nephew...

Arles, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Arles, kingdom of, was formed in 933, when Rudolf II, king of Transjurane Burgundy, united the kingdom of Provence or Cisjurane Burgundy to his lands and established his capital at Arles. Holy Roman E...

Pilon, Germain

(Encyclopedia)Pilon, Germain zhĕrmăNˈ pēlôNˈ [key], 1535–90, French sculptor. He was court sculptor under the later Valois sovereigns. He executed several sculptures on Henry II's mausoleum at Saint-Denis. ...

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...

Provençal literature

(Encyclopedia)Provençal literature, vernacular literature of S France. Provençal, or Occitan, as the language is now often called, appears to have been the first vernacular tongue used in French commerce and lite...