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Guise

(Encyclopedia)Guise gēz, gwēz [key], influential ducal family of France. Henri's brother Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise, 1555–88, was killed at the same time as Henri. After their deaths the leadersh...

Marie de' Medici

(Encyclopedia)Marie de' Medici mĕdˈĭchē [key], 1573–1642, queen of France, second wife of King Henry IV and daughter of Francesco de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany. She was married to Henry in 1600. After his...

Christian VIII

(Encyclopedia)Christian VIII, 1786–1848, king of Denmark (1839–48), nephew of Christian VII; successor of Frederick VI. As governor and king (May–Oct., 1814) of Norway he accepted a liberal Norwegian constitu...

Magnus VII

(Encyclopedia)Magnus VII (Magnus Ericsson), b.1316, d.1373 or 1374, king of Norway (1319–43) and Sweden (1319–63). He succeeded his grandfather, Haakon V, in Norway; at the same time he was elected king by the ...

Norsemen

(Encyclopedia)Norsemen, name given to the Scandinavian Vikings who raided and settled on the coasts of the European continent in the 9th and 10th cent. They are also referred to as Northmen or Normans. Recent resea...

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 IV, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Philip IV, 1605–65, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily (1621–65) and, as Philip III, king of Portugal (1621–40); son and successor of Philip III of Spain. Philip IV was intelligent but lacked int...

Hamilton, James, 2d earl of Arran

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, James, 2d earl of Arran, d. 1575, Scottish nobleman; son of James Hamilton, 1st earl of Arran. After the death (1542) of James V, he stood next in line to the throne after the infant Mary Qu...

divine right

(Encyclopedia)divine right, doctrine that sovereigns derive their right to rule by virtue of their birth alone—a right based on the law of God and of nature. Authority is transmitted to a ruler from his ancestors...

Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of därˈbē [key], 1435?–1504, English nobleman. During the Wars of the Roses, Stanley was ostensibly a supporter of the Lancastrian Henry VI, but he had Yorkist sym...