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Strasbourg, Oath of

(Encyclopedia)Strasbourg, Oath of, 842, oath sworn by Charles the Bald (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles II) and Louis the German in solemnizing their alliance against their brother, Emperor Lothair I. The chief po...

Alfonso VII, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VII (Alfonso the Emperor), 1104–57, Spanish king of Castile and León (1126–57), son and successor of Urraca. He recovered the places in Castile that his stepfather, Alfonso I of Aragón, ...

Medici, Alessandro de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Alessandro de' mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when ...

Gattinara, Mercurino Arborio, marchese di

(Encyclopedia)Gattinara, Mercurino Arborio, marchese di mĕrco͞orēˈnō ärbôˈrēō märkĕˈza dē gätˌtēnäˈrä [key], 1465–1530, Italian statesman and jurist, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Aft...

Conrad II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad II, c.990–1039, Holy Roman emperor (1027–39) and German king (1024–39), first of the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the Saxon line on the death of Henry II, the ...

Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Roman Empire: see Rome; Byzantine Empire; Holy Roman Empire. ...

Sickingen, Franz von

(Encyclopedia)Sickingen, Franz von fränts fən zĭˈkĭngən [key], 1481–1523, German knight. Placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire because of his profitable forays along the Rhine, he served King Franci...

investiture

(Encyclopedia)investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the symbols of spiri...

Matthias

(Encyclopedia)Matthias, 1557–1619, Holy Roman emperor (1612–19), king of Bohemia (1611–17) and of Hungary (1608–18), son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. He was appointed governor of Austria (1593) by h...

San Marcos, University of

(Encyclopedia)San Marcos, University of, at Lima, Peru; the first university in South America; founded 1551 by the Spanish king Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) and recognized by papal bull in 1571; closed ...