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Otho, Marcus Salvius

(Encyclopedia)Otho, Marcus Salvius ōˈthō [key], a.d. 32–a.d. 69, Roman emperor (Jan.–April, a.d. 69). He was a friend of Nero, and his wife, Poppaea Sabina, became Nero's mistress; Otho was repaid (a.d. 58) ...

Avitus

(Encyclopedia)Avitus əvīˈtəs [key], d. 456?, Roman emperor of the West (455–56). He was proclaimed emperor in Gaul with the support of the Visigoths but was deposed by Ricimer. He was elected bishop of Placen...

Alfonso IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso IV, 1291–1357, king of Portugal (1325–57), son and successor of Diniz. Disgruntled by the favoritism his father showed toward Alfonso's illegitimate half-brothers, Alfonso rose in revolt i...

Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de

(Encyclopedia)Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de hēl älˈvärĕth kärēˈlyō dā älbôrnôthˈ [key], 1310?–1367, Spanish and papal statesman and general, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Alfonso...

Fouquet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Fouquet or Foucquet, Jean or Jehan all: zhäN fo͞okāˈ [key], c.1420–c.1480, French painter and illuminator. He was summoned to Rome in the 1440s to paint the portrait (now lost) of Pope Eugenius ...

Gasparri, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Gasparri, Pietro pyĕˈtrō gäspärˈrē [key], 1852–1934, Italian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He taught canon law at the Catholic Institute in Paris (1879–98) and was apost...

Acarnania

(Encyclopedia)Acarnania ăkˌərnāˈnēə [key], region of ancient Greece, between the Achelous River and the Ionian Sea. The chief city was Stratos. The Acarnanians sided with Athens during the Peloponnesian War,...

Silistra

(Encyclopedia)Silistra sĭlĭˈsträ [key], town (1993 pop. 48,287), NE Bulgaria, a port on the Danube River bordering Romania. Products include textiles, furniture, foodstuffs, and bricks. The Roman Durostorum, it...

Prespa, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Prespa, Lake prĕsˈpä [key], Albanian Prespës, Macedonian Prespansko, 112 sq mi (290 sq km), SW North Macedonia, NW Greece, and E Albania; highest lake (alt. 2,798 ft/853 m) of the Balkans. It is c...

Sebastian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Sebastian, Saint, fl. 3d cent.?, Roman martyr. Little is known of his life. According to tradition he was an officer of the Praetorian guards much favored by Emperor Diocletian, who did not know that ...