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Perceval, Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Perceval, Spencer, 1762–1812, British statesman. He had a profitable law practice before he entered the House of Commons as a Tory in 1796. He was solicitor general (1801–2), attorney general (180...

Boufflers, Louis François, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Boufflers, Louis François, duc de lwē fräNswäˈ dük də bo͞oflĕrˈ [key], 1644–1711, marshal and peer of France. He served under the French commanders François de Créquy and the vicomte de ...

Medici, Cosimo I de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Cosimo I de', 1519–74, duke of Florence (1537–69), grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74); son of Giovanni de' Medici (Giovanni delle Bande Nere). In 1537, Lorenzino de' Medici murdered Cosimo'...

Margaret of Parma

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Parma, 1522–86, Spanish regent of the Netherlands; illegitimate daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. She was married (1536) to Alessandro de' Medici (d. 1537) and (1538) to Ottavio ...

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th earl of, 1629?–1685, Scottish nobleman; son of the 8th earl. An ardent and active royalist and a Protestant, he opposed extreme measures against the Covenanters, ther...

Walter, Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Walter, Lucy, 1630?–1658, mistress (1648–50) of Charles II of England during his exile in Holland and France. She was the mother by him of James Scott, duke of Monmouth, whom the Whigs supported a...

Castracani, Castruccio

(Encyclopedia)Castracani, Castruccio kästro͞otˈchō kästräkäˈnē [key], 1281–1328, duke of Lucca. His early life was spent in exile. After his return he was made captain (1316), then lord of Lucca (1320) f...

Edward V

(Encyclopedia)Edward V, 1470–83?, king of England (1483), elder son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, t...

Brunswick, former state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brunswick brounˈshfīk [key], former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German...

Leopold III, margrave of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Leopold III or Saint Leopold, c.1073–1136, margrave of Austria (1095–1136). By his marriage (1106) with Agnes, widow of Duke Frederick I of Swabia (see Hohenstaufen), he became the stepfather of G...