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pragmatic sanction

(Encyclopedia)pragmatic sanction, decision of state dealing with a matter of great importance to a community or a whole state and having the force of fundamental law. The term originated in Roman law and was used o...

Mataró

(Encyclopedia)Mataró mätərōˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 100,882), Barcelona prov., NE Spain, in Catalonia. It is a Mediterranean port and a manufacturing center, producing knitted goods, wine, and chemicals. The f...

Batalha

(Encyclopedia)Batalha bətäˈlyə [key] [Port.,=battle], town, W central Portugal, just S of Leiria, in Es...

Uccello, Paolo

(Encyclopedia)Uccello, Paolo päˈōlō o͞ot-chĕlˈlō [key], c.1396–1475, Florentine painter. Uccello was little appreciated in his own time, and much of his work has been destroyed or is in poor condition. Al...

Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf, 1858–89, Austrian archduke, crown prince of Austria and Hungary; only son of Emperor Francis Joseph and Empress Elizabeth. Upon his mysterious death at Mayerling near Vienna (officially decl...

Pedro I

(Encyclopedia)Pedro I (Dom Pedro de Alcântara) pāˈdrō [key], 1798–1834, first emperor of Brazil (1822–31); son of John VI of Portugal. Dom Pedro was a child when the Portuguese royal family, fleeing from Na...

Cheektowaga

(Encyclopedia)Cheektowaga chēkˌtŏwäˈgə [key], town (2020 pop. 73,740), Erie co., W. N.Y., E of Buffalo; settled ...

Ferdinand IV, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand IV, 1285–1312, Spanish king of Castile and León (1295–1312), son and successor of Sancho IV. His mother, María de Molina, was regent during his turbulent minority. He tried unsuccessfu...

Fuga, Ferdinando

(Encyclopedia)Fuga, Ferdinando fārdēnänˈdō fo͞oˈgä [key], 1699–1781, Italian architect. Fuga is best known for his rebuilding of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He served as papal architect during the ponti...

Cortona, Pietro Berrettini da

(Encyclopedia)Cortona, Pietro Berrettini da pyāˈtrō bār-rĕt-tēˈnē dä kōrtôˈnä [key], 1596–1669, Italian baroque painter and architect, b. Cortona. The Barberini family commissioned him to paint fresc...