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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...

Simancas

(Encyclopedia)Simancas sēmängˈkäs [key], village, Valladolid prov., NW Spain, in Castile and León. The castle, an old fort rebuilt in the 15th cent., contains the Spanish national archives. Begun by Ferdinand ...

Hrotswith von Gandersheim

(Encyclopedia)Hrotswith rôsvēˈtä fən gänˈdərs-hīm [key], 10th-century German dramatist, a nun. Of a noble Saxon family, Hrotswith was well educated. Her long epic poems—one including a fragment on Empero...

René

(Encyclopedia)René rənāˈ [key], 1409–80, king of Naples (1435–80; rival claimant to Alfonso V of Aragón and Ferdinand I of Naples), duke of Anjou, Bar, and Lorraine, count of Provence. He was also called R...

Manuel I, 1469–1521, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Manuel I, 1469–1521, king of Portugal (1495–1521), successor of John II. Manuel's reign was most notable for the successful continuation of Portugal's overseas enterprises. John had planned the ex...

Colonna

(Encyclopedia)Colonna kōlônˈnä [key], noble Roman family that played a leading part in the history of Rome from the 12th to the 16th cent. They were hereditary enemies of the Orsini and Caetani families, genera...

Conradin

(Encyclopedia)Conradin kŏnˈrədĭn [key], 1252–68, duke of Swabia, titular king of Jerusalem and Sicily, the last legitimate Hohenstaufen, son of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad IV. While Conradin was still a child i...

Ezzelino da Romano

(Encyclopedia)Ezzelino da Romano ĕtˌsālēˈnō dä rōmäˈnō [key], 1194–1259, Italian Ghibelline leader (see Guelphs and Ghibellines) and soldier. After 1232 a faithful supporter of Holy Roman Emperor Frede...

George William

(Encyclopedia)George William, 1597–1640, elector of Brandenburg (1619–40). Mild and irresolute, he was a Calvinist, yet he ruled a Lutheran people. He failed to turn the strategic position of Brandenburg to adv...

Malplaquet, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Malplaquet, battle of mälpläkāˈ [key], a major engagement in the War of the Spanish Succession (see Spanish Succession, War of the). On Sept. 11, 1709, the combined forces of England and the Holy ...