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Honorius II

(Encyclopedia)Honorius II, d. 1130, pope (1124–30), an Italian named Lamberto, b. Bologna; successor of Calixtus II. Before becoming pope he spent several years in Germany adjusting the quarrel over investiture b...

Golden Bull

(Encyclopedia)Golden Bull, term translated from the Latin bulla aurea and generally referring to a bull (edict) with a golden seal. Golden bulls were promulgated by medieval Byzantine rulers and by Western European...

Ottocar I

(Encyclopedia)Ottocar I pərzhĕmˈĭsəl ôtˈôkär [key], d. 1230, duke (1197–98) and king (1198–1230) of Bohemia. The struggle within the Holy Roman Empire for the imperial crown enabled Ottocar to obtain (...

Roman law

(Encyclopedia)Roman law, the legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 b.c. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in a.d. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law. Most aut...

Emmanuel Philibert

(Encyclopedia)Emmanuel Philibert āmänˈwĕl fēlēbĕrˈ [key], 1528–80, duke of Savoy (1553–80), called Ironhead. He succeeded his father, Charles III, who had been dispossessed of his duchy by Francis I of ...

Francis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Francis Joseph or Franz Joseph, 1830–1916, emperor of Austria (1848–1916), king of Hungary (1867–1916), nephew of Ferdinand, who abdicated in his favor. His long reign began in the stormy days o...

Kenrick, Francis Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Kenrick, Francis Patrick, 1797–1863, American Roman Catholic churchman, b. Dublin, Ireland, educated in Rome. In 1821 he was ordained priest and went to America to teach in the college at Bardstown,...

Rudolf II

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf II, 1552–1612, Holy Roman emperor (1576–1612), king of Bohemia (1575–1611) and of Hungary (1572–1608), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Acceding to the Hapsburg la...

Bocskay, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Bocskay, Stephen bôchˈkī [key], 1557–1606, Hungarian noble, voivode [governor] (1604–6) and prince (1605–6) of Transylvania. Seeking to secure the independence of Transylvania, he supported h...

Sforza

(Encyclopedia)Sforza sfôrˈtsä [key], Italian family that ruled the duchy of Milan from 1450 to 1535. Rising from peasant origins, the Sforzas became condottieri and used this military position to become rulers i...