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Silesia

(Encyclopedia)Silesia sĭlēˈzhə, –shə, sī– [key], Czech Slezsko, Ger. Schlesien, Pol. Śląsk, region of E central Europe, extending along both banks of the Oder River and bounded in the south by the mount...

Frederick William IV

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William IV, 1795–1861, king of Prussia (1840–61), son and successor of Frederick William III. A romanticist and a mystic, he conceived vague schemes of reform based on a revival of the m...

Joanna, Spanish queen of Castile

(Encyclopedia)Joanna (Joanna the Mad), 1479–1555, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1504–55), daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella I. She succeeded to Castile and León at the death of her mother. Ferdinand ...

Frederick VII, king of Denmark

(Encyclopedia)Frederick VII, 1808–63, king of Denmark, duke of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg (1848–63), son and successor of Christian VIII. He accepted a liberal constitution in 1849 that ended the absolu...

Frederick VIII, king of Denmark

(Encyclopedia)Frederick VIII, 1843–1912, king of Denmark (1906–12), son and successor of Christian IX. He fought in the war with Prussia in 1864 and always retained an interest in military affairs. He was succe...

Frederick IX, king of Denmark

(Encyclopedia)Frederick IX, 1899–1972, king of Denmark (1947–72), son and successor of Christian X. He married (1935) Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Because he did not have a son the constitution was amended in 195...

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...

Lombards

(Encyclopedia)Lombards lŏmˈbərdz, –bärdz [key], ancient Germanic people. By the 1st cent. a.d. the Lombards were settled along the lower Elbe. After obscure migrations they were allowed (547) by Byzantine Emp...

Vicenza

(Encyclopedia)Vicenza vēchānˈtsä [key], city (1991 pop. 107,454), capital of Vicenza prov., Venetia, NE Italy. It is an agricultural, commercial, and highly diversified industrial center. Manufactures include m...

Albert the Bear

(Encyclopedia)Albert the Bear, c.1100–1170, first margrave of Brandenburg (1150–70). He was a loyal vassal of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II, who, as duke of Saxony, helped him take (1123) Lower Lusatia and the ...