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Tristan L'Hermite, François

(Encyclopedia)Tristan L'Hermite, François fräNswäˈ trēstäNˈ lĕrmētˈ [key], pseud. of François L'Hermite, 1601–55, French playwright and poet. Poor and plagued by ill health, he was a page in the court ...

Prussia

(Encyclopedia)Prussia prŭshˈə [key], Ger. Preussen, former state, the largest and most important of the German states. Berlin was the capital. The chief member of the German Empire (1871–1918) and a state of t...

Mongkut

(Encyclopedia)Mongkut rämˈə [key], 1804–68, king of Siam, now Thailand (1851–68). A devout Buddhist monk, he was displaced in succession to the throne by his brother, who ascended as Rama III. Mongkut became...

Brühl, Heinrich, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Brühl, Heinrich, Graf von hīnˈrĭkh gräfˈ fən brül [key], 1700–1763, Saxon statesman. He was adviser to Augustus II, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, and gained control of both governmen...

Gregory IX

(Encyclopedia)Gregory IX, 1143?–1241, pope (1227–41), an Italian named Ugolino di Segni, b. Anagni; successor of Honorius III. As cardinal under his uncle, Innocent III, he became, at St. Francis' request, the ...

Frederick V, elector palatine

(Encyclopedia)Frederick V, elector palatine: see Frederick the Winter King. ...

Dithmarschen

(Encyclopedia)Dithmarschen dĭtˈmärshən [key], region, SW Schleswig-Holstein, N Germany, between the Elbe and Eider rivers. It is chiefly an agricultural region, with extensive cattle raising in the west. The ea...

Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth, 1596–1662, queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I of England. Her beauty attracted most of the royal suitors of Europe (she was nicknamed the “Queen of Hearts”), but she was married (1...

King, William, Irish clergyman and author

(Encyclopedia)King, William, 1650–1729, Irish clergyman and author. He was made archbishop of Dublin in 1702. An ardent believer in the rights of the Church of Ireland, he published in 1691 his State of the Prote...

Shore, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Shore, Jane, or Elizabeth Shore, d. 1527?, mistress of Edward IV of England. The wife of William Shore, a goldsmith, she became c.1470 mistress to Edward IV and exerted a great influence over the king...