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Roches, Peter des

(Encyclopedia)Roches, Peter des dā rōsh [key], d. 1238, English churchman and statesman, b. Poitou. A chamberlain under Richard I of England, then entered the service of King John, who gave him rich estates and m...

Barre des Ecrins

(Encyclopedia)Barre des Ecrins bär dāzākrăNˈ [key], peak, 13,461 ft (4,103 m) high, in the Pelvoux group, SE France, tallest of the Dauphiné Alps. ...

ranz des vaches

(Encyclopedia)ranz des vaches räNz dā väsh [key], type of Alpine folk melody of irregular melodic and rhythmic form used to call cattle. It is played on the alphorn by Swiss herders, or sung, with or without wor...

Val-des-Sources

(Encyclopedia)Val-des-Sources, formerly Asbestos, town (1991 pop. 6,487), SE Que., Canada. Manufactures include wood products and electrical equipment. Asbestos, from which the town derived its former name, was lon...

Bouvier des Flandres

(Encyclopedia)Bouvier des Flandres bo͞ovyāˈ dā fläNˈdrə [key], breed of powerful working dog perfected in Belgium around the beginning of the 20th cent. It stands from 23 to 28 in. (58–71 cm) high at the s...

West Des Moines

(Encyclopedia)West Des Moines də moinˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 31,702), Polk co., S central Iowa, a growing suburb W of Des Moines; inc. 1893 as Valley Junction, renamed 1938. Hybrid seed corn and sorghum are grow...

Duluth, Daniel Greysolon, sieur

(Encyclopedia)Duluth or Du Lhut, Daniel Greysolon, sieur dəlo͞othˈ, Fr. dülütˈ [key], 1636–1710, French explorer in Canada. He went to Canada with his younger brother c.1672. In 1678 he set out on an expedi...

Jeux Floraux, Académie des

(Encyclopedia)Jeux Floraux, Académie des äkädāmēˈ dā jö flôrōˈ [key] [Fr.,=academy of floral games], one of the oldest known literary societies. It was founded (c.1323) at Toulouse, France, by seven trou...

Gobelins, Manufacture nationale des

(Encyclopedia)Gobelins, Manufacture nationale des mänüfäktürˈ näsēônälˈ dā gôblăNˈ [key], state-controlled tapestry manufactory in Paris. It was founded as a dye works in the mid-15th cent. by Jean Go...

École des Beaux-Arts

(Encyclopedia)École des Beaux-Arts ākôlˈ dā bōzärˈ [key][Fr.,=school of fine arts], French national school of fine arts, on the Quai Malaquais, Paris, founded in 1648 by Charles Le Brun with the consent of ...