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English Channel

(Encyclopedia)English Channel, Fr. La Manche [the sleeve], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.350 (560 km) long, between France and Great Britain. It is 112 mi (180 km) wide at its west entrance, between Land's End, Engl...

Fillon, François Charles Amand

(Encyclopedia)Fillon, François Charles Amand fräNswäˈ shärl ämäNˈ fēyôNˈ [key], 1954–, French political leader, b. Le Mans. A conservative, he served as an assembly deputy (1981–2002, 2007–17) and ...

Antonioni, Michelangelo

(Encyclopedia)Antonioni, Michelangelo mëkālänˈjālō äntōnyôˈnē [key], 1912–2007, Italian film director and scriptwriter, b. Ferrara, Italy. In the 1940s he made documentaries that contributed to the dev...

Guinness, Sir Alec

(Encyclopedia)Guinness, Sir Alec gĭnˈəs [key], 1914–2000, English actor, b. London. After his stage debut in 1934, Guinness performed with John Gielgud's company and at the Old Vic. An actor of enormous versat...

Gothic romance

(Encyclopedia)Gothic romance, type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th cent. in England. Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and the...

Gautier, Théophile

(Encyclopedia)Gautier, Théophile gōtyāˈ [key], 1811–72, French poet, novelist, and critic. He was a leading exponent of “art for art's sake”—the belief that formal, aesthetic beauty is the sole purpose...

Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March, 1287?–1330, English nobleman. He inherited (c.1304) the vast estates and the title of his father, Edmund, 7th baron of Wigmore. Appointed lieutenant of Ireland...

Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de pyĕr sēmôNˈ märkēˈ də läpläsˈ [key], 1749–1827, French astronomer and mathematician. At 18 he went to Paris, proved his gift for mathematical analysis to...

La Fontaine, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)La Fontaine, Jean de zhäN də [key], 1621–95, French poet, whose celebrated fables place him among the masters of world literature. He was born at Château-Thierry to a bourgeois family. A restless...

Louis VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VI (Louis the Fat), 1081–1137, king of France (1108–37). He succeeded his father, Philip I, with whom he was associated in government from c.1100. He firmly established his authority within ...