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Somerset, Edward Seymour, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Edward Seymour, duke of, 1506?–1552, protector of England. He served on various military and diplomatic missions for Henry VIII and, after the marriage of his sister Jane to the king, was ...

Pedro I

(Encyclopedia)Pedro I (Dom Pedro de Alcântara) pāˈdrō [key], 1798–1834, first emperor of Brazil (1822–31); son of John VI of Portugal. Dom Pedro was a child when the Portuguese royal family, fleeing from Na...

Crécy

(Encyclopedia)Crécy –äN–pôNtyöˈ [key], village, Somme dept., N France. A nearby forest is popular for camping. At Crécy, on Aug. 26, 1346, Edward III of England defeated Philip VI of France in the Hundred...

Christian VII

(Encyclopedia)Christian VII, 1749–1808, king of Denmark and Norway (1766–1808), son and successor of Frederick V. Shortly after his accession his mental illness made him dependent on his physician, Struensee, w...

Erskine, John, 1509–91, Scottish reformer

(Encyclopedia)Erskine, John, 1509–91, Scottish reformer, called Erskine of Dun. After several years on the Continent he returned to Scotland, where he introduced the study of Greek in Scottish schools. He was the...

Irene, Byzantine empress

(Encyclopedia)Irene īrēˈnē [key], c.750–803, Byzantine empress (797–802). She served (780–90) as regent for her son, Constantine VI, and later was made (792) joint ruler. Devoted to the Orthodox Church, s...

Anna Leopoldovna

(Encyclopedia)Anna Leopoldovna kärˈləvnə [key], 1718–46, duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, regent of Russia (1740–41); daughter of Charles Leopold, duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and of Catherine, sister o...

Hale, Horatio Emmons

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Horatio Emmons, 1817–96, American-Canadian ethnologist, b. Newport, N.H.; son of Sarah Josepha Hale. He served as ethnologist on the Charles Wilkes exploring expedition (1838–42) and wrote V...

Frederick I, elector of Brandenburg

(Encyclopedia)Frederick I, 1371–1440, elector of Brandenburg (1415–40), first of the Hohenzollerns (see Hohenzollern, family) to rule Brandenburg. As Frederick VI, burgrave of Nuremburg, he served under King Si...

Appian Way

(Encyclopedia)Appian Way ăpˈēən [key], Lat. Via Appia, most famous of the Roman roads, built (312 b.c.) under Appius Claudius Caecus. It connected Rome with Capua and was later extended to Beneventum (now Benev...