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Tancred, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Tancred (Tancred of Lecce) tăngˈkrĭd;, lĕˈchā [key], b. 1130 or 1134, d. 1194, king of Sicily (1190–94), illegitimate son of Roger of Apulia and grandson of Roger II of Sicily. On the death of...

Conrad III, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad III, c.1093–1152, German king (1138–52), son of Frederick, duke of Swabia, and Agnes, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV; first of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He joined his brother Frede...

Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of, 1391–1447, English nobleman; youngest son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. He was well educated and had a great interest in humanist scholarship. After the accession of ...

investiture

(Encyclopedia)investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the symbols of spiri...

Heralds' College

(Encyclopedia)Heralds' College, body first chartered in 1483 by Richard III of England. It has been reorganized several times. Its purpose is to assign new coats of arms and to trace lineages to determine heraldic ...

Guelphs

(Encyclopedia)Guelphs gwĕlfs [key], European dynasty tracing its descent from the Swabian count Guelph or Welf (9th cent.), whose daughter Judith married the Frankish emperor Louis I. Guelph III (d. 1055) was made...

Pole, English noble family

(Encyclopedia)Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339). His oldest so...

David II, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)David II (David Bruce), 1324–71, king of Scotland (1329–71), son and successor of Robert I. David's guardians were not strong enough to prevent the invasion (1332) of Scotland by Edward de Baliol,...

Mortimer, Edmund de, 5th earl of March and 3d earl of Ulster

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Edmund de, 5th earl of March and 3d earl of Ulster, 1391–1425, English nobleman, son of Roger de Mortimer, 4th earl of March. He succeeded (1398) his father not only as earl of March and U...

Frederick Louis

(Encyclopedia)Frederick Louis, 1707–51, prince of Wales, eldest son of George II of England. By his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, he had several children, the eldest of whom became George III. He quarrele...