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Haggard, Sir Henry Rider

(Encyclopedia)Haggard, Sir Henry Rider, 1856–1925, English novelist. From 1875 to 1881 he served in the government of South Africa, which was the scene of many of his highly popular romances. King Solomon's Mines...

Normandy

(Encyclopedia)Normandy nôrmäNdēˈ [key], region and former province, NW France, bordering on the English Channel. It now includes five departments—Manche, Calvados, Eure, Seine-Maritime, and Orne. Normandy is ...

James I, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James I, 1394–1437, king of Scotland (1406–37), son and successor of Robert III. King Robert feared for the safety of James because the king's brother, Robert Stuart, 1st duke of Albany, who was v...

Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, 2d duke of, d. 1455, English statesman and general. He fought in France in the Hundred Years War, receiving his first command in 1431, recapturing Harfleur in 1440, and reli...

Lancaster, house of

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, house of lăngˈkəstər [key], royal family of England. The line was founded by the second son of Henry III, Edmund Crouchback, 1245–96, who was created earl of Lancaster in 1267. Earlie...

Dermot McMurrough

(Encyclopedia)Dermot McMurrough or Diarmiud mac Murchada both: dûrˈmət məkmŭrˈə [key], 1110–71, Irish king of Leinster. He became involved in a complicated feud, partly because he abducted a neighbor's wif...

Douglas, Archibald, 4th earl of Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Archibald, 4th earl of Douglas, 1369–1424, Scottish nobleman, called Tyneman [loser]; 2d son of Archibald Douglas, 3d earl of Douglas. In 1390 he married Margaret Stuart, daughter of Robert...

Charlotte, queen consort of George III of England

(Encyclopedia)Charlotte shärˈlət [key] (Charlotte Sophia), 1744–1818, queen consort of George III of England. The niece of Frederick, duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, she was married to George in 1761 and bore hi...

Alfonso I, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso I, 1109?–1185, first king of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy. After his father's death (1112), his mother, Countess Teresa, ruled the county of Portugal with the help of her Spanish lover...

Alfonso II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II (Alfonso the Fat), 1185–1223, king of Portugal (1211–23), son and successor of Sancho I. His reign was spent in struggles with the church and his brothers and sisters, to whom his fathe...