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Joanna I

(Encyclopedia)Joanna I, 1326–82, queen of Naples (1343–81), countess of Provence. She was the granddaughter of King Robert of Naples, whom she succeeded with her husband, Andrew of Hungary. The murder (1345) of...

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...

Canossa

(Encyclopedia)Canossa känôsˈsä [key], village, in Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, in the Apennines. There are ruins of the 10th-century castle of the powerful feudal family that took its name from the place. I...

Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of, 1587?–1645, Scottish favorite of James I of England. His family name also appears as Ker. He may have accompanied James to England as a page in 1603, but he appears t...

Wycherley, William

(Encyclopedia)Wycherley, William wĭchˈərlē [key], 1640?–1716, English dramatist, b. near Shrewsbury. His first comedy, Love in a Wood (1671), was a huge success and won him the favor of the duchess of Clevela...

Westminster Palace

(Encyclopedia)Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament, in Westminster, London. The present enormous structure, of Neo-Gothic design, was built (1840–60) by Sir Charles Barry to replace an aggregation of ancien...

Avignon

(Encyclopedia)Avignon ävēnyôNˈ [key], city, capital of Vaucluse dept., SE France, on the Rhône River. It is a farm market with a wine trade and a great variety of manufactures. Loc...

Constantine, Russian grand duke

(Encyclopedia)Constantine (Konstantin Pavlovich) kənstəntyēnˈ pävˈləvĭch [key], 1779–1831, Russian grand duke, second son of Czar Paul I and brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. On the death of Alexande...

Alfonso III, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso III, 1210–79, king of Portugal (1248–79), son of Alfonso II, brother and successor of Sancho II. By his marriage with Matilda, countess of Boulogne, he became count of Boulogne and thus wa...

Edgar Atheling

(Encyclopedia)Edgar Atheling ăthˈəlĭng [key] [O.E. ætheling,=son of the king], 1060?–1125?, English prince, grandson of Edmund Ironside. After the death of King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066, Edga...