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Maria Theresa

(Encyclopedia)Maria Theresa mərēˈə tərāˈzə [key], 1717–80, Austrian archduchess, queen of Bohemia and Hungary (1740–80), consort of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and dowager empress after the accession (...

Soong

(Encyclopedia)Soong so͝ong [key], Mandarin Song, Chinese family, prominent in public affairs. Soong Yao-ju or Charles Jones Soong, 1866–1918, graduated from Vanderbilt Univ. and, after returning to China (1886),...

Charles I, king of Naples and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles I (Charles of Anjou), 1227–85, king of Naples and Sicily (1266–85), count of Anjou and Provence, youngest brother of King Louis IX of France. He took part in Louis's crusades to Egypt (124...

Ionian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ionian Islands īōˈnēən [key], chain of islands, c.890 sq mi (2,310 sq km), W Greece, in the ...

Palaeologus

(Encyclopedia)Palaeologus pālēŏlˈəgəs [key], Greek dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from its restoration in 1261 to its final conquest by the Turks in 1453. The first emperor was Michael VIII, restorer...

Kerch

(Encyclopedia)Kerch kyĕrch [key], city (1989 pop. 174,000), E Crimea. It lies on the Kerch Strait of the Black Sea and at the eastern end of the Kerch Peninsula, a strip of land between the Sea of Azov and the Bla...

Robert Guiscard

(Encyclopedia)Robert Guiscard gēskärˈ [key], c.1015–1085, Norman conqueror of S Italy, a son of Tancred de Hauteville (see Normans). Robert joined (c.1046) his brothers in S Italy and fought with them to expel...

Turks

(Encyclopedia)Turks, term applied in its wider meaning to the Turkic-speaking peoples of Turkey, Russia, Central Asia, Xinjiang in China (Chinese Turkistan), Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, Iran, and Afghanistan. They...

Romanesque architecture and art

(Encyclopedia)Romanesque architecture and art, the artistic style that prevailed throughout Europe from the 10th to the mid-12th cent., although it persisted until considerably later in certain areas. The term Roma...

Dobruja

(Encyclopedia)Dobruja dōˈbro͝ojə, dôˈ– [key], Rom. Dobrogea, Bulg. Dobrudza, historic region, c.9,000 sq mi (23,300 sq km), SE Europe, in SE Romania and NE Bulgaria, between the lower Danube River and the B...