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Godfrey of Viterbo

(Encyclopedia)Godfrey of Viterbo vētĕrˈbō [key], 12th cent., German or Italian priest. He was long attached to the courts of Holy Roman emperors Conrad III, Frederick I, and Henry VI in Italy. His Gesta Frideri...

Pomponius Laetus, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Pomponius Laetus, Julius pŏmpōˈnēəs lēˈtəs [key], 1425–1498?, Italian humanist, also called Giulio Pomponio Leto. His knowledge of ancient Rome was immense and his works numerous; they inclu...

Pantoja de la Cruz, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Pantoja de la Cruz, Juan hwän päntōˈhä ᵺā lä kro͞oth [key], 1553–1608, Spanish portrait painter, court painter to Philip II and Philip III; pupil and follower of Alonzo Sánchez Coello. Th...

Wall, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wall, Richard, 1694–1778, Spanish statesman. Born in France of Irish parents, Wall entered the Spanish military service as a young man and later held important diplomatic posts. He helped negotiate ...

William of Orange

(Encyclopedia)William of Orange: see William the Silent; William II, prince of Orange; William III, king of England. ...

Galla Placidia

(Encyclopedia)Galla Placidia gălˈə pləsĭdˈēə [key], c.388–450, Roman empress of the West, daughter of Theodosius I. Captured by Alaric I in the course of his Italian campaign, she was held by the Visigoth...

Pandulf

(Encyclopedia)Pandulf pănˈdŭlfˌ [key], Ital. Pandolfo, d. 1226, Italian churchman. He was first sent to England in 1211 by Pope Innocent III on an unsuccessful mission to settle the pope's dispute with King Joh...

Adrian IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian IV, d. 1159, pope (1154–59), an Englishman (the only English pope), b. Nicholas Breakspear at Langley, near St. Albans. He was successor of Anastasius IV. At an early age he went to France. T...

Abd al-Hamid I

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Hamid I Turk. äbdülˈhämēdˈ [key], 1725–89, Ottoman sultan (1774–89), brother and successor of Mustafa III. His reign, one of decline for the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), saw the end of th...

Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia

(Encyclopedia)Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia, Asia Minor, on the Asian side of the Hellespont opposite Sestos, in present-day Turkey. It was originally a Milesian colony. Near there Xerxes built his bridge of boat...