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Herrings, Battle of the

(Encyclopedia)Herrings, Battle of the, 1429, episode in the siege of Orléans by the English in the Hundred Years War. The French, under Jean, comte de Dunois, attacked a supply train commanded by Sir John Fastolf....

Simon, Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Antoine äNtwänˈ sēmôNˈ [key], 1736–94, French revolutionary, often called “the shoemaker,” a member of the Commune of Paris. He and his wife guarded the dauphin, Louis XVII, in pris...

Orléans, French royal family

(Encyclopedia)Orléans ôrlāäNˈ [key], family name of two branches of the French royal line. The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose assassination (1407) c...

Guadet, Marguerite Élie

(Encyclopedia)Guadet, Marguerite Élie märgərētˈ ālēˈ güädāˈ [key], 1758–94, French revolutionary. A leader of the Girondists, he was outlawed (1793) for his attacks on Maximilien Robespierre and Jean ...

Roncesvalles

(Encyclopedia)Roncesvalles rōnˌthāsväˈlyās [key], Fr. Roncevaux, mountain pass (alt. 3,468 ft/1,057 m), in the Pyrenees, between Pamplona (Spain) and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (France). Tradition has made it th...

La Baie

(Encyclopedia)La Baie lə bī [key], city (1991 pop. 20,995), S Que., Canada, on Ha! Ha! Bay, an arm of the Saguenay River. Formed by the amalgamation of Bagotville, Port Alfred, and the parishes of Grande-Baie and...

megalopolis

(Encyclopedia)megalopolis mĕgəlŏpˈlĭs [key] [Gr.,=great city], a group of densely populated metropolitan areas that combine to form an urban complex. It was first used in its modern sense by Jean Gottman (1957...

Château-Thierry

(Encyclopedia)Château-Thierry shätōˈ-tyĕrēˈ [key], town, Aisne dept., N France, on the Marne River. The town was the ...

Basselin, Olivier

(Encyclopedia)Basselin, Olivier ōlēvyāˈ bäsəlăNˈ [key], 15th cent., French miller of Vire, Normandy. He was one of the Compagnons du Vau de Vire [companions of the Vire valley], who made drinking songs, lov...

Buffet, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Buffet, Bernard bĕrnärˈ büfāˈ [key], 1928–99, French painter. Buffet's melancholy paintings are characterized by prominent black outlining and grayed, muddied colors. The subjects of his many ...