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Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de pōl fräNswäˈ zhäN nēkōläˈ, vēkôNtˈ də bäräˈ [key], 1755–1829, French revolutionary. Although of a noble family, he joined the Jacobins...

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

Masereel, Frans

(Encyclopedia)Masereel, Frans fräns mäsārālˈ [key], 1889–1972, Belgian painter and illustrator. Essentially self-taught, Masereel is famous for his many series of satiric, expressionist woodcuts. He illustra...

Faguet, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...

Flourens, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Flourens, Pierre (Marie Jean Pierre Flourens) pyĕr flo͞oräNsˈ [key], 1794–1867, French physiologist. He demonstrated the respiratory center in the medulla and the function of the cerebellum in m...

undine

(Encyclopedia)undine əndēnˈ, ŭnˈdēn [key], in folklore, female water sprite who could acquire a soul by marrying a human being. If, however, her lover proved unfaithful, she had to return to the sea. The lege...

Bollandists

(Encyclopedia)Bollandists bŏlˈəndĭsts [key], group of Jesuits in Belgium, named for their early leader, Jean Bolland, a Flemish Jesuit of the 17th cent. They were charged by the Holy See with compiling an autho...

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....

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