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Edward V

(Encyclopedia)Edward V, 1470–83?, king of England (1483), elder son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, t...

Sigismund I

(Encyclopedia)Sigismund I, 1467–1548, king of Poland (1506–48), son of Casimir IV. Elected to succeed his brother, Alexander I, Sigismund faced the problem of consolidating his domestic power in order successfu...

Catherine of Braganza

(Encyclopedia)Catherine of Braganza brəgănˈzə [key], 1638–1705, queen consort of Charles II of England, daughter of John IV of Portugal. She was married to Charles in 1662. As part of her dowry England secure...

Rákóczy

(Encyclopedia)Rákóczy räˈkôtsĭ [key], noble Hungarian family that played an important role in the history of Transylvania and Hungary in the 17th and 18th cent. Sigismund Rákóczy, 1544–1608, was elected (...

interdict

(Encyclopedia)interdict ĭnˈtərdĭkt [key], ecclesiastical censure notably used in the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the Middle Ages. When a parish, state, or nation is placed under the interdict no public...

Marenzio, Luca

(Encyclopedia)Marenzio, Luca lo͞oˈkä märĕnˈtsēō [key], 1553–1599, Italian composer, in whose works the Renaissance madrigal reached its peak of development. He served the Gonzaga family in Mantua, the Med...

Regency

(Encyclopedia)Regency, in British history, the period of the last nine years (1811–20) of the reign of George III, when the king's insanity had rendered him unfit to rule and the government was vested in the prin...

Frederick Augustus I, 1670–1733, elector of Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Frederick Augustus I, elector of Saxony: see Augustus II, king of Poland. ...

tallage

(Encyclopedia)tallage tălˈĭj [key], Fr. taille, a type of feudal tax. In its origins tallage is not clearly distinguishable from aids (a type of feudal due), and in Germany it never developed beyond an occasiona...

Davies of Hereford, John

(Encyclopedia)Davies of Hereford, John dāˈvĭs [key], 1565?–1618, English poet. He settled in London about 1600 after spending several years as a writing master at Oxford. His main efforts were religious and ph...