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Valera, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Valera, Diego de dyāˈgō dā välāˈrä [key], 1412?–1488?, Spanish adventurer and writer. Reared at the Castilian court, he was page to John II and later became one of his diplomatic agents. He ...

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand I, 1503–64, Holy Roman emperor (1558–64), king of Bohemia (1526–64) and of Hungary (1526–64), younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Brought up in Spain, he was expected to...

Este, Italian noble family

(Encyclopedia)Este ĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took ...

Didymus of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Didymus of Alexandria, d. c.396, Greek grammarian and theologian, also called Didymus the Blind. His treatise On the Holy Ghost was translated by St. Jerome, who studied briefly with him. Although Did...

Edessa

(Encyclopedia)Edessa ĭdĕsˈə [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, on the site of modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It emerged in the 4th cent. b.c. as Orrhoe, or Arrhoe, and was later named Edessa by Seleucus I of Syri...

York, Edmund of Langley, duke of

(Encyclopedia)York, Edmund of Langley, duke of, 1341–1402, fifth son of Edward III of England. He was made (1362) earl of Cambridge, served on expeditions to Spain and France, and married (1372) Isabel, daughter ...

Paulicians

(Encyclopedia)Paulicians pôlĭshˈənz [key], Christian heretical sect. The sect developed in Armenia from obscure origins and is first mentioned in the middle of the 6th cent., where it is associated with Nestori...

Wittelsbach

(Encyclopedia)Wittelsbach vĭˈtəlsbäkh [key], German dynasty that ruled Bavaria from 1180 until 1918. The family takes its name from the ancestral castle of Wittelsbach in Upper Bavaria. In 1180 Holy Roman Emper...

Vieira, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Vieira, Antonio əntôˈnyo͝o vyāˈērə [key], 1608–97, Portuguese Jesuit orator and missionary. Born in Lisbon, he grew up in Brazil. He was sent by the Jesuits to Portugal to salute the new kin...

Oldcastle, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Oldcastle, Sir John, 1378?–1417, English leader of Lollardry. He married the heiress of Lord Cobham in 1408 and was known as “the good Lord Cobham.” Under the rule of Henry IV he performed valua...