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Ottocar II

(Encyclopedia)Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the Holy Roman Em...

Pedro II

(Encyclopedia)Pedro II (Dom Pedro II de Alcântara), 1825–91, emperor of Brazil (1831–89). At the age of five, he succeeded under a regency when his father, Pedro I, abdicated. He was declared of age in 1840. P...

Pepi II

(Encyclopedia)Pepi II pāˈpē [key], d. c.2185 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the VI dynasty. His reign (c.2275–c.2185 b.c.) is the longest recorded in history. It was successful because the powerful southern l...

Paul II

(Encyclopedia)Paul II, 1417–71, pope (1464–71), a Venetian named Pietro Barbo; successor of Pius II. He was a nephew of Eugene IV. A Renaissance pope, he patronized printing, beautified and improved Rome, and c...

Margaret II

(Encyclopedia)Margaret II (Margrethe), 1940–, queen of Denmark (1972–). The oldest daughter of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid (the daughter of King Gustavus VI of Sweden), Princess Margrethe's right to the ...

Maria II

(Encyclopedia)Maria II (Maria da Glória), 1819–53, queen of Portugal (1834–53), daughter of Peter IV (Pedro I of Brazil). Pedro, having succeeded to the Portuguese throne on the death (1826) of his father, Joh...

Ashurnasirpal II

(Encyclopedia)Ashurnasirpal II äˈsho͝ornäˈzĭrpäl [key], d. 860? b.c., king of ancient Assyria (884–860? b.c.), also called Ashurnazirpal II and Assurnasirbal II. One of the earliest of the Assyrian conquer...

Mahmud II

(Encyclopedia)Mahmud II, 1784–1839, Ottoman sultan (1808–39), younger son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) upon the deposition of his brother, Mustafa IV, and contin...

Marwan II

(Encyclopedia)Marwan II märˈwän [key], 684–750, last of the Umayyad caliphs. He served as governor of Armenia before his short-lived rule as caliph (744–50). Marwan reorganized his army, taking Syria by 746....

Kenneth II

(Encyclopedia)Kenneth II, d. 995, Scottish king (971–995). The son of Malcolm I (reigned 943–54), he became king of the united Picts and Scots in 971 and immediately led a savage raid on the British in Northumb...