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Poland, partitions of

(Encyclopedia)Poland, partitions of. The basic causes leading to the three successive partitions (1772, 1793, 1795) that eliminated Poland from the map were the decay and the internal disunity of Poland and the eme...

Sigismund III

(Encyclopedia)Sigismund III, 1566–1632, king of Poland (1587–1632) and Sweden (1592–99). The son of John III of Sweden and Catherine, sister of Sigismund II of Poland, he united the Vasa and Jagiello dynastie...

Charles II, French king

(Encyclopedia)Charles II, French king: see Charles II, emperor of the West. ...

Louis II, French king

(Encyclopedia)Louis II or Louis the Stammerer, 846–79, French king. He succeeded (877) his father, Emperor of the West Charles II, as king. On Louis's death his kingdom was divided between his sons Carloman and L...

Ladislaus Herman

(Encyclopedia)Ladislaus Herman lädˈĭslousˌ hĕrˈmän [key], 1040–1102, duke of Poland (1079–1102), brother and successor of Boleslaus II. His rule was one of weakness and decline. At his death the kingdom ...

Vladislav

(Encyclopedia)Vladislav vläˈdyĭsläf [key], Czech version of the name Ladislaus. Two kings of Bohemia who were thus named were Vladislav I (who was Ladislaus V, king of Hungary) and Vladislav II (who was Uladisl...

Charles I, king of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Charles I, 1288–1342, king of Hungary (1308–42), founder of the Angevin dynasty in Hungary; grandson of Charles II of Naples, who had married a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary. On the death (1301...

Murad II

(Encyclopedia)Murad II, 1403–51, Ottoman sultan (1421–51), son and successor of Muhammad I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He was opposed at his accession by a pretender, Mustafa, who rapidly gain...

Matthias Corvinus

(Encyclopedia)Matthias Corvinus kôrvīˈnəs [key], 1443?–1490, king of Hungary (1458–90) and Bohemia (1478–90), second son of John Hunyadi. He was elected king of Hungary on the death of Ladislaus V. Holy R...

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the...