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fiat money

(Encyclopedia)fiat money fīˈət, fīˈăt [key], inconvertible money that is made legal tender by the decree, or fiat, of the government but that is not covered by a specie reserve. It is commonly understood to b...

National Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Washington, D.C., founded in 1931 by Hans Kindler, who conducted the orchestra until 1949. Its first home was Constitution Hall; since 1986 it has been affiliated wi...

Rivlin, Alice M.

(Encyclopedia)Rivlin, Alice M., 1931–2019, American economist, b. Philadelphia as Georgianna Alice Mitchell, Ph.D. Harvard, 1958. Rivlin was affiliated with the Brookings Institution at various times from 1957 un...

Joanna II

(Encyclopedia)Joanna II, 1371–1435, queen of Naples (1414–35), sister and successor of Lancelot. The intrigues of her favorites kept her court in turmoil. Her second husband, James of Bourbon, tried to seize po...

Suger

(Encyclopedia)Suger süzhĕrˈ [key], 1081–1151, French cleric and statesman, abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, minister of kings Louis VI and Louis VII. Born into a peasant family and educated at the abbey of Sain...

Le Daim, Olivier

(Encyclopedia)Le Daim or Le Dain, Olivier both: ôlēvyāˈ lə dăN [key], d. 1484, favorite of King Louis XI of France. His original surname was Necker. Beginning as the king's barber and valet, he gained great i...

dauphin, French title

(Encyclopedia)dauphin dôˈfĭn, Fr. dōfăNˈ [key] [Fr.,=dolphin], French title, borne first by the counts of Vienne (also called Viennois) and later by the eldest son of the king of France, or, if the dauphin ca...

Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de də săN-sēmôNˈ [key], 1675–1755, French writer of memoirs and courtier. He resigned (1702) from the army after his arrogance had involved him in a quarrel ...

Destutt de Tracy, Antoine Louis Claude, Comte

(Encyclopedia)Destutt de Tracy, Antoine Louis Claude, Comte äNtwänˈ lwē klōd kôNt dĕstütˈ də träsēˈ [key], 1754–1836, French philosopher and psychologist. Although active in the Napoleonic government...

Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de

(Encyclopedia)Condé, Louis II de Bourbon, prince de, 1621–86, French general, called the Great Condé; son of Henri II de Condé. Among his early victories in the Thirty Years War were those of Rocroi (1643), Fr...