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Bourbon

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon bo͞orbôNˈ [key], European royal family, originally of France; a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty (see Capetians). One branch of the Bourbons occupies the modern Spanish throne, and othe...

Hugh Capet

(Encyclopedia)Hugh Capet kāˈpĭt, kăpˈĭt [key], c.938–996, king of France (987–96), first of the Capetians. He was the son of Hugh the Great, to whose vast territories he succeeded in 956. After the death ...

Charles the Bold

(Encyclopedia)Charles the Bold, 1433–77, last reigning duke of Burgundy (1467–77), son and successor of Philip the Good. As the count of Charolais before his accession, he opposed the growing power of King Loui...

Louis Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Louis Philippe lwē fēlēpˈ [key], 1773–1850, king of the French (1830–48), known before his accession as Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans. The son of Philippe Égalité (see Orléans, Louis Phili...

Louise of Savoy, duchesse d'Angoulême

(Encyclopedia)Louise of Savoy, duchesse d'Angoulême düshĕsˈ däNgo͞olĕmˈ [key], 1476–1531, regent of France; daughter of Duke Philip II of Savoy and mother of King Francis I of France and Margaret, queen o...

Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse

(Encyclopedia)Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse zhän bāküˈ kôNtĕsˈ dü bärēˈ, do͞obărˈē [key], 1743–93, mistress of King Louis XV of France. A courtesan of illegitimate birth, she was the mistress of...

Charles II, king of Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Charles II (Charles the Bad), 1332–87, king of Navarre (1349–87), count of Évreux; grandson of King Louis X of France. He carried on a long feud with his father-in-law, John II, king of France, p...

Aquitaine

(Encyclopedia)Aquitaine ăkˈwĭtān, äkētĕnˈ [key], Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. Julius Caesar conquered the Aquitani, an Iberian people of SW Gaul, in 56 b.c. The province that he cr...

Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de ärmäNˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ dü plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1766–1822, French statesman. An émigré from the French Revolution, he served Russi...

Italian Wars

(Encyclopedia)Italian Wars, 1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy. Renaissance Italy was split into numerous ri...