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Boisguilbert, Pierre le Pesant, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Boisguilbert, Pierre le Pesant, sieur de pyĕr lə pəzäNˈ syör də bwägēlbĕrˈ [key], 1646–1714, French economist. A local official of Rouen after 1689, he proposed a radical alteration of th...

Otto I, king of Greece

(Encyclopedia)Otto I, 1815–67, first king of the Hellenes (1833–62). The second son of King Louis I of Bavaria, he was chosen (1832) by a conference of European powers at London to rule newly independent Greece...

Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d'

(Encyclopedia)Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret, duc d' zhäN lwē də nōgärāˈ dük dāpĕrnôNˈ [key], 1554–1642, French nobleman. He distinguished himself during the civil wars at the beginning of the reign ...

Louis the Younger

(Encyclopedia)Louis the Younger, c.830–882, German king, ruler (876–82) over Saxony, Franconia, and Thuringia, son of Louis the German. He shared the succession to his father's lands with his brothers Carloman ...

Maupeou, René Nicolas de

(Encyclopedia)Maupeou, René Nicolas de rənāˈ nēkôläˈ də mōpo͞oˈ [key], 1714–92, chancellor of France (1768–74). He was president of the parlement of Paris before he succeeded his father as chancello...

Ryswick, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Ryswick, Treaty of, 1697, the pact that ended the War of the Grand Alliance. Its signers were France on one side and England, Spain, and the Netherlands on the other. It was a setback for Louis XIV, w...

Eleanor of Aquitaine

(Encyclopedia)Eleanor of Aquitaine ăkwĭtānˈ, ăkˈwĭtān [key], 1122?–1204, queen consort first of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England. Daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine, s...

Davout, Louis Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Davout, Louis Nicolas lwē nēkôläˈ dävo͞oˈ [key], 1770–1823, marshal of France. One of Napoleon's ablest generals, Davout defeated a Prussian army at Auerstedt (1806) and played a brilliant p...

Tuileries

(Encyclopedia)Tuileries twēˈlərēz, Fr. twēlrēˈ [key], former palace in Paris. Planned by Catherine de' Medici and begun in 1564 by Philibert Delorme, it occupied part of the present Tuileries gardens. It was...

Praguerie

(Encyclopedia)Praguerie prägərēˈ [key], 1440, revolt against King Charles VII of France, so called in allusion to the Hussite uprising in Prague. It was led by several great feudal lords, including the comte de...