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McEwan, Ian

(Encyclopedia)McEwan, Ian (Ian Russell McEwan) məkyo͞oˈən [key], 1948–, English novelist, b. Aldershot, B.A. Univ. of Sussex, 1970, M.A. Univ. of East Anglia, 1971. His early short-story collections, First Lo...

Washington, Denzel

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Denzel (Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.), 1954- , African-American actor, b. Mount Vernon, N.Y., Fordham Univ. (B.A., 1977). Washington’s fa...

Beyazid

(Encyclopedia)Beyazid, 1612–1638?, Ottoman prince; brother of Sultan Murad IV. Considering Beyazid a dangerous rival, Murad ordered his execution. Beyazid's death is treated in Jean Racine's tragedy, Bajazet (167...

Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Derby, Thomas Stanley, 1st earl of därˈbē [key], 1435?–1504, English nobleman. During the Wars of the Roses, Stanley was ostensibly a supporter of the Lancastrian Henry VI, but he had Yorkist sym...

Fortescue, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Fortescue, Sir John fôrˈtĭskyo͞o [key], c.1394–1476, English jurist. A supporter of the Lancastrian king Henry VI, he was chief justice of the Court of King's Bench from 1442 until 1461, when He...

Juana la Beltraneja

(Encyclopedia)Juana la Beltraneja hwäˈnä lä bĕltränāˈhä [key], 1462–1530, Castilian princess, daughter of Juana of Portugal, queen of Henry IV of Castile. Her paternity was generally attributed to the co...

Mortimer, Edmund de, 5th earl of March and 3d earl of Ulster

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Edmund de, 5th earl of March and 3d earl of Ulster, 1391–1425, English nobleman, son of Roger de Mortimer, 4th earl of March. He succeeded (1398) his father not only as earl of March and U...

Celestine V, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Celestine V, Saint, 1215–96, pope (elected July 5, resigned Dec. 13, 1294), an Italian (b. Isernia) named Pietro del Murrone; successor of Nicholas IV. Celestine's election ended a two-year deadlock...

Tommaso da Modena

(Encyclopedia)Tommaso da Modena, c.14th–15th cent., Italian painter. He painted 40 panels for a Dominican chapter house (San Nicolo, Treviso) that depicted monks engaged in reading, writing, and prayer. On a comm...

Rafa

(Encyclopedia)Rafa or Rafah both: räˈfä [key], town in the present Gaza Strip on the Egyptian border. The ancient name was Raphia. There in 217 b.c., Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus III. ...