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Byatt, A. S.

(Encyclopedia)Byatt, A. S. (Antonia Susan Byatt) bīˈət [key], 1936–, British novelist; sister of Margaret Drabble. Educated at Cambridge, Bryn Mawr College, Pa., and Oxford, she is a noted critic and novelist ...

Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, Scottish royal family descended from an 11th-century Norman duke, Robert de Brus. He aided William I in his conquest of England (1066) and was given lands in England. His son was granted fiefs ...

Angevin

(Encyclopedia)Angevin ănˈjəvĭn [key] [Fr.,=of Anjou], name of two medieval dynasties originating in France. The first ruled over parts of France and over Jerusalem and England; the second ruled over parts of Fr...

Major, John, 1943–, British politician

(Encyclopedia)Major, John, 1943–, British statesman, b. John Major Ball. Raised in a working-class area of London, he was elected to Lambeth borough council (1968–71) and entered Parliament as a Conservative in...

Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duque de

(Encyclopedia)Alba or Alva, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duque de ălˈbə, ălˈvə, Span. both: fārnänˈdō älˈvärāth dā tōlāˈᵺō do͞oˈkā dā älˈvä [key], b. 1507 or 1508, d. 1582, Spanish gener...

Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy

(Encyclopedia)Philip the Bold, 1342–1404, duke of Burgundy (1363–1404); a younger son of King John II of France. He fought (1356) at Poitiers and shared his father's captivity in England. He was first made duke...

Parmigianino

(Encyclopedia)Parmigianino –jäˈnō [key], 1503–40, Italian painter and etcher, one of the most sensitive mannerist artists (see mannerism) and one of the period's finest draftsmen. His real name was Girolamo ...

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

(Encyclopedia)Mackintosh, Charles Rennie măkˈəntŏshˌ [key], 1868–1928, Scottish architect, artist, and furniture designer. Probably the greatest architect and designer Scotland has produced, he attempted to ...

Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of

(Encyclopedia)Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of, murder of French Protestants, or Huguenots, that began in Paris on Aug. 24, 1572. It was preceded, on Aug. 22, by an attempt, ordered by Catherine de' Medici, on ...

Paisley, Ian Richard Kyle

(Encyclopedia)Paisley, Ian Richard Kyle pāzˈlē [key], 1926–2014, Northern Irish religious and political leader. For many years a leading protagonist of militant Protestantism against Roman Catholicism in North...