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Henry IV, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1553–1610, king of France (1589–1610) and, as Henry III, of Navarre (1572–1610), son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret; first of the Bourbon kings of France. Henry's marri...

North, Sir Dudley

(Encyclopedia)North, Sir Dudley, 1641–91, English merchant and economist. Agent for the Turkey Company in Constantinople from 1662 to 1680, he returned to England a wealthy man and was commissioner of the customs...

Shapur III

(Encyclopedia)Shapur III or Sapor III, d. 388, king of Persia (383–88), of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty; son of Shapur II; successor of his uncle, Ardashir II. He made a new attempt to settle the long-last...

Mary Queen of Scots

(Encyclopedia)Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart), 1542–87, only child of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Through her grandmother Margaret Tudor, Mary had the strongest claim to the throne of England after t...

Jagiello

(Encyclopedia)Jagiello yägĕˈlō [key], dynasty that ruled Poland and Lithuania from 1386 to 1572, Hungary from 1440 to 1444 and again from 1490 to 1526, and Bohemia from 1471 to 1526. It took its name from Ladis...

Gibbons, Grinling

(Encyclopedia)Gibbons, Grinling, 1648–1721, English wood carver and sculptor, b. Rotterdam. From the reign of Charles II to that of George I he was master wood carver to the crown. Sir Christopher Wren employed h...

Manning, Olivia

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Olivia, 1911–80, English novelist, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire. During World War II she served as a journalist in the Middle East. She is best known for her “Balkan trilogy”: The Great For...

Leo IV, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV, Saint, d. 855, pope (847–55), a Roman; successor of Sergius II. He had seen the Saracen attack on Rome (846), and to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its suburbs. He built a ...

Holy League

(Encyclopedia)Holy League, in Italian history, alliance formed (1510–11) by Pope Julius II during the Italian Wars for the purpose of expelling Louis XII of France from Italy, thereby consolidating papal power. V...

John III, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John III (John Ducas Vatatzes) do͝oˈkəs vətătˈzēz [key], d. 1254, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1222–54), successor and son-in-law of Theodore I. He extended his territory in Asia Minor and th...