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Spoleto

(Encyclopedia)Spoleto spōlĕˈtō [key], city (1991 pop. 37,763), Umbria, central Italy. It is a light industrial and tourist center. An Umbrian and later an Etruscan town, the city flourished after being taken (2...

Margaret Maultasch

(Encyclopedia)Margaret Maultasch moulˈtäsh [key] [Ger.,=pocket mouth], 1318–69, countess of Tyrol, called the Ugly Duchess, probably because of her unattractive appearance, especially her mouth. When Margaret's...

Edward II

(Encyclopedia)Edward II, 1284–1327, king of England (1307–27), son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, called Edward of Carnarvon for his birthplace in Wales. When trouble threatened with the new king of Fran...

Danilo II

(Encyclopedia)Danilo II (Danilo Petrović-Njegoš), 1826–60, prince of Montenegro (1851–60). He secularized (1852) his principality (chiefly in order to be able to marry) and transferred his ecclesiastic functi...

Darius II

(Encyclopedia)Darius II, d. 404 b.c., king of ancient Persia (423?–404 b.c.); son of Artaxerxes I and a concubine, hence sometimes called Darius Nothus [Darius the bastard]. His rule was not popular or successful...

Aleksy II

(Encyclopedia)Aleksy II: see Alexy II.

Alexy II

(Encyclopedia)Alexy II or Aleksy II əlyĕkˈsē [key], 1929–2008, 15th patriarch of Moscow and all Russia (1990–2008), b. Estonia, as Aleksey Mikhailovich Ridiger. He spent 11 years as a Russian Orthodox paris...

Abdullah II

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah II äbdo͝olˈlä [key], 1962–, king of Jordan (1999–), b. Amman, educated at Sandhurst and Oxford in England and Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C. He joined (1984) the Jordanian militar...

Childebert II

(Encyclopedia)Childebert II, 570–95, Frankish king of Austrasia (575–95) and Burgundy (593–95), son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda. His mother actually ruled for him. Chaos and warfare marked his reign. ...

Christian II

(Encyclopedia)Christian II, 1481–1559, king of Denmark and Norway (1513–23) and Sweden (1520–23), son and successor of King John. After several unsuccessful attempts, he asserted claim to Sweden by force. How...