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Rákóczy

(Encyclopedia)Rákóczy räˈkôtsĭ [key], noble Hungarian family that played an important role in the history of Transylvania and Hungary in the 17th and 18th cent. Sigismund Rákóczy, 1544–1608, was elected (...

Cambrai, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Cambrai, Treaty of, called the Ladies' Peace, treaty negotiated and signed in 1529 by Louise of Savoy, representing her son Francis I of France, and Margaret of Austria, representing her nephew Holy R...

Wettingen

(Encyclopedia)Wettingen vĕtˈĭng-ən [key], town (1990 pop. 17,706), Aargau canton, N Switzerland. It is the site of the Zürich power station and of industries that produce textiles and metal goods. In the town ...

abdication

(Encyclopedia)abdication, in a political sense, renunciation of high public office, usually by a monarch. Some abdications have been purely voluntary and resulted in no loss of prestige. For instance, Holy Roman Em...

Vehmgericht

(Encyclopedia)Vehmgericht fāˈmĭk [key], in medieval Germany, a type of criminal tribunal. The inability of the Holy Roman emperors to exercise effective central control over their lands and the extensive feudal ...

Frederick III, elector palatine

(Encyclopedia)Frederick III (Frederick the Pious), 1515–76, elector palatine (1559–76). The first German prince to accept Calvinism, he ordered the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) drawn up (see under Heidelberg). H...

Muhammad III, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad III or Mehmet III, 1567–1603, Ottoman sultan (1595–1603), son and successor of Murad III to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Muhammad, who was a provisional governor under his f...

Louis III, French king

(Encyclopedia)Louis III, c.863–882, French king, son of King Louis II. He became joint ruler with his brother Carloman on the death of Louis II (879), despite the attempts of Louis the Younger to become French ki...

Cambrai, League of

(Encyclopedia)Cambrai, League of, 1508–10, alliance formed by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, King Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, King Ferdinand V of Aragón, and several Italian city-states against the re...

Lyons, First Council of

(Encyclopedia)Lyons, First Council of lyôNˈ [key], 1245, 13th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened at Lyons, France, by Pope Innocent IV to deal with his struggle with Holy Roman Emperor Fred...