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Christian of Anhalt

(Encyclopedia)Christian of Anhalt, 1568–1630, prince of Anhalt (1603–30). He was a firm Calvinist and a skilled diplomat. As adviser to Frederick IV, elector palatine, he sought to build a strong Protestant all...

Troppau, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Troppau, Congress of trôpˈou [key], 1820, international conference convened at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia under the provisions of the Quadruple Alliance. The congress, which met at Tro...

Alfonso VI, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VI, 1643–83, king of Portugal (1656–83), son and successor of John IV. Slightly paralyzed and mentally defective, he led a dissolute youth until he came under the influence of the count of...

Martin, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Mary, 1913–90, American musical comedy star, b. Weatherford, Tex. From Martin's first stage appearance in Leave It to Me (1938), she starred in several enormously successful musicals, includ...

Prokopovich, Feofan

(Encyclopedia)Prokopovich, Feofan fāəfänˈ prəkəpôˈvĭch [key], 1681–1736, Russian churchman. He was appointed bishop by Czar Peter I to carry out his ecclesiastic reforms and wrote Spiritual Regulation (1...

Simancas

(Encyclopedia)Simancas sēmängˈkäs [key], village, Valladolid prov., NW Spain, in Castile and León. The castle, an old fort rebuilt in the 15th cent., contains the Spanish national archives. Begun by Ferdinand ...

Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf, 1858–89, Austrian archduke, crown prince of Austria and Hungary; only son of Emperor Francis Joseph and Empress Elizabeth. Upon his mysterious death at Mayerling near Vienna (officially decl...

Peter I, king of Aragón and Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Peter I, d. 1104, king of Aragón and Navarre (1094–1104), son and successor of Sancho I. He continued the fight against the Moors, taking (1096) Huesca and recapturing (1100) Barbastro. His brother...

Charles III, king of Spain, and of Naples and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles III, 1716–88, king of Spain (1759–88) and of Naples and Sicily (1735–59), son of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese. Recognized as duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1731, he relinquished the duc...

John XXI, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XXI, d. 1277, pope (1276–77), a Portuguese named Pedro Giuliano; successor of Adrian V. Known generally as Peter of Spain (Petrus Hispanus), he is the only Portuguese pope. Peter's reputation a...