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Breton Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Breton Succession, War of the, 1341–65, an important episode of the Hundred Years War. Duke John III of Brittany died in 1341 without heirs. The succession was contested by his half-brother, John de...

Renan, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Renan, Ernest ĕrnĕstˈ rənäNˈ [key], 1823–92, French historian and critic. He began training for the priesthood but renounced it in 1845. His first trip to Italy (1849) influenced his interest ...

Dalberg, Emmerich Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Dalberg, Emmerich Joseph (Emeric Joseph, duc de Dalberg) ĕmərēkˈ zhōzĕfˈ dälbârkˈ [key], 1773–1833, French diplomat of German origin; nephew of Karl Theodor von Dalberg. The foreign minist...

Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Barras, Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de pōl fräNswäˈ zhäN nēkōläˈ, vēkôNtˈ də bäräˈ [key], 1755–1829, French revolutionary. Although of a noble family, he joined the Jacobins...

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de zhäN bätēstˈ lə mwän syör də byăNvēlˈ [key], 1680–1768, colonizer and governor of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (on the site of Montreal), Canada; ...

Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de zhôrzh lwē ləklĕrkˈ kôNt də büfôNˈ [key], 1707–88, French naturalist and author. From 1739 he was keeper of the Jardin du Roi (later the Jardin des ...

Ramelli, Agostino

(Encyclopedia)Ramelli, Agostino ägōstēˈnō rämĕlˈlē [key], c.1531–c.1600, Italian engineer who served in the armies of the marquis de Marignan and of the duc d'Anjou (later Henry III of France). His book,...

Cluny Museum

(Encyclopedia)Cluny Museum, 14th- and 15th-century Gothic and Renaissance structure in Paris, built by Pierre de Chaslus, abbot of Cluny, and rebuilt by Jacques d'Ambroise. The site is that of the ancient Roman bat...

Rivette, Jacques Pierre Louis

(Encyclopedia)Rivette, Jacques Pierre Louis, 1928–2016, French filmmaker and critic b. Rouen. One of the French New Wave directors of the 1950s and 60s, he wrote criticism for the influential journal Cahiers du C...

Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de shärl kôlbĕrˈ märkē də krwäsēˈ [key], c.1625–96, French diplomat, brother of Jean Baptiste Colbert. He entered the service of Cardinal Mazarin and fill...

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