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William IV, king of Great Britain and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)William IV, 1765–1837, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1830–37), third son of George III. He went to sea in 1779, served under Admiral George Rodney in action off Cape St. Vincent (1780), and b...

divine right

(Encyclopedia)divine right, doctrine that sovereigns derive their right to rule by virtue of their birth alone—a right based on the law of God and of nature. Authority is transmitted to a ruler from his ancestors...

Eudes

(Encyclopedia)Eudes ōˈdō [key], c.860–898, count of Paris, French king (888–898). The son of Robert the Strong, he was an antecedent of the Capetian royal house in France. He defended Paris against the Norse...

Roderick

(Encyclopedia)Roderick rŏdˈərĭk [key], d. 711?, last Visigothic king in Spain (710–711?). After the death of King Witiza, a group of nobles chose Roderick, duke of Baetica, as successor to the king. Having de...

Davenport, John

(Encyclopedia)Davenport, John, 1597–1670, Puritan clergyman, one of the founders of New Haven, Conn., b. Coventry, England, educated at Merton and Magdalen colleges, Oxford. Starting as a Church of England cleric...

Santa Gertrudis cattle

(Encyclopedia)Santa Gertrudis cattle, breed of beef cattle derived from crosses between Shorthorn cows (see Shorthorn cattle) and Brahman bulls (see Brahman cattle); the breed was developed by Robert J. Kleberg, Jr...

Overbury, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Overbury, Sir Thomas, 1581–1613, English author and courtier. He was a friend and adviser to Robert Carr, an Oxford acquaintance. The two quarreled violently when Overbury disapproved of Carr's marr...

Estienne

(Encyclopedia)Estienne, Étienne stĕfˈənəs [key], family of Parisian and Genevan printers of the 16th and 17th cent., distinguished through five generations in scholarship as well as in their craft. The first ...

George II, king of Great Britain and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)George II (George Augustus), 1683–1760, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1727–60), son and successor of George I. Though devoted to Hanover, of which he was elector, George was more active in th...

Lancelot, king of Naples

(Encyclopedia)Lancelot lădˈĭslôs, –ləs [key], c.1376–1414, king of Naples (1386–1414), son and successor of Charles III. Almost his entire reign was consumed by his struggle with the Angevin rival king o...