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Slovak literature

(Encyclopedia)Slovak literature. The earliest documents written in the Slovak language date from the 15th cent. Following the Czech Hussite movement, many Czech cultural leaders emigrated to Slovakia (16th cent.); ...

Australian Ballet

(Encyclopedia)Australian Ballet, national ballet company of Australia, founded in Melbourne in 1962; its school was established in 1964. The company drew on the tradition established (1940) by Edouard Borovansky of...

Henry IV, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1050–1106, Holy Roman emperor (1084–1105) and German king (1056–1105), son and successor of Henry III. He was the central figure in the opening stages of the long struggle between the ...

Este, Italian noble family

(Encyclopedia)Este ĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took ...

Steinmetz, Charles Proteus

(Encyclopedia)Steinmetz, Charles Proteus stīnˈmĕts [key], 1865–1923, American electrical engineer, b. Breslau, Germany, studied at the Univ. of Breslau. Forced to flee Germany because of his socialist activiti...

Adolf of Nassau

(Encyclopedia)Adolf of Nassau näˈsou [key], d. 1298, duke of Luxembourg, German king (1292–98). He owed his election to the ecclesiastical electors, who, fearing the growing power and ambition of the Hapsburgs,...

Louis II, king of Hungary and Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Louis II, 1506–26, king of Hungary and Bohemia (1516–26), son and successor of Uladislaus II. He was the last of the Jagiello dynasty in the two kingdoms. In the face of intensified attacks by Sul...

Maximilian II, 1811–64, king of Bavaria

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian II, 1811–64, king of Bavaria (1848–64), son and successor of Louis I. He had liberal tendencies and was a patron of art and learning. He hoped to create a union of small German states u...

Manuel II, 1889–1932, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Manuel II, 1889–1932, king of Portugal (1908–10), second son of Charles I. He succeeded to the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother, but in Oct., 1910, a revolution dethr...

Mary II, 1662–94, queen of England

(Encyclopedia)Mary II, 1662–94, queen of England, wife of William III. The daughter of James II by his first wife, Anne Hyde, she was brought up a Protestant despite her father's adoption of Roman Catholicism. In...