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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...

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...

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...

Innocent I, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Innocent I, Saint, d. 417, pope (401–17), an Italian; successor of St. Anastasius I. A powerful champion of papal supremacy in the entire Church, he upheld St. John Chrysostom and condemned Pelagius...

Pius V, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Pius V, Saint, 1504–72, pope (1566–72), an Italian named Michele Ghislieri, b. near Alessandria; successor of Pius IV. He was ordained in the Dominicans (1528) and became celebrated for his auster...

John Paul II, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John Paul II, Saint 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (15...

Saint Peter's Church

(Encyclopedia)Saint Peter's Church, Vatican City, principal and one of the largest churches of the Christian world. The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican c...

Paul IV

(Encyclopedia)Paul IV, 1476–1559, pope (1555–59), a Neapolitan named Gian Pietro Carafa; successor of Marcellus II. First superior of the Theatines (see Cajetan, Saint), he was sternly ascetic. A leading reform...

Theodore of Studium, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Theodore of Studium, Saint sto͞oˈdēəm [key], 759–826, Byzantine Greek monastic reformer, also called St. Theodore the Studite. As an abbot he was early exiled for opposing the marriage of Empero...

Lateran Council, Fifth

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Council, Fifth, 1512–17, 18th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by Pope Julius II and continued by his successor Leo X. Julius called the council to counter an attemp...