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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 ...

Etruscan civilization

(Encyclopedia)Etruscan civilization, highest civilization in Italy before the rise of Rome. The core of the territory of the Etruscans, known as Etruria to the Latins, was northwest of the Tiber River, now in moder...

Carthage, ancient city, N Africa

(Encyclopedia)Carthage kärˈthĭj [key], ancient city, on the northern shore of Africa, on a peninsula in the Bay of Tunis and near modern Tunis. The Latin name, Carthago or Cartago, was derived from the Phoenicia...

Florence, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)Florence flôrˈəns, flŏrˈ– [key], Ital. Firenze, city (2021 est. metro area pop.709,064...

Vienna, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Vienna, Congress of, Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I. Although the territo...

Naples, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Naples, kingdom of, former state, occupying the Italian peninsula south of the former Papal States. It comprised roughly the present regions of Campania, Abruzzi, Molise, Basilicata, Apulia, and Calab...

Napoleon III

(Encyclopedia)Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808–73, emperor of the French (1852–70), son of Louis Bonaparte (see under Bonaparte, family), king of Holland. Napoleon III was a complex figure. H...

wine

(Encyclopedia)wine, alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of the juice of the grape. Wine is so ancient that its origin is unknown. The earliest archaeological evidence of winemaking dates to 8,000 years ago,...

Hapsburg

(Encyclopedia)Hapsburg or Habsburg both: hăpsˈbûrg, Ger. häpsˈbo͝ork [key], ruling house of Austria (1282–1918). In the 19th cent. the Hapsburg position was challenged in Germany by Prussia, in Italy b...

Charles V, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Charles V, 1500–1558, Holy Roman emperor (1519–58) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516–56); son of Philip I and Joanna of Castile, grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragón, Isabella of Castile, Ho...