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Joan of Kent

(Encyclopedia)Joan of Kent, 1328–85, English noblewoman; daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I. She early gained wide note for her beauty and charm, though the appellation Fair M...

Beatrix

(Encyclopedia)Beatrix bēˈətrĭks, bē-ăˈtrĭks [key], 1938–, queen of the Netherlands (1980–2013). The oldest daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, she rece...

Douglas, Archibald, 5th earl of Angus

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Archibald, 5th earl of Angus, 1449–1514, Scottish nobleman. He was a member of the faction that allied with Edward IV of England in opposition to the influence of Robert Cochrane, favorite ...

Funes, Mauricio

(Encyclopedia)Funes, Mauricio (Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena), 1959–, Salvadoran journalist and politician, president of El Salvador (2009–14). A television reporter, he became known for his news reporting an...

patriarch, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)patriarch pāˈtrēärk [key], in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,...

Casimir IV

(Encyclopedia)Casimir IV, 1427–92, king of Poland (1447–92). He became (1440) ruler of Lithuania and in 1447 succeeded his brother Ladislaus III as king of Poland. He united the two nations more closely by plac...

Androuet du Cerceau

(Encyclopedia)Androuet du Cerceau äNdro͞o-āˈ dü sĕrsōˈ [key], family of French architects active in the 16th and 17th cent. It was founded by Jacques Androuet, c.1520–c.1584, surnamed du Cerceau [Fr.,=cir...

Mieris

(Encyclopedia)Mieris mēˈrĭs [key], family of Dutch genre and portrait painters of Leiden. Frans van Mieris, 1635–81, the most important, was the son of a goldsmith and pupil of Gerard Dou. His tiny, meticulous...

Panchatantra

(Encyclopedia)Panchatantra pŭnˌchətŭnˈtrə [key] [Sanskrit,=five treatises], anonymous collection of animal fables in Sanskrit literature, probably compiled before a.d. 500 (see Bidpai). The work, derived from...

Agamemnon

(Encyclopedia)Agamemnon ăˌgəmĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War; king of Mycenae (or Argos). He and Menelaus were sons of Atreus and suffered the curse laid upon Pe...