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Drobeta-Turnu Severin

(Encyclopedia)Drobeta-Turnu Severin drōbēˈtĕ-to͝orˈno͞o sĕvĕrēnˈ [key], city, SW Romania...

Messalina

(Encyclopedia)Messalina (Valeria Messalina) mĕsəlīˈnə [key], d. a.d. 48, Roman empress, wife of Claudius I. She was the mother of his children, Britannicus and Octavia. Her reputation for greed and lust was su...

Byzantium

(Encyclopedia)Byzantium bīzănˈshēəm, –shəm, –tēəm [key], ancient city of Thrace, on the site of the present-day İstanbul, Turkey. Founded by Greeks from Megara in 667 b.c., it early rose to importance ...

Sylvester I, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Sylvester I, Saint, pope (314–35), a Roman; successor of St. Miltiades (St. Melchiades). He was pope under the reign of Emperor Constantine I, who built for him the Lateran and other churches. St. S...

Boadicea

(Encyclopedia)Boadicea bōˌədĭsēˈə [key], d. a.d. 61, British queen of the Iceni (of Norfolk), properly called Boudicca. Her husband, King Prasutagus, died in a.d. 59 or 60, leaving half his property to the R...

Eugene of Savoy

(Encyclopedia)Eugene of Savoy, 1663–1736, prince of the house of Savoy, general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire. Born in Paris, he was the son of Eugène, comte de Soissons of the line of Savoy-Carignano,...

Vehmgericht

(Encyclopedia)Vehmgericht fāˈmĭk [key], in medieval Germany, a type of criminal tribunal. The inability of the Holy Roman emperors to exercise effective central control over their lands and the extensive feudal ...

John III, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John III (John Ducas Vatatzes) do͝oˈkəs vətătˈzēz [key], d. 1254, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1222–54), successor and son-in-law of Theodore I. He extended his territory in Asia Minor and th...

John IV, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John IV (John Lascaris) lăsˈkərĭs [key], b. c.1250, d. after 1273, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1258–61), son and successor (under a regency) of Theodore II and last of the Lascarids. Michael Pa...

Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico (1864–67). As the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, he was denied a share in the imperial government by his reactionary brother, Emperor Francis Joseph...