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Bulgarian literature

(Encyclopedia)Bulgarian literature. For early ecclesiastical writings, see Church Slavonic. Modern Bulgarian literature stems from the work of Father Paisi, who in 1762 began his history of the Slav Bulgarians. The...

Murad III

(Encyclopedia)Murad III, 1546–95, Ottoman sultan (1574–95), son and successor of Selim II. He was dominated by his harem, and although his generals were successful against Persia, his reign marked the beginning...

Romanus II

(Encyclopedia)Romanus II, 939–63, Byzantine emperor (959–63), son and successor of Constantine VII. A profligate, he came under the domination of his second wife, Theophano. She, along with the eunuch Joseph Br...

Ahmed II

(Encyclopedia)Ahmed II, 1642–95, Ottoman sultan (1691–95), brother and successor of Sulayman II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Soon after his reign began, the Turkish defeat at Slankamen, Serbia ...

Edessa

(Encyclopedia)Edessa ĭdĕsˈə [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, on the site of modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It emerged in the 4th cent. b.c. as Orrhoe, or Arrhoe, and was later named Edessa by Seleucus I of Syri...

Mersen, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Mersen, Treaty of, 870, redivision of the Carolingian empire by the sons of Louis I, Charles the Bald (later Charles II) of the West Franks (France) and Louis the German of the East Franks (Germany), ...

Lascaris

(Encyclopedia)Lascaris lăsˈkərĭs [key], family name of the Greek emperors of Nicaea (see Nicaea, empire of). The empire was founded in 1204 by Theodore I, a son-in-law of Alexius III (Alexius Angelus). Theodore...

Percier, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Percier, Charles shärl pĕrsyāˈ [key], 1764–1838, French architect. He won (1786) the Grand Prix de Rome, and in 1794 he became associated with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. Napoleon appoin...

Sviatoslav

(Encyclopedia)Sviatoslav or Svyatoslav both: svyäˈtəsləv [key], d. 972, duke of Kiev (945–72), son of Igor and of St. Olga. His mother acted as regent for him until c.962, when he came of age. During his reig...

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