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Worcester, Edward Somerset, 6th earl and 2d marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Worcester, Edward Somerset, 6th earl and 2d marquess of wo͝osˈtər [key], 1601?–1667, English soldier and inventor. Known as Lord Herbert after 1628, he received the title earl of Glamorgan in 164...

Westminster, Statutes of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, Statutes of, in medieval English history, legislative promulgations made by Edward I in Parliament at Westminster. Westminster I (1275) practically constitutes a code of law; it covers a ...

Philip VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip VI, 1293–1350, king of France (1328–50), son of Charles of Valois and grandson of King Philip III. He succeeded his cousin Charles IV, invoking the Salic law to set aside both Charles's dau...

communistic settlements

(Encyclopedia)communistic settlements, communities practicing common ownership of goods. Communistic settlements were known in ancient and medieval times, but the flowering of such groups occurred in the 19th cent....

Robert II, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert II, 1316–90, king of Scotland (1371–90), nephew and successor of David II. He was the first sovereign of the house of Stuart, or Stewart (see Stuart, family), which eventually succeeded to ...

Wallace, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Wallace, Sir William, 1272?–1305, Scottish soldier and national hero. The first historical record of Wallace's activities concerns the burning of Lanark by Wallace and 30 men in May, 1297, and the s...

Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, Scottish royal family descended from an 11th-century Norman duke, Robert de Brus. He aided William I in his conquest of England (1066) and was given lands in England. His son was granted fiefs ...

Calais

(Encyclopedia)Calais kälāˈ [key], city, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France, in Picardy, on the Straits of Dov...

Seymour, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Seymour, Jane, 1509?–1537, third queen consort of Henry VIII of England. She served as a lady in waiting to both of Henry's first two queens, Katharine of Aragón and Anne Boleyn. Henry became inter...

Montfort, Simon de, earl of Leicester

(Encyclopedia)Montfort, Simon de, earl of Leicester, 1208?–1265, leader of the baronial revolt against Henry III of England. By 1258 Simon was an active member of the baronial opposition that forced the king to...