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Boniface IX

(Encyclopedia)Boniface IX, c.1345–1404, pope (1389–1404), a Neapolitan named Pietro Tomacelli; successor of Urban VI. The Avignon antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII were his contemporaries during the Great...

Golden Bull

(Encyclopedia)Golden Bull, term translated from the Latin bulla aurea and generally referring to a bull (edict) with a golden seal. Golden bulls were promulgated by medieval Byzantine rulers and by Western European...

Cuvilliès, François de

(Encyclopedia)Cuvilliès, François de fräNswäˈ də küvēyĕsˈ [key], 1695–1768, French architect, decorator, and engraver. He introduced into Germany the rococo style of decoration then popular in France. H...

Bernard VII

(Encyclopedia)Bernard VII bĕrnärˈ [key], d. 1418, count of Armagnac, constable of France. As father-in-law of Charles d'Orléans he led the Armagnac faction (see Armagnacs and Burgundians) and from 1415 to 1418 ...

Montespan, Françoise Athénaïs, marquise de

(Encyclopedia)Montespan, Françoise Athénaïs, marquise de fräNswäzˈ ätānäēsˈ märkēzˈ də môNtəspäNˈ [key], 1641–1707, mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She was maid of honor to Queen Marie Th...

Guillaume, Charles Édouard

(Encyclopedia)Guillaume, Charles Édouard shärl ādwärˈ gēyōmˈ [key], 1861–1938, Swiss physicist and metrologist, Ph.D. Zürich Polytechnic (now the Federal Institute of Technology), 1882. Guillaume joined ...

Le Daim, Olivier

(Encyclopedia)Le Daim or Le Dain, Olivier both: ôlēvyāˈ lə dăN [key], d. 1484, favorite of King Louis XI of France. His original surname was Necker. Beginning as the king's barber and valet, he gained great i...

Laughton, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Laughton, Charles, 1899–1962, Anglo-American actor, b. Scarborough, England. A large, versatile character actor, Laughton was successful both in films and on the stage. In The Private Life of Henry ...

Charles II, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles II, 1661–1700, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily (1665–1700), son and successor of Philip IV. The last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, he was physically crippled and mentally retarded. His mothe...
 

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