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chansons de geste

(Encyclopedia)chansons de geste shäNsôNˈ də zhĕst [key] [Fr.,=songs of deeds], a group of epic poems of medieval France written from the 11th through the 13th cent. Varying in length from 1,000 to 20,000 lines...

Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, comte de dônäsyăNˈ älfôNsˈ fräNswäˈ kôNt də säd [key], 1740–1814, French writer and libertine. He is known as the marquis de Sade —the title he held...

Monts, Pierre du Gua, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Monts, Pierre du Gua, sieur de pyĕr dü gwä syör də môN [key], c.1560–c.1630, French colonizer in North America. A wealthy Huguenot and a favorite of Henry IV, he was the holder of a trade mono...

Delibes, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Delibes, Miguel mēgĕlˈ dālēˈbās [key], 1920–2010, Spanish novelist, short-story writer, and journalist, b. Valladolid. Prolific and widely translated, he is known for his descriptions of prov...

Roman de la Rose, Le

(Encyclopedia)Roman de la Rose, Le lə rōmäNˈ də lä rōz [key], French poem of 22,000 lines in eight-syllable couplets. It is in two parts. The first (4,058 lines) was written (c.1237) by Guillaume de Lorris a...

Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan

(Encyclopedia)Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan lĕˈ fənyo͞o [key], 1814–73, Irish author. He spent his early career as a journalist. In 1863, he began producing a series of stories noted for their reflections of Irish...

Aratus, Greek statesman and general

(Encyclopedia)Aratus, d. 213 b.c., Greek statesman and general of Sicyon, prime mover and principal leader of the Second Achaean League. His objective at first was to free the Peloponnesus from Macedonian dominatio...

Eglon

(Encyclopedia)Eglon ĕgˈlŏn [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Moab. He was murdered by Ehud, who became judge of Israel. 2 City, ancient Palestine, near Lachish. It was one of the cities allied against Joshua, who d...

Fuertes, Louis Agassiz

(Encyclopedia)Fuertes, Louis Agassiz fo͞oĕrˈtēs [key], 1874–1927, American artist and naturalist, b. Ithaca, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1897. His paintings of birds appear in most of the leading American ornitholog...

Vardaman, James Kimble

(Encyclopedia)Vardaman, James Kimble, 1861–1930, U.S. political leader, b. near Edna, Jackson co., Tex. Admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1881, he practiced law and was a newspaper editor before entering politic...
 

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