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Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, duc de (Cardinal Richelieu) plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1585–1642, French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII, cardinal of the Ro...

Zrinyi

(Encyclopedia)Zrinyi zrĭnˈyē [key], noble Hungarian family of Croatian origin. Nicholas Zrinyi, 1508–66, distinguished himself in the defense of Vienna (1529) against Sultan Sulayman I, took part in the campai...

abdication

(Encyclopedia)abdication, in a political sense, renunciation of high public office, usually by a monarch. Some abdications have been purely voluntary and resulted in no loss of prestige. For instance, Holy Roman Em...

Lucera

(Encyclopedia)Lucera lo͞ochĕˈrä [key], town (1991 pop. 35,615), Apulia, S Italy. It is an agricultural and industrial center. Already important in the 4th cent. b.c., the town was destroyed by the Byzantines in...

Sforza

(Encyclopedia)Sforza sfôrˈtsä [key], Italian family that ruled the duchy of Milan from 1450 to 1535. Rising from peasant origins, the Sforzas became condottieri and used this military position to become rulers i...

Adrian VI, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian VI, 1459–1523, pope (1522–23), a Netherlander (b. Utrecht) named Adrian Florensz; successor of Leo X. He taught at Louvain and was tutor of the young prince, later Holy Roman Emperor Charle...

Bucer, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Bucer or Butzer, Martin byo͞oˈsər, bo͞otˈsər [key], 1491–1551, German Protestant reformer born Martin Kuhhorn. At 14 years of age he joined the Dominican order, and he studied at Heidelberg, w...

Mieszko I

(Encyclopedia)Mieszko I –chĭsläf [key], c.922–992, duke of Poland (962–92), the first important member of the Piast dynasty. The first German invasions of Poland began in 963. To avert this threat, Mieszko ...

Foggia

(Encyclopedia)Foggia fôdˈjä [key], city, capital of Foggia prov., in Apulia, S Italy. It is a transporta...

Giesebrecht, Wilhelm von

(Encyclopedia)Giesebrecht, Wilhelm von vĭlˈhĕlm fən gēˈzəbrĕkht [key], 1814–89, German historian. A gifted student of Ranke, he later taught at the Univ. of Königsberg. His Geschichte der deutschen Kaise...
 

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