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Escorial

(Encyclopedia)Escorial ĕskyo͝orˈēəl [key], monastery and palace, in New Castile, central Spain, near Madrid. One of the finest edifices in Europe, it was built (1563–84) as the monastery of San Lorenzo del E...

Guy of Lusignan

(Encyclopedia)Guy of Lusignan lüsēnyäNˈ [key], d. 1194, Latin king of Jerusalem (1186–92) and Cyprus (1192–94), second husband of Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. In 1183 he was briefly rege...

Maurice, duke and elector of Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Maurice, 1521–53, duke (1541–47) and elector (1547–53) of Saxony. A member of the Albertine branch of the ruling house of Saxony, he became duke of Albertine Saxony during the Protestant Reforma...

Marie de' Medici

(Encyclopedia)Marie de' Medici mĕdˈĭchē [key], 1573–1642, queen of France, second wife of King Henry IV and daughter of Francesco de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany. She was married to Henry in 1600. After his...

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...

Ward, William George

(Encyclopedia)Ward, William George, 1812–82, English Roman Catholic apologist, educated at Oxford. He became (1834) a fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, and was ordained in the Church of England. At first a Broad...

McGwire, Mark David

(Encyclopedia)McGwire, Mark David məgwīrˈ [key], 1963–, American baseball player, b. Pomona, Calif. A muscular first baseman who was a college and Olympic (1984) star, McGwire broke into the American League as...

Fragonard, Jean-Honoré

(Encyclopedia)Fragonard, Jean-Honoré zhäN-ōnôrāˈ frägônärˈ [key], 1732–1806, French painter. He studied with Chardin, Carle Vanloo, and intensively with Boucher, whose style he assimilated. He won the P...

Sannazaro, Jacopo

(Encyclopedia)Sannazaro, Jacopo yäˈkōpō sän-nätsäˈrō [key], 1456?–1530, Italian humanist. He lived briefly (1501–4) in France, a follower of the exiled Frederick III of Naples. On Frederick's death, he...

Ksar el Kebir

(Encyclopedia)Ksar el Kebir ksär ĕl kĕbĭrˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 107,065), N Morocco. The name also appears as Alcazarquivir and Al Qasr al Kabir. Near the city on Aug. 4, 1578, the Moroccans soundly defeated...
 

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