Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Le Brun, Charles lə bröNˈ [key], 1619–90, French painter, decorator, and architect. He studied with Vouet and in Rome. Strongly influenced by Poussin, he returned in 1646 to Paris, where he grad...

(Encyclopedia) Louis XII, 1462–1515, king of France (1498–1515), son of Charles, duc d'Orléans. He succeeded his father as duke. While still duke, he rebelled against the regency of Anne de Beaujeu and was impr...

(Encyclopedia) Alfonso III, 1210–79, king of Portugal (1248–79), son of Alfonso II, brother and successor of Sancho II. By his marriage with Matilda, countess of Boulogne, he became count of Boulogne and thus wa...

(Encyclopedia) Family Compact, several alliances between France and Spain in the form of agreements between the French and Spanish branches of the Bourbon family. The first of the three compacts, the Treaty of the E...

(Encyclopedia) Breton Succession, War of the, 1341–65, an important episode of the Hundred Years War. Duke John III of Brittany died in 1341 without heirs. The succession was contested by his half-brother, John de...

(Encyclopedia) Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of rŏkˈĭng-əm [key], 1730–82, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the “king's fri...

(Encyclopedia) Emmanuel Philibert āmänˈwĕl fēlēbĕrˈ [key], 1528–80, duke of Savoy (1553–80), called Ironhead. He succeeded his father, Charles III, who had been dispossessed of his duchy by Francis I of ...

(Encyclopedia) Favart, Charles Simon shärl sēmôNˈ fävärˈ [key], 1710–92, French dramatist and theatrical manager, for a time director of the Opéra-Comique. He was the originator of the modern light opera a...

(Encyclopedia) Francis II, 1435–88, duke of Brittany. He succeeded (1458) his uncle Arthur III. In his struggle with the French crown for the independence of his duchy, Francis entered (1465) the League of the Pub...

(Encyclopedia) Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the ...