Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Leopold III, 1901–83, king of the Belgians (1934–51), son and successor of Albert I. In 1936, Leopold announced a fundamental change in foreign policy; Belgium abandoned its military alliance with...

(Encyclopedia) Robert I, c.865–923, French king (922–23), son of Count Robert the Strong and younger brother of King Eudes. He inherited from Eudes the territory between the Seine and the Loire rivers. In 922, R...

(Encyclopedia) Prajadhipok räˈ mä [key], 1893–1941, king of Siam (1925–35). He was educated in England and France. He succeeded his brother Rama VI, and in 1932 a coup forced him to grant a constitution, whic...

(Encyclopedia) Otto I, 1815–67, first king of the Hellenes (1833–62). The second son of King Louis I of Bavaria, he was chosen (1832) by a conference of European powers at London to rule newly independent Greece...

(Encyclopedia) Île-de-France ēl-də-fräNs [key], region and former province, N central France, in the center of the Paris basin, a fertile depression where the Marne and Ouse rivers join the Seine. Containing par...

(Encyclopedia) Thibaut IV tēbōˈ [key], 1201–53, French trouvère, count of Champagne. He became Thibaut I, king of Navarre, in 1234, succeeding his uncle Sancho VII. He was defeated while leading a Crusade (123...

(Encyclopedia) Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339). His oldest so...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Peter III (Peter the Great), 1239?–1285, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1276–85) and king of Sicily (1282–85); son and successor of James I. In 1280 he established Aragonese influence o...

(Encyclopedia) Charles the Bad: see Charles II, king of Navarre. ...