Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Diane de France dyän də fräNs [key], 1538–1619, duchess of Angoulême; illegitimate daughter of King Henry II of France. She was legitimized in 1547. She was married to François, eldest son of C...

(Encyclopedia) Portsmouth, Louise Renée de Kéroualle, duchess of lwēz rənāˈ də kāro͞oälˈ [key], 1649–1734, French mistress of Charles II of England. She exerted a powerful influence over the king in fav...

(Encyclopedia) Wenceslaus II, 1271–1305, king of Bohemia (1278–1305) and of Poland (1300–1305), son and successor of Ottocar II. From the death (1278) of his father until 1283 the regency was exercised by Otto...

(Encyclopedia) Amadeus VIII ămədēˈəs [key], 1383–1451, count (1391–1416) and duke (from 1416) of Savoy, antipope (1439–49) with the name Felix V. In 1434 he appointed his son regent of Savoy and retired t...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand VII, 1784–1833, king of Spain (1808–33), son of Charles IV and María Luisa. Excluded from a role in the government, he became the center of intrigues against the chief minister Godoy an...

(Encyclopedia) Luynes, Charles d'Albert, duc de shärl dälbĕrˈ dük də lüēnˈ [key], 1578–1621, constable of France, minister and favorite of King Louis XIII. With the king's collaboration he caused the assa...

(Encyclopedia) Ockeghem, Johannes yōhänˈəs ŏkˈəgĕm [key], c.1410–1497, Flemish composer. Ockeghem is thought to have been a pupil of Gilles Binchois and was definitely taught by Guillaume Dufay. He himself...

(Encyclopedia) Mersen, Treaty of, 870, redivision of the Carolingian empire by the sons of Louis I, Charles the Bald (later Charles II) of the West Franks (France) and Louis the German of the East Franks (Germany), ...

(Encyclopedia) Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV. Henry abandoned his early recklessness (celebrated and probably exaggerated by Shakespeare) and ruled with justice...

(Encyclopedia) James I, 1566–1625, king of England (1603–25) and, as James VI, of Scotland (1567–1625). James's reign witnessed the beginnings of English colonization in North America (Jamestown was founded in...