Columbia Encyclopedia

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Este ĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took ...

(Encyclopedia) Augereau, Pierre François Charles pyĕr fräNswäˈ shärl ōzhərōˈ [key], 1757–1816, marshal of France. He fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and was a principal in the coup...

(Encyclopedia) Ladislaus I, 1260–1333, duke (1306–20) and later king (1320–33) of Poland; called Ladislaus the Short. He restored the Polish kingdom, which had been partitioned since 1138 (see Piast). In his c...

(Encyclopedia) Ladislaus Herman lädˈĭslousˌ hĕrˈmän [key], 1040–1102, duke of Poland (1079–1102), brother and successor of Boleslaus II. His rule was one of weakness and decline. At his death the kingdom ...

(Encyclopedia) Lannes, Jean zhäN län [key], 1769–1809, marshal of France. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I) in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, supported his coup of 18 Brumaire, and disti...

(Encyclopedia) McDougall, William, 1871–1938, American psychologist, b. Lancashire, England, educated at Cambridge, Oxford, and Gottingen. An important figure in the development of social and physiological psychol...

(Encyclopedia) Broederlam, Melchior mĕlˈkhēôr bröˈdərläm [key], active c.1381–1409, Franco-Flemish painter. Broederlam was among the first practitioners of the International Gothic style (see Gothic archit...

(Encyclopedia) Detaille, Jean Baptiste Édouard zhäN bäptēstˈ ādwärˈ dətäyˈ [key], 1848–1912, French painter. He studied under J. L. E. Meissonier and served in the Franco-Russian war. From this backgrou...

(Encyclopedia) Diaz, Armando ärmänˈdō dēˈäts [key], 1861–1928, Italian field marshal. In World War I he replaced (1917) Cadorna as chief Italian commander. He defeated (1918) the disintegrating Austro-Hunga...