Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cleves, duchy of, former state, W Germany, on both sides of the lower Rhine, bordering on the Netherlands. Cleves was the capital. A county from late Carolingian times, it acquired (late 14th cent.) t...

(Encyclopedia) Bute, John Stuart, 3d earl of byo͞ot [key], 1713–92, British politician. He was prominent as a friend of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, as early as 1747 and became the tutor of Frederick's impre...

(Encyclopedia) Seven Years War, 1756–63, worldwide war fought in Europe, North America, and India between France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and (after 1762) Spain on the one side and Prussia, Great Britain,...

(Encyclopedia) Charles I (Charles of Anjou), 1227–85, king of Naples and Sicily (1266–85), count of Anjou and Provence, youngest brother of King Louis IX of France. He took part in Louis's crusades to Egypt (124...

(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) Waldemar I (Waldemar the Great) wälˈdəmär [key], 1131–82, king of Denmark (1157–82). In 1147, Waldemar, Sweyn III, and Canute (son of Magnus the Strong and grandson of King Niels) each claimed...

(Encyclopedia) Louis II or Louis the Stammerer, 846–79, French king. He succeeded (877) his father, Emperor of the West Charles II, as king. On Louis's death his kingdom was divided between his sons Carloman and L...

(Encyclopedia) Jülich yüˈlĭkh [key], former duchy, Germany, between Cologne and Aachen. At first a county, Jülich was raised to a duchy in 1356, and in 1423 it was united with the county of Berg. After the exti...

(Encyclopedia) John of Luxemburg, 1296–1346, king of Bohemia (1310–46). The son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, he married Elizabeth, sister of Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, and in 1310 he was chosen king of Bohem...

(Encyclopedia) Württemberg vürˈtəmbĕrkˌ [key], former state, SW Germany. Württemberg was formerly also spelled Würtemberg and Wirtemberg. The former state bordered on Baden in the northwest, west, and southw...