Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Murad II, 1403–51, Ottoman sultan (1421–51), son and successor of Muhammad I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He was opposed at his accession by a pretender, Mustafa, who rapidly gain...

(Encyclopedia) Alfonso VI, 1643–83, king of Portugal (1656–83), son and successor of John IV. Slightly paralyzed and mentally defective, he led a dissolute youth until he came under the influence of the count of...

(Encyclopedia) Troyes, Treaty of, 1420, agreement between Henry V of England, Charles VI of France, and Philip the Good of Burgundy. Its purpose, ultimately unsuccessful, was to settle the issues of the Hundred Year...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand VI, b. 1712 or 1713, d. 1759, king of Spain (1746–59), son of Philip V by his first queen, Marie Louise of Savoy. When Ferdinand succeeded his father, his stepmother, Elizabeth Farnese, lo...

(Encyclopedia) Stucley or Stukely, Thomas both: styo͞oˈklē [key], 1525?–1578, English adventurer. He was rumored to be an illegitimate son of Henry VIII. He was in the service of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerse...

(Encyclopedia) William III, 1650–1702, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1689–1702); son of William II, prince of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and of Mary, oldest daughte...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Leopold III or Saint Leopold, c.1073–1136, margrave of Austria (1095–1136). By his marriage (1106) with Agnes, widow of Duke Frederick I of Swabia (see Hohenstaufen), he became the stepfather of G...

(Encyclopedia) Andrew II, d. 1235, king of Hungary (1205–35), son of Bela III. He continued his predecessors' policy of transferring crown lands to the magnates, and the lesser nobles forced him to issue the Golde...

(Encyclopedia) Waddington, William Henry, 1826–94, French statesman and archaeologist, of English descent. Waddington was minister of education (1876–77) and was appointed foreign minister in 1877. He represente...