Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Peter II, 1648–1706, king of Portugal (1683–1706), younger son of John IV; brother and successor of Alfonso VI. In 1667, he seized power from his incompetent brother and ruled the country as princ...

(Encyclopedia) Necho nēˈkō [key], 609–593 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, 2d ruler of the XXVI dynasty, the son and successor of Psamtik and grandson of Necho, lord of Saïs. Necho took advantage of the confusion ...

(Encyclopedia) Alfonso II (Alfonso the Chaste), 759–842, Spanish king of Asturias (791–842), grandson of Alfonso I. He established his capital at Oviedo, which his father, Fruela I, had founded. Continuing the s...

(Encyclopedia) René rənāˈ [key], 1409–80, king of Naples (1435–80; rival claimant to Alfonso V of Aragón and Ferdinand I of Naples), duke of Anjou, Bar, and Lorraine, count of Provence. He was also called R...

(Encyclopedia) Leopold II, 1835–1909, king of the Belgians (1865–1909), son and successor of Leopold I. His reign saw great industrial and colonial expansion. In 1876 he organized, with the help of H. M. Stanley...

(Encyclopedia) Charles III or Charles the Fat, 839–88, emperor of the West (881–87), king of the East Franks (882–87), and king of the West Franks (884–87); son of Louis the German, at whose death he inherit...

(Encyclopedia) Emmanuel Philibert āmänˈwĕl fēlēbĕrˈ [key], 1528–80, duke of Savoy (1553–80), called Ironhead. He succeeded his father, Charles III, who had been dispossessed of his duchy by Francis I of ...

(Encyclopedia) Sihanouk, Norodom nōrōdŭmˈ sĭhənŭkˈ [key], 1922–2012, king of Cambodia (1941–55, 1993–2004), b. Phnom Penh. Sihanouk was educated in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Paris and was elect...

(Encyclopedia) States-General or Estates-General, diet or national assembly in which the chief estates (see estate) of a nation—usually clergy, nobles, and towns (or commons)—were represented as separate bodies....

(Encyclopedia) Lebrun, Charles François ləbröNˈ [key], 1739–1824, French statesman. A moderate member of the Constituent Assembly after the start of the French Revolution, he was imprisoned during the Reign o...