Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rickey, Branch, 1881–1965, American baseball executive, b. Stockdale, Ohio. As manager or executive, he was with the St. Louis Browns (1913–15), the St. Louis Cardinals (1917–42), the Brooklyn D...

(Encyclopedia) Ryswick, Treaty of, 1697, the pact that ended the War of the Grand Alliance. Its signers were France on one side and England, Spain, and the Netherlands on the other. It was a setback for Louis XIV, w...

(Encyclopedia) Orléans, Gaston, duc d' dük dôrlāäNˈ [key], 1608–60, son of King Henry IV and Marie de' Medici, younger brother of Louis XIII. He took part in many of the conspiracies of the great nobles aga...

(Encyclopedia) Mondavi, Robert Gerald məndäˈvē [key], 1913–2008, American vintner who was in the forefront of establishing California as a major table-wine-producing region and wine as a staple of the American...

(Encyclopedia) Saumur sōmürˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 30,150), Maine-et-Loire dept., W France, on the Loire River. Saumur is noted for its religious-medal industry (dating from the 17th cent.) and for its sparkling...

(Encyclopedia) Philip V (Philip the Tall), c.1294–1322, king of France (1317–22), son of King Philip IV. He became regent in 1316 on the death of his brother Louis X, who was survived by his pregnant wife and in...

(Encyclopedia) Bourges bo͞orzh [key], city, capital of Cher dept., central France. It is a transportation c...

(Encyclopedia) Vanloo väNlōˈ, vänlōˈ [key], family of French painters of Dutch origin. Jacob or Jacques Vanloo, 1614–70, b. Holland, went to Paris in 1662, where he had great success as a portrait painter. H...

(Encyclopedia) Verdun, Treaty of, the partition of Charlemagne's empire among three sons of Louis I, emperor of the West. It was concluded in 843 at Verdun on the Meuse or, possibly, Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, Soâne-et-L...

(Encyclopedia) Nanteuil, Robert rōbĕrˈ näNtöˈyə [key], 1623?–1678, French draftsman and engraver. His pastel portraits gained him popularity, and in 1658 Louis XIV made him draftsman to the royal cabinet. H...