Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) John II (John Casimir), 1609–72, king of Poland (1648–68), son of Sigismund III. He was elected to succeed his brother, Ladislaus IV. The turbulent period of his reign is known in Polish history a...

(Encyclopedia) intendant ĭntĕnˈdənt [key], French administrative official who served as the chief royal representative in the provinces under the ancien régime. The intendants first gained importance under Card...

(Encyclopedia) Duarte dwärˈtə [key], 1391–1438, king of Portugal (1433–38), eldest of the five sons of John I. He was a “philosopher-king,” notable for his legal reforms and as the author of O leal consel...

(Encyclopedia) Abbo of Fleury äbōˈ, flörēˈ [key], Fr. Abbon de Fleury, 945?–1004, French monk at the abbey of Fleury (at present-day Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, France). Head of the monastery school, he later t...

(Encyclopedia) Orléans ôrlāäNˈ [key], family name of two branches of the French royal line. The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose assassination (1407) c...

(Encyclopedia) Barye, Antoine Louis äNtwänˈ lwē bärēˈ [key], 1796–1875, French animal sculptor. Son of a Parisian goldsmith, he followed his father's trade as a youth. In 1832 he exhibited at the Salon his ...

(Encyclopedia) Conrad III, c.1093–1152, German king (1138–52), son of Frederick, duke of Swabia, and Agnes, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV; first of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He joined his brother Frede...

(Encyclopedia) Roty, Louis Oscar lwē ôskärˈ rôtēˈ [key], 1846–1911, French medalist and engraver, one of the greatest medalists of the 19th cent. His best-known commemorative medals include those for the de...

(Encyclopedia) Alexander (Alexander Obrenović) ōbrĕˈnəvĭch [key], 1876–1903, king of Serbia (1889–1903), son of King Milan. He succeeded on his father's abdication. Proclaiming himself of age in 1893, he t...

(Encyclopedia) Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly fēlēpˈ də môrnāˈ sānyörˈ dü plĕsēˈ-märlēˈ [key], 1549–1623, diplomat and publicist for the French Protestants, or Huguenots, during th...