Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse zhän bāküˈ kôNtĕsˈ dü bärēˈ, do͞obărˈē [key], 1743–93, mistress of King Louis XV of France. A courtesan of illegitimate birth, she was the mistress of...

(Encyclopedia) Henry VII, c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the el...

(Encyclopedia) Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve lwē übĕrˈ gôNzälvˈ lyōtāˈ [key], 1854–1934, colonial administrator and marshal of France. A career soldier, he served in Indochina, Madagascar, and Algeria b...

(Encyclopedia) Bignon, Louis Pierre Édouard lwē pyĕr ādwärˈ bēnyôNˈ [key], 1771–1841, French diplomat and historian. He held diplomatic posts under Napoleon, was acting minister of foreign affairs during ...

(Encyclopedia) Blanche of Castile bläNsh, kăstēlˈ [key], 1185?–1252, queen of Louis VIII of France and regent during the minority (1226–34) of their son Louis IX. A forceful and capable ruler, she checked th...

(Encyclopedia) Deschanel, Paul Eugéne Louis dāshänĕlˈ [key], 1855–1922, president of the French republic (1920); son of Émile Deschanel. A member of the chamber of deputies from 1885 and several times its p...

(Encyclopedia) Aquitaine ăkˈwĭtān, äkētĕnˈ [key], Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. Julius Caesar conquered the Aquitani, an Iberian people of SW Gaul, in 56 b.c. The province that he cr...

(Encyclopedia) Le Châtelier, Henri Louis äNrēˈ lwē lə shätəlyāˈ [key], 1850–1936, French industrial chemist. He made many contributions to industrial chemistry, but is best known for his work on the stru...

(Encyclopedia) Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de ärmäNˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ dü plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1766–1822, French statesman. An émigré from the French Revolution, he served Russi...

(Encyclopedia) Charles I, 1288–1342, king of Hungary (1308–42), founder of the Angevin dynasty in Hungary; grandson of Charles II of Naples, who had married a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary. On the death (1301...