Columbia Encyclopedia

(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) Le Nôtre, André äNdrāˈ lənōˈtrə [key], 1613–1700, the most famous landscape architect in French history, b. near the Tuileries; studied drawing with Simon Vouet at the Louvre. Le Nôtre's f...

(Encyclopedia) Destutt de Tracy, Antoine Louis Claude, Comte äNtwänˈ lwē klōd kôNt dĕstütˈ də träsēˈ [key], 1754–1836, French philosopher and psychologist. Although active in the Napoleonic government...

(Encyclopedia) Henry VIII, 1491–1547, king of England (1509–47), second son and successor of Henry VII. Henry was a supreme egotist. He advanced personal desires under the guise of public policy or moral rig...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand I or Ferrante fār-ränˈtā [key], 1423–94, king of Naples (1458–94), illegitimate son and successor (in Naples) of Alfonso V of Aragón. His succession was challenged by Pope Calixtus ...

(Encyclopedia) Blanqui, Louis Auguste lwē ôgüstˈ [key], 1805–81, French revolutionary and radical thinker. While a student in Paris, he joined (1824) a branch of the Carbonari, a revolutionary secret society; ...

(Encyclopedia) Laffitte, Jacques zhäk läfētˈ [key], 1767–1844, French banker and politician. He rose from poverty to become one of the wealthiest and most influential men in France. He was director (1809) and ...

(Encyclopedia) Cheverus, Jean Louis Anne Madeleine Lefebvre de zhäN lwē än mädəlĕnˈ ləfĕˈvrə də shəvrüsˈ [key], 1768–1836, French churchman, first Roman Catholic bishop of Boston (1810–23). He was...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand II or Ferdinand the Catholic, 1452–1516, king of Aragón (1479–1516), king of Castile and León (as Ferdinand V, 1474–1504), king of Sicily (1468–1516), and king of Naples (1504–16...

(Encyclopedia) Louis, Séraphine sāräfēnˈ lwē [key], 1894–1934, French neoprimitive painter. Louis was a shepherdess and kitchen helper who taught herself to paint. Her powerful floral paintings are fantasies...