Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dunes, Battle of the, 1658, decisive engagement fought near Dunkirk in the struggle between France and Spain that had resulted from Spanish intervention in the Fronde. The Spanish under the command of...

(Encyclopedia) Charles I, 1600–1649, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625–49), second son of James I and Anne of Denmark. There were no decisive victories in the civil war until Charles was defeated at...

(Encyclopedia) Nijmegen nīˈmāˌgən [key], city (1994 pop. 147,018), Gelderland prov., E Netherlands, on the Waal River, near the German border. It is a rail and water transportation point and an industrial cente...

(Encyclopedia) Charles X, 1622–60, king of Sweden (1654–60), nephew of Gustavus II. The son of John Casimir, count palatine of Zweibrücken, he brought the house of Wittelsbach to the Swedish throne when his cou...

(Encyclopedia) Alexander, 1893–1920, king of the Hellenes (1917–20), second son of Constantine I. After his father's forced abdication, he succeeded to the Greek throne with the support of the Allies, who distru...

(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) Mansart or Mansard, Jules Hardouin mäNsärˈ [key], 1646–1708, French architect. He studied under his great-uncle François Mansart and under Libéral Bruant. Favored by Louis XIV, he was ennobled...

(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) Zrinyi zrĭnˈyē [key], noble Hungarian family of Croatian origin. Nicholas Zrinyi, 1508–66, distinguished himself in the defense of Vienna (1529) against Sultan Sulayman I, took part in the campai...

(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...