Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Plombières –lā-băN [key], village, Vosges dept., NE France, in the Vosges Mts. It is a fashionable spa, with radioactive springs used since Roman times for medicinal purposes. Housewares and embr...

(Encyclopedia) Leo III (Leo the Isaurian or Leo the Syrian), c.680–741, Byzantine emperor (717–41). He was probably born in N Syria (rather than in Isauria, as once thought). He held diplomatic and military post...

(Encyclopedia) Sigismund III, 1566–1632, king of Poland (1587–1632) and Sweden (1592–99). The son of John III of Sweden and Catherine, sister of Sigismund II of Poland, he united the Vasa and Jagiello dynastie...

(Encyclopedia) Casimir III, 1310–70, king of Poland (1333–70), son of Ladislaus I and last of the Piast dynasty. Called Casimir the Great, he brought comparative peace to Poland. By the Congress of Visegrad (133...

(Encyclopedia) Michelet, Jules zhül mēshəlāˈ [key], 1798–1874, French writer, the greatest historian of the romantic school. Born in Paris of poor parents, he visualized himself throughout his life as a champ...

(Encyclopedia) Ferry, Jules zhül fĕrēˈ [key], 1832–93, French statesman. A member of the government of national defense established after the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–7...

(Encyclopedia) Garnier-Pagès, Louis Antoine gärnyāˈ-päzhĕsˈ [key], 1803–78, French politician. Becoming active in politics after his brother's death, he was elected (1842) to the chamber of deputies. He op...

(Encyclopedia) Wenceslaus III, c.1289–1306, king of Bohemia (1305–6) and of Hungary (1301–5), son and successor of Wenceslaus II. On the death of Andrew III of Hungary, last of the Arpad dynasty, he was electe...

(Encyclopedia) Robert III, 1340?–1406, king of Scotland (1390–1406), eldest son and successor of Robert II. Known before his accession as John, earl of Carrick, he ruled for his father until 1389, when, having b...

(Encyclopedia) Palikao, Charles Guillaume Cousin-Montauban, comte de shärl gēyōmˈ ko͞ozăNˈ-môNtōbäNˈ kôNt də pälēkäōˈ [key], 1796–1878, French general. He commanded (1860) the French forces in Ch...