Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Medici, Ferdinand II de', 1610–70, grand duke of Tuscany (1620–70); son and successor of Cosimo II de' Medici. A pupil of Galileo, he founded (1657) the Accademia del Cimento, the first European a...

(Encyclopedia) Deschanel, Émile āmēlˈ dāshänĕlˈ [key], 1819–1904, French author and politician. Of his numerous works the best known are such critical studies as Études sur Aristophane (1867) and Le Roman...

(Encyclopedia) Drouyn de Lhuys, Édouard ādwärˈ dro͞oăNˈ də lüēsˈ [key], 1805–81, French diplomat. He served under the July Monarchy. After the Revolution of 1848, he was president of the committee of fo...

(Encyclopedia) Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, central England. It was the scene of the battle (1485) at which Richard III was killed and the crown was passed to his opponent, the earl of Richmond (Henry VII), first...

(Encyclopedia) Boyne, river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Bog of Allen, Co. Kildare, E Republic of Ireland, and flowing NE through Co. Meath, past Trim, to the Irish Sea near Drogheda. Salmon is caught in th...

(Encyclopedia) Akenside, Mark āˈkĭnsīd [key], 1721–70, English poet and physician. His chief literary work was the didactic poem The Pleasures of Imagination (1744). Among his other works are the neoclassical ...

(Encyclopedia) Christian V, 1646–99, king of Denmark and Norway (1670–99), son and successor of Frederick III. His minister, Griffenfeld, who until his fall in 1676 dominated Christian's reign, made the monarchy...

(Encyclopedia) Cibber or Cibert, Caius Gabriel both: sĭbˈər [key], 1630–1700, Danish-English sculptor. Cibber was appointed carver to the king's closet for his services to William III of England. He worked for ...

(Encyclopedia) Alexander II, 1198–1249, king of Scotland (1214–49), son and successor of William the Lion. He joined the English barons in their revolt against King John of England in 1215. Though he made his pe...

(Encyclopedia) Hawkwood, Sir John de, d. 1394, English soldier. He fought in the French wars of Edward III and was knighted, although it is not known when or where. With his “white company” of mercenaries, he en...