Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rollo rŏlf [key], c.860–c.932, first duke of Normandy. As leader of the Norman pirates settled at the mouth of the Seine, he attacked (910) Paris and Chartres. By the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte...

(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) John I, 1358–90, Spanish king of Castile and León (1379–90), son and successor of Henry II. He tried unsuccessfully to unite the Portuguese and Castilian crowns but was twice defeated by the Port...

(Encyclopedia) Mary, 1867–1953, queen consort of George V of England. Daughter of the duke of Teck and great-granddaughter of George III, she was engaged first to George's elder brother, the duke of Clarence, who ...

(Encyclopedia) John II, 1405–54, Spanish king of Castile and León (1406–54), son and successor of Henry III. He was little interested in government, which he entrusted to his favorite Alvaro de Luna. Literature...

(Encyclopedia) Villeroi, François de Neufville, duc de fräNswäˈ də növēlˈ dük də vēlrwäˈ [key], 1644–1730, marshal of France and favorite of King Louis XIV. In the War of the Grand Alliance, he succee...

(Encyclopedia) Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and ...

(Encyclopedia) Lismore lĭsmôrˈ, lĭz– [key], town (1991 pop. 715), Co. Waterford, S Republic of Ireland, on the Blackwater River. It is a market town with a salmon fishing industry. In the 7th cent., St. Cartha...

(Encyclopedia) Saye and Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount fīnz, sāˈənsēl [key], 1582–1662, English politician and promoter of colonization in America. He was a Puritan in religious sympathy and a leader in ...

(Encyclopedia) Winchester wĭnˈchĭstər [key], city and district (1991 pop. 34,127), county seat of Hampshire, S central England. Winchester was called Caer Gwent by the Britons, Venta Belgarum by the Romans, and ...