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Sorel, Agnès

(Encyclopedia)Sorel, Agnès änyĕsˈ sôrĕlˈ [key], c.1422–1450, mistress (1444–50) of Charles VII of France. She was the first mistress of a French king to be officially recognized as such. Witty and astute...

Russell

(Encyclopedia)Russell, English noble family. It first appeared prominently in the reign of Henry VIII when John Russell, 1st earl of Bedford, 1486?–1555, rose to military and diplomatic importance. He was lord hi...

Fehrbellin, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Fehrbellin, battle of fĕˌbĕlēnˈ [key], 1675. Allied with France in the third Dutch War, King Charles XI of Sweden invaded Brandenburg but was defeated near the town of Fehrbellin, 35 mi (56 km) N...

Soult, Nicolas Jean de Dieu

(Encyclopedia)Soult, Nicolas Jean de Dieu nēkôläˈ zhäN də dyö so͞olt [key], 1769–1851, marshal of France. Having won distinction in the Napoleonic Wars, especially at the battle of Austerlitz, he was crea...

Clement IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement IV, d. 1268, pope (1265–68), a Frenchman named Guy le gros Foulques; successor of Urban IV. He was a lay adviser of King Louis IX of France, but after his wife's death he entered the church....

Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Croissy, Charles Colbert, marquis de shärl kôlbĕrˈ märkē də krwäsēˈ [key], c.1625–96, French diplomat, brother of Jean Baptiste Colbert. He entered the service of Cardinal Mazarin and fill...

Rollo

(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...

Verdun, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Verdun, Treaty of, the partition of Charlemagne's empire among three sons of Louis I, emperor of the West. It was concluded in 843 at Verdun on the Meuse or, possibly, Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, Soâne-et-L...

States-General

(Encyclopedia)States-General or Estates-General, diet or national assembly in which the chief estates (see estate) of a nation—usually clergy, nobles, and towns (or commons)—were represented as separate bodies....
 

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