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Sforza, Ludovico

(Encyclopedia)Sforza, Ludovico or Lodovico , lō– [key], b. 1451 or 1452, d. 1508, duke of Milan (1494–99); younger son of Francesco I Sforza. He was called Ludovico il Moro [the Moor] because of his swarthy co...

Louis XI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XI, 1423–83, king of France (1461–83), son and successor of Charles VII. A born diplomat, Louis skillfully checked his foreign and domestic enemies and set up an efficient central administ...

Valois, royal house of France

(Encyclopedia)Valois välwäˈ [key], royal house of France that ruled from 1328 to 1589. At the death of Charles IV, the last of the direct Capetians, the Valois dynasty came to the throne in the person of Philip ...

Carloman, d. 884, king of the West Franks

(Encyclopedia)Carloman, d. 884, king of the West Franks (France), son of King Louis II (Louis the Stammerer). He became joint ruler with his brother Louis III in 879. His reign was disturbed by revolts in Burgundy,...

Sicilian Vespers

(Encyclopedia)Sicilian Vespers, in Italian history, name given the rebellion staged by the Sicilians against the Angevin French domination of Sicily; the rebellion broke out at Palermo at the start of Vespers on Ea...

Charles XIII, king of Sweden and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Charles XIII, 1748–1818, king of Sweden (1809–18) and Norway (1814–18). He became regent for his nephew, Gustavus IV, after the assassination (1792) of his brother Gustavus III. He introduced so...

Marmousets

(Encyclopedia)Marmousets märmo͞ozāˈ [key], [Fr.,=little fellows], ministers of King Charles V of France, so called by the great nobles, who were contemptuous of their humble origins. Olivier de Clisson was the ...

Italian Wars

(Encyclopedia)Italian Wars, 1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy. Renaissance Italy was split into numerous ri...

Aquitaine

(Encyclopedia)Aquitaine ăkˈwĭtān, äkētĕnˈ [key], Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. Julius Caesar conquered the Aquitani, an Iberian people of SW Gaul, in 56 b.c. The province that he cr...

Savonarola, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Savonarola, Girolamo jērōˈlämō sävōnärōˈlä [key], 1452–98, Italian religious reformer, b. Ferrara. He joined (1475) the Dominicans. In 1481 he went to San Marco, the Dominican house at Fl...
 

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