Duke Ellington: Did you mean...?

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Captain-General of the English Forces and Master-General of the Ordnance, oil on canvas attributed to Michael Dahl, c. 1702. National Army Museum, London.

Catherine de' Medici (l. 1519-1589) was the queen of France, mother of three kings and two queens and, between 1559 and c. 1576, the most powerful woman in France and, possibly, all of Europe. She was the strength behind the...

The Schmalkaldic War (1546-1547) was fought between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic armies under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who, having failed to achieve religious unity of his subjects at the Diet of Augsburg...

The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) were a series of eight conflicts between Protestant and Catholic factions in France lasting 36 years and concluding with the Protestant King Henry IV of France (r. 1589-1610) converting...

A 1698 engraving by Jan Luyken showing the execution of the Duke of Monmouth in 1685. The failed Monmouth Rebellion of that year had seen the Duke, illegitimate son of Charles II of England, try to wrest the throne...

An 1882 painting by John Pettie showing the Duke of Monmouth begging for his life at the feet of James II of England. In the 1685 Monmouth rebellion, the duke had attempted to take the throne from his uncle.

Amedeo Duke of Aosta (1898-1942), Viceroy of Ethiopia, with British General Mosley Mayne (1889-1955) and other British officers after the Italian surrender to the British troops at Amba Alagi. The Duke of Aosta was...

The Eighty Years' War (1568-1648, also known as The Dutch Revolt and Dutch War of Independence) was a military conflict between the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands and Spain, which then governed them, beginning in the...

Charles VI (lived 1368-1422) reigned as King of France from 1380 to 1422, during an important phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against England. Known as the 'Mad King' due to his frequent bouts with psychosis...

The execution of Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien on 21 March 1804, by firing squad. Enghien's controversial execution turned much of Europe's aristocracy against Napoleon and served as a catalyst for the...