Francis I of France: Did you mean...?

The Declaration of Pillnitz was a joint statement issued on 27 August 1791 by Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1790-1792) and King Frederick William II of Prussia (r. 1786-1797). The declaration appealed to all European powers to unite...

The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was an intermittent conflict fought between England and France that started when king Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377) squabbled with Philip VI of France (r. 1328-1350) over feudal rights concerning...

Portrait of Francis Beaumont (1584-1616), English playwright of the Jacobean Era and frequent collaborator with John Fletcher. This mezzotint print is by Francis Kyte, after an unknown artist, circa 1740s. National Portrait Gallery, London...

On 20 April 1792, King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) stood before the Legislative Assembly and, with a faltering voice, read a declaration of war against Austria, to the ecstatic delight of the gathered deputies. This declaration sealed...

Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg Monarchy, a sprawling empire that included Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and other territories spread out across Italy, the Netherlands, and Central Europe. Though her ascension to the...

Margaret of Valois' eyewitness account of St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre is among the most famous and the only written record of the event left by a member of the royal family of France at the time. Her account appears in her memoirs as Letter...

As the Protestant Reformation emerged in France in the early 16th century, the city of Meaux became one of the first centers of controversy. Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet II undertook a campaign to reform the Catholic Church from within and...

Portrait of Francis Harry Compton Crick, photograph by Godfrey Argent, 1970. Depicted here is English molecular biologist Francis Crick (1916-2004), whose work with American molecular biologist James Watson (1928-2025) led to the discovery...

A map showing the circumnavigation of the globe by Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE). The voyage was undertaken in 1577-80 CE in the Golden Hind.

A 1617 portrait by Paul van Somer of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the English philosopher, statesman, and author. (Łazienki Palace, Warsaw)