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Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau (l. 1749-1791) was a French orator and nobleman who rose to prominence as a leader during the early stages of the French Revolution (1789-1799). From the disgraced and scandalized son of a distinguished...
Article
The Prisoner of Olmütz - Lafayette's Imprisonment During the French Revolution
"Outlawed in my own land for having served her with courage," the Marquis de Lafayette wrote to his wife, Adrienne, "I have been forced to flee into enemy territory from France, which I defended with so much love. To the very last minute...
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Oheka Castle
Oheka Castle, built by the industrialist Otto Herman Kahn (l. 1867-1934), is one of the best-known luxury hotels of Long Island, NY, USA today. In its time as a private residence, it was the site of the kind of lavish parties which inspired...
Definition
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Swiss philosopher whose work both praised and criticised the Enlightenment movement. Although a believer in the power of reason, science, and the arts, Rousseau was convinced that a flourishing culture...
Definition
Catherine de' Medici
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 French throne...
Definition
Great Fear
The Great Fear (French: la Grande Peur) was a wave of panic that swept the French countryside in late July and early August 1789. Fearful of plots by aristocrats to undermine the budding French Revolution (1789-1799), peasants and townspeople...
Definition
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (l. 1757-1834), more commonly known in the United States as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat, military officer, and politician. He was a major figure in both the...
Definition
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814) was a French noblewoman who was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). She was therefore Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until the annulment of her marriage on 10 January 1810, as well...
Definition
Joan I of Navarre - Queen Consort of France
Joan I of Navarre (1273-1305) served as queen of Navarre and countess of Champagne and Brie between 1274 and 1305. In 1285, she also became queen consort of France following her marriage to Philip IV of France (reign 1285-1314). Between 1289...
Article
Veuve Clicquot - The Champagne Queen
Innovative, a risk-taker, and utterly relentless in her will to overcome all obstacles, one woman not only matched but beat her competitors in the male-dominated champagne industry to establish the brand with the inimitable mango-orange label...