Character in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet, she is Hamlet's mother. She takes Hamlet's uncle Claudius as spouse after Claudius kills the king, Hamlet's father, and ascends to the throne.

Born in Cappadocia in Asia Minor, he became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity. As a soldier in Roman service, he was sentenced to death for refusing to repudiate his Christianity. In legend, he slew a dragon that was terrorizing a village populace by demanding human sacrifices. England is one of several nations claiming George as a patron saint.

Husband and royal consort of Queen Anne, Prince of Norway and Denmark, and Duke of Cumberland. George was known for his relaxed demeanor and lack of interest in politics.

Prince Regent for George III from 1811, he became king with his father's death in 1820.

King of Great Britain from 1760-1820. The latter part of his reign was punctuated by periods of intermittent madness so that in 1811 Parliament named as Regent his son, then Prince of Wales, but later to become George IV.

King of Great Britain from 1727-1760.

The first British monarch of the House of Hanover, George ascended to rule over Great Britain in 1714 on the death of his second cousin Anne.

As the author of Prophetiae Merlini (The Prophesies of Merlin) and Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain) as well as the manuscript Vita Merlini, Geoffrey of Monmouth is an important source for the Arthurian legends.

Among French women writers, Mme. de Genlis was one of the more popular with Romantic-era British women writers. Her didactic fiction and educational works included Adèle et Théodore (1782), which features the characters Cecile, the Duchesse de C***, and M. and Mad. Lagaraye. Les Veillées du Chateau (1784) was translated into English as Tales of the Castle; or, Stories of Instruction and Delight (1785). Les petits émigrés (1798) appeared in English as The Young Exiles, or, Correspondence of some Juvenile Emigrants in 1799.

In addition to plays, a novel, verse, fables, and aesthetic treatises, this distinguished author of the German Enlightenment translated Samuel Richardson's The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4).