Search

Search results

Displaying 471 - 480

Portland, William Bentinck, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia) Portland, William Bentinck, 1st earl of, 1649–1709, Dutch statesman in England. He was William III's most trusted personal adviser. In 1677 he engaged in negotiating the marriage of…

Saunders, Dame Cicely

(Encyclopedia) Saunders, Dame Cicely (Cicely Mary Strode Saunders), 1918–2005, British physician, a pioneer in the modern hospice movement. She left Oxford during World War II to become a nurse (1944…

Pembroke, William Herbert, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia) Pembroke, William Herbert, 3d earl of, 1580–1630, English courtier and patron of letters. Son of Mary Herbert, countess of Pembroke, and nephew of Sir Philip Sidney, he was tutored by…

pseudonym

(Encyclopedia) pseudonympseudonyms&oomacr;ˈdənĭm [key] [Gr.,=false name], name assumed, particularly by writers, to conceal identity. A writer's pseudonym is also referred to as a nom de plume (…

Sackville-West, Vita

(Encyclopedia) Sackville-West, Vita (Victoria Mary Sackville-West), 1892–1962, English writer; wife of Sir Harold Nicolson and granddaughter of the 2d Baron Sackville. Both she and Nicolson were…

Rutledge, Ann

(Encyclopedia) Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's…

purification

(Encyclopedia) purification, in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism), bodily alteration (as in circumcision…

Balfour, Sir James

(Encyclopedia) Balfour, Sir James, d. 1583, Scottish judge and politician. Captured (1547) at St. Andrews after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, he served a sentence in the French galleys and on his…

Randolph, Peyton

(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Peyton, c.1721–1775, American political leader, first president of the Continental Congress, b. Williamsburg, Va. After a general education at the College of William and Mary…

Orley, Bernard van

(Encyclopedia) Orley, Bernard vanOrley, Bernard vanbĕrˈnärt vän ôrˈlī [key], or Barend van OrleyBarend van Orleybäˈrənt [key], c.1491–1542, Flemish painter. In 1515 he was settled in Brussels, where…