Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

tanning

(Encyclopedia)tanning, process by which skins and hides are converted into leather. Vegetable tanning, a method requiring more than a month even with modern machinery and tanning liquors, employs tannin; its use is...

Hanover, city, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Hanover, Ger. Hannover, city, capital of Lower Saxony, N Germany, on the Leine River and the Midland Canal. It is a major industrial, commercial, ...

emperor

(Encyclopedia)emperor [Lat. imperator=one holding supreme power, especially applied to generals], the sovereign head of an empire. In the Roman republic the term imperator referred to the chief military commander a...

Brunswick, former state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brunswick brounˈshfīk [key], former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German...

Cleopatra

(Encyclopedia)Cleopatra klēəpăˈtrə, –pāˈ–, –päˈ– [key], 69 b.c.–30 b.c., queen of Egypt, one of the great romantic heroines of all time. Her name was widely used in the Ptolemaic family; she was ...

John V, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John V (John Palaeologus) pālˌēŏlˈəgəs [key], 1332–91, Byzantine emperor (1341–91), son and successor of Andronicus III. Forced to fight John VI (John Cantacuzene), who usurped the throne d...

John, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John, Saint, one of the Twelve Apostles, traditional author of the fourth Gospel, three letters, and the Book of Revelation (see John, Gospel according to Saint; John, letters; Revelation); it is high...

John I, king of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)John I (John Zapolya) zäˈpôlyŏ [key], 1487–1540, king of Hungary (1526–40), voivode [governor] of Transylvania (1511–26). He was born John Zapolya, the son of Stephen Zápolya. The leader of...

John II, king of Hungary and prince of Transylvania

(Encyclopedia)John II (John Sigismund Zapolya), 1540–71, king of Hungary and prince of Transylvania, son of John I. Through his mother, Isabel (daughter of Sigismund I of Poland), he was related to the Jagiello d...

John I, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John I (John the Great), 1357?–1433, king of Portugal (1385–1433), illegitimate son of Peter I. He was made (1364) grand master of the Knights of Aviz and exercised his influence in opposition to ...
 

Browse by Subject