Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Saint Bernard, two Alpine passes

(Encyclopedia)Saint Bernard, two Alpine passes, both used since antiquity. The Great Saint Bernard (alt. 8,110 ft/2,472 m), on the Italian-Swiss border, links Valais canton, Switzerland, with Valle d'Aosta, Italy. ...

Paul II

(Encyclopedia)Paul II, 1417–71, pope (1464–71), a Venetian named Pietro Barbo; successor of Pius II. He was a nephew of Eugene IV. A Renaissance pope, he patronized printing, beautified and improved Rome, and c...

Elizabeth Farnese

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth Farnese färnāˈsā [key], 1692–1766, queen of Spain, second consort of Philip V; niece of Antonio Farnese, duke of Parma. Soon after her marriage (1714), arranged by Cardinal Alberoni an...

Heliodorus

(Encyclopedia)Heliodorus hēˌlēōdôrˈəs [key], fl. 175 b.c., Syrian statesman. The treasurer of Seleucus IV (Seleucus Philopator), he murdered the king and attempted unsuccessfully to usurp the throne. Accordi...

William of Newburgh

(Encyclopedia)William of Newburgh, 1136?–1198?, English chronicler, monk of Newburgh, Yorkshire. He wrote the Historia rerum Anglicarum, a history of England from 1066 to 1198. Its chief value lies in the comment...

Dartmouth, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Dartmouth, residential and resort town (2020 pop. 33,783), Bristol co., SE Mass., on Buzzards Bay, in a dairy region; settled c.1650, inc. 1664. Farming...

Khafre

(Encyclopedia)Khafre kĕfˈrĕn [key], fl. 2565 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the IV dynasty, and builder of the second pyramid at Giza. His face is perhaps that represented on the Great Sphinx. An obscure king, ...

San Ildefonso, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)San Ildefonso, Treaty of, any of several treaties signed at the royal residence of San Ildefonso, Spain. 1 The Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1796 was an alliance of France with Spain against Great Britai...

flagellants

(Encyclopedia)flagellants flăjˈələnts, fləjĕlˈənts [key], term applied to the groups of Christians who practiced public flagellation as a penance. The practice supposedly grew out of the floggings administe...

Carranza de Miranda, Bartolomé de

(Encyclopedia)Carranza de Miranda, Bartolomé de bärtōlōmāˈ dā käränˈthä dā mēränˈdä [key], 1503–76, Spanish churchman. He joined the Dominicans (1520) and taught at Valladolid. He was active in th...
 

Browse by Subject