(Encyclopedia) RothschildRothschildrŏthˈchīld, Ger. rōtˈshĭlt [key], prominent family of European bankers. The first important member was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743–1812), son of a money changer…
(Encyclopedia) investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the…
(Encyclopedia) Bridget, Saint, 453?–523?, Irish holy woman. She is often called St. Brigid, St. Bride, or St. Bridget of Kildare. Little is known of her, but she did found a great monastery at…
(Encyclopedia) patristic literature, Christian writings of the first few centuries. They are chiefly in Greek and Latin; there is analogous writing in Syriac and in Armenian. The first period of…
(Encyclopedia) Saint Andrews, University of, at St. Andrews, Scotland; founded 1410. It is the oldest university in Scotland. It has faculties of arts, science, and divinity. St. Salvator's College…
(Encyclopedia) Saint Marys City, village (1990 pop. 3,200), St. Marys co., S Md., on the St. Marys River; est. 1634 as Maryland's first town. English colonists purchased a Native American village,…
(Encyclopedia) Compton, Sir John (John George Melvin Compton), 1925–2007, St. Lucian political leader, b. Canouan, Windward Islands (now in St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Compton attended high…
(Encyclopedia) biography, reconstruction in print or on film, of the lives of real men and women. Together with autobiography—an individual's interpretation of his own life—it shares a venerable…
(Encyclopedia) LachineLachineləshēnˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 35,266), S Que., Canada, on Montreal island, at the east end of Lake St. Louis just SW of Montreal. Its industries include iron and steel…
