Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alexander VI, pope

(Encyclopedia)Alexander VI, 1431?–1503, pope (1492–1503), a Spaniard (b. Játiva) named Rodrigo de Borja or, in Italian, Rodrigo Borgia; successor of Innocent VIII. He took Borja as his surname from his mother'...

Magellan, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Magellan, Ferdinand məjelˈən [key], Port. Fernão de Magalhães, Span. Fernando de Magallanes, c.1480–1521, Portuguese navigator who sailed for Portugal and Spain. Born of a noble family, he was ...

Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st earl of, 1618–85, English statesman. He fought for the royalists in the English civil war and, after going into exile, served as an envoy in Spain for the future Charles...

Nahmanides

(Encyclopedia)Nahmanides nähmänˈĭdēz [key], 1194–c.1270, Jewish scholar, exegete, and kabbalist, b. Spain. He wrote commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. A mystic, he rejected part of Maimonides' ...

Masinissa

(Encyclopedia)Masinissa or Massinissa both: măsĭnĭsˈə [key], c.238–148 b.c., king of Numidia. He succeeded (c.207 b.c.) his father as king of E Numidia. Brought up in Carthage, he fought in a Carthaginian ca...

Pescara, Ferdinando Francesco d'Avalos, marchese di

(Encyclopedia)Pescara, Ferdinando Francesco d'Avalos, marchese di fārdēnänˈdō fränchāsˈkō däväˈlōs märkāˈzā ᵺē pāskäˈrä [key], 1490?–1525, Spanish-Neapolitan general in the Italian Wars. H...

Aosta, Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Aosta, Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, duke of äôˈstə, –stä [key], 1869–1931, Italian general; son of King Amadeus of Spain and cousin of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. In World War I he held the...

manueline

(Encyclopedia)manueline mənwĕlˈēn, –īn [key], sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the early 16th cent. It combined contemporary Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Flemish e...

Constance, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Constance, Council of, 1414–18, council of the Roman Catholic Church, some of its sessions being reckoned as the 16th ecumenical council. It was summoned to end the Great Schism (see Schism, Great),...

Spanish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the ...