Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mary of Modena

(Encyclopedia)Mary of Modena mŏdˈĭnə [key], 1658–1718, queen consort of James II of England; daughter of Alfonso IV, duke of Modena. Her marriage (1673) to James, then duke of York, was brought about through ...

Kongo, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Kongo, kingdom of kôngˈgō, kŏngˈ– [key], former state of W central Africa, founded in the 14th cent. In the 15th cent. the kingdom stretched from the Congo River in the north to the Loje River ...

Kra, Isthmus of

(Encyclopedia)Kra, Isthmus of krä [key], narrow neck of the Malay Peninsula, c.40 mi (60 km) wide, SW Thailand, between the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Thailand. It has long been the proposed site of a ship cana...

Johannesburg, City of

(Encyclopedia)City of Johannesburg, City of, metropolitan municipality (2011 pop. 4,434,827), Gauteng prov., NE South Africa. Johannesburg is the municipal seat; other communities include Soweto, Roodepoort, Alexan...

John of Brienne

(Encyclopedia)John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...

John of Ephesus

(Encyclopedia)John of Ephesus ĕfˈəsəs [key], c.505–c.585, Syrian Monophysite historian, bishop of Ephesus. He became a leader of the Monophysites (see Monophysitism), and Byzantine Emperor Justinian, whose fa...

John of Gaunt

(Encyclopedia)John of Gaunt [Mid. Eng. Gaunt=Ghent, his birthplace], 1340–99, duke of Lancaster; fourth son of Edward III of England. He married (1359) Blanche, heiress of Lancaster, and through her became earl (...

John of Leiden

(Encyclopedia)John of Leiden, c.1509–1536, Dutch Anabaptist leader. His original name was Beuckelszoon, Beuckelzoon, Bockelszoon, Bockelson, Beukels, or Buckholdt. John of Leiden was attracted to the extreme left...

John of Procida

(Encyclopedia)John of Procida prōˈchēdä [key], c.1225–c.1302, Italian conspirator, lord of the island of Procida. He was an ardent supporter of the Hohenstaufen cause in Sicily and attempted to secure the isl...

Browse by Subject