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Durrës

(Encyclopedia)Durrës do͞orˈəs [key], Ital. Durazzo, city (1989 pop. 82,719), capital of Durrës dist., W Albania, on the Adriatic Sea. The chief seaport of Albania and the leading commercial and communications ...

Basil I

(Encyclopedia)Basil I (Basil the Macedonian) băzˈəl, bāˈzəl [key], c.813–886, Byzantine emperor (867–86). His ancestors probably were Armenians or Slavs who settled in Macedonia. He became (c.856) the fav...

Heraclius

(Encyclopedia)Heraclius hĕrəklīˈəs, hĭrăkˈlēəs [key], c.575–641, Byzantine emperor (610–41). The son of a governor of Africa, he succeeded the tyrant Phocas, whom he deposed and had executed. In the e...

Límnos

(Encyclopedia)Límnos lĕmˈnŏs [key], island (1991 pop. 17,645), 186 sq mi (482 sq km), NE Greece, in the Aegean Sea near Turkey. It is largely mountainous, with areas of fertile lava soil. Fruits, wine, silk, an...

John IV, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John IV (John Lascaris) lăsˈkərĭs [key], b. c.1250, d. after 1273, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1258–61), son and successor (under a regency) of Theodore II and last of the Lascarids. Michael Pa...

Theodore II , Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)Theodore II (Theodore Lascaris), 1222–58, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1254–58), son and successor of John III. He fought the Bulgarians and temporarily regained parts of Thrace. He made Nicaea a ...

Asia Minor

(Encyclopedia)Asia Minor, great peninsula, c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km), extreme W Asia, generally coterminous with Asian Turkey, also called Anatolia. It is washed by the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterrane...

Balkan Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Balkan Peninsula, southeasternmost peninsula of Europe, c.200,000 sq mi (518,000 sq km), bounded by the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Ionian Sea, and Adriatic Sea. Although...

Early Christian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Early Christian art and architecture, works of art exhibiting Christian themes and structures designed for Christian worship created relatively soon after the death of Jesus. Most date from the 4th to...

Otto III, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Otto III, 980–1002, Holy Roman emperor (996–1002) and German king (983–1002), son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano. On Otto's accession Henry the Wrangler, the ...