Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

North, Sir Dudley

(Encyclopedia)North, Sir Dudley, 1641–91, English merchant and economist. Agent for the Turkey Company in Constantinople from 1662 to 1680, he returned to England a wealthy man and was commissioner of the customs...

Shapur III

(Encyclopedia)Shapur III or Sapor III, d. 388, king of Persia (383–88), of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty; son of Shapur II; successor of his uncle, Ardashir II. He made a new attempt to settle the long-last...

Cádiz

(Encyclopedia)Cádiz käˈdēth [key], city, capital of Cádiz prov., SW Spain, in Andalusia, on the Bay of...

Gibbons, Grinling

(Encyclopedia)Gibbons, Grinling, 1648–1721, English wood carver and sculptor, b. Rotterdam. From the reign of Charles II to that of George I he was master wood carver to the crown. Sir Christopher Wren employed h...

Manning, Olivia

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Olivia, 1911–80, English novelist, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire. During World War II she served as a journalist in the Middle East. She is best known for her “Balkan trilogy”: The Great For...

Leo IV, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV, Saint, d. 855, pope (847–55), a Roman; successor of Sergius II. He had seen the Saracen attack on Rome (846), and to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its suburbs. He built a ...

Holy League

(Encyclopedia)Holy League, in Italian history, alliance formed (1510–11) by Pope Julius II during the Italian Wars for the purpose of expelling Louis XII of France from Italy, thereby consolidating papal power. V...

John III, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John III (John Ducas Vatatzes) do͝oˈkəs vətătˈzēz [key], d. 1254, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1222–54), successor and son-in-law of Theodore I. He extended his territory in Asia Minor and th...

Henry V, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV. Henry abandoned his early recklessness (celebrated and probably exaggerated by Shakespeare) and ruled with justice...

Louvre

(Encyclopedia)Louvre lo͞oˈvrə [key], foremost French museum of art, located in Paris. The building was a royal fortress and palace built by Philip II in the late 12th cent. In 1546 Pierre Lescot was commissioned...