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Sigtuna

(Encyclopedia)Sigtuna sĭgˈtüˌnä [key], town (1990 pop. 4,918), Stockholm co., E Sweden, on Lake Skarven, near Stockholm. Founded c.1000, it was one of Sweden's earliest towns, its first capital, and a center o...

Simeon Stylites, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Simeon Stylites, Saint stīlīˈtēz [key] [Gr.,= of a pillar], d. 459?, Syrian hermit. He lived for more than 35 years on a small platform on top of a high pillar. He had many imitators (called styli...

Simpson, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, Matthew, 1811–84, American Methodist bishop, b. Cadiz, Ohio. In 1839 he became the first president of Indiana Asbury Univ. (now DePauw Univ.). He edited (1848–52) the Western Christian Ad...

Castro, Américo

(Encyclopedia)Castro, Américo ämāˈrēkō käsˈtrō [key], 1885–1972, Spanish philologist and literary critic, b. Brazil. After the Spanish Civil War, Castro's studies focused on how modern Spanish history wa...

Badagri

(Encyclopedia)Badagri bädäˈgrē [key], town, SW Nigeria, on a lagoon off the Gulf of Guinea. Badagri was founded c.1730 and became an important shipping point for slaves. In the 1840s it became a center for Brit...

Leterme, Yves

(Encyclopedia)Leterme, Yves ēv lĕtûrˈmĕ [key], 1960–, Belgian political leader, prime minister of Belgium (2008, 2009–11), grad. Catholic Univ. of Leuvan (LL.B., 1981), Ghent Univ. (M.A., 1985). A Dutch-sp...

Maimonides

(Encyclopedia)Maimonides mīˈmən [key], 1135–1204, Jewish scholar, physician, and philosopher, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, b. Córdoba, Spain, d. Cairo. He is sometimes called Rambam...

Lepanto, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Lepanto, battle of lĭpănˈtō [key], Oct. 7, 1571, naval battle between the Christians and Ottomans fought in the strait between the gulfs of Pátrai and Corinth, off Lepanto (Návpaktos), Greece. T...

Pentecost

(Encyclopedia)Pentecost pĕnˈtəkôst [key] [Gr.,=fiftieth], important Jewish and Christian feast. The Jewish feast of Pentecost, in Hebrew Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, arose...

Romans

(Encyclopedia)Romans, letter of the New Testament, written by St. Paul, probably from Corinth before his last trip to Jerusalem, c.a.d. 58. It is a treatise addressed to the Christian church at Rome, apparently to ...