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Lamennais, Félicité Robert de

(Encyclopedia)Lamennais or La Mennais, Félicité Robert de fālēsētāˈ rōbĕrˈ də lämənāˈ [key], 1782–1854, French Roman Catholic apologist and liberal, b. Saint-Malo. He was largely self-educated by w...

Philo

(Encyclopedia)Philo jo͞odēˈəs [key] [Lat.,=Philo the Jew], c.20 b.c.–c.a.d. 50, Alexandrian Jewish philosopher. His writings have had an enormous influence on both Jewish and Christian thought, and particular...

Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Christianity, religion founded in Palestine by the followers of Jesus. One of the world's major religions, it predominates in Europe and the Americas, where it has been a powerful historical force and...

Alfonso VII, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VII (Alfonso the Emperor), 1104–57, Spanish king of Castile and León (1126–57), son and successor of Urraca. He recovered the places in Castile that his stepfather, Alfonso I of Aragón, ...

Clapham Sect

(Encyclopedia)Clapham Sect, group of English social reformers, active c.1790–1830, so named because their activities centered on the home in Clapham, London, of Henry Thornton and William Wilberforce. Most of the...

Abd ar-Rahman III, emir and caliph of Córdoba

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman III, 891–961, Umayyad emir (912–29) and first caliph (929–61) of Córdoba. When he succeeded to the throne, the Spanish emirate was reduced to Córdoba and its environs and beset w...

Abernathy, Ralph David

(Encyclopedia)Abernathy, Ralph David ăbˈərnăthˌē [key], 1926–90, American civil-rights leader, b. Linden, Ala. A Baptist minister, he helped Martin Luther King, Jr., organize the Montgomery bus boycott (195...

Gloria in excelsis

(Encyclopedia)Gloria in excelsis ĕksĕlˈsĭs [key] [Lat.,=glory in the highest], the Angelic Hymn or greater doxology, ancient Christian hymn beginning, according to the Authorized Version, “Glory be to God on ...

Goria, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Goria, Giovanni, 1943–94, Italian political leader, premier of Italy (1987–88). A Christian Democrat, he was first elected to parliament in 1976. Goria served as treasury minister (1982–87), bud...

Kassites

(Encyclopedia)Kassites or Cassites both: kăsˈīts [key], ancient people, probably of Indo-European origin. They were first mentioned in historical texts as occupying the W Iranian plateau. In the 18th cent. b.c. ...