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Wenceslaus, Saint, duke of Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Wenceslaus, Saint wĕnˈsəsləs [key], d. 929, duke of Bohemia. He was reared in the Christian faith by his grandmother, St. Ludmilla. He became duke at an early age, and during his minority his moth...

Dunkeld

(Encyclopedia)Dunkeld dŭnˌkĕldˈ [key], village, Perth and Kinross, central Scotland. It was a center of Celtic Christianity and the seat of the early Scottish kings. ...

Constantine I, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine I or Constantine the Great kŏnˈstəntēn, –tīn [key], 288?–337, Roman emperor, b. Naissus (present-day Niš, Serbia). He was the son of Constantius I and Helena and was named in ful...

freethinkers

(Encyclopedia)freethinkers, those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. The freethink...

Justin Martyr, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Justin Martyr, Saint, c.a.d. 100–c.a.d. 165, Christian apologist, called also Justin the Philosopher. Born in Samaria of pagan parents, he studied philosophy, and after his conversion in Ephesus to ...

Lull, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Lull, Ramón rämōnˈ lo͞ol [key], or Raymond Lully, c.1232–1316?, Catalan philosopher, b. Palma, Majorca. Of a wealthy family, he lived in ease until c.1263, when he had a religious experience an...

Red Jacket

(Encyclopedia)Red Jacket, c.1758–1830, chief of the Seneca, b. probably Seneca co., N.Y. His Native American name was Otetiani, changed to Sagoyewatha when he became a chief. His English name came from the Britis...

Marcion

(Encyclopedia)Marcion märˈshən, märˈsēən [key], c.85–c.160, early Christian bishop, founder of the Marcionites, one of the first great Christian heresies to rival Catholic Christianity. He was born in Sino...

Eunapius

(Encyclopedia)Eunapius yo͞onāˈpēəs [key], b. c.347, Greek Neoplatonic philosopher, whose Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists is a most valuable primary source. His continuation of Dexippus' history is lost....

Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology, hearth goddess. She was highly honored in every household from early times to the beginning of Christianity. Her public cult maintained a sacred building in whi...