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bankruptcy

(Encyclopedia)bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiv...

courtly love

(Encyclopedia)courtly love, philosophy of love and code of lovemaking that flourished in France and England during the Middle Ages. Although its origins are obscure, it probably derived from the works of Ovid, vari...

Douglas, Sir Howard

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Sir Howard, 1776–1861, British general and colonial administrator. He was a distinguished teacher of military strategy and an important authority on military and naval engineering. After a ...

Ferri, Enrico

(Encyclopedia)Ferri, Enrico fĕrˈrē [key], 1856–1929, Italian criminologist. He continued the scientific study of crime begun by Cesare Lombroso, emphasizing social and economic factors. He argued against pena...

Draco, Athenian politician and law codifier

(Encyclopedia)Draco drāˈkŏn [key], fl. 621 b.c., Athenian politician and law codifier. Of his codification of Athenian customary law only the section dealing with involuntary homicide is preserved. From this and...

Westminster, Statutes of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, Statutes of, in medieval English history, legislative promulgations made by Edward I in Parliament at Westminster. Westminster I (1275) practically constitutes a code of law; it covers a ...

Isserles, Moses ben Israel

(Encyclopedia)Isserles, Moses ben Israel ĭsˈərlĕs [key], c.1525–1572, Polish rabbi, annotator, and philosopher, b. Kraków, known as Remah. He is best known for his glosses on the code of Jewish law of Joseph...

Magnus VI

(Encyclopedia)Magnus VI (Magnus the Law Mender), 1238–80, king of Norway (1263–80), son of Haakon IV. A man of peace, he brought an end to the Scottish war by ceding (1266) the Hebrides and the Isle of Man to A...

Caro, Joseph ben Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)Caro or Karo, Joseph ben Ephraim käˈrō [key], 1488–1575, eminent Jewish codifier of law, b. Toledo, Spain. He left Spain as a child when the Jews were expelled (1492) and finally settled in Safed...

Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th marquess of, 1844–1900, British nobleman, originator of the code of rules that governs modern boxing. He served in the British army and navy and later was a mem...