Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

John of Brienne

(Encyclopedia)John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...

Majorian

(Encyclopedia)Majorian (Julius Maiorianus) məjôrˈēən [key], d.461, Roman emperor of the West (457–61). He became emperor after he and Ricimer had deposed Avitus. An able and honest ruler, Majorian enacted la...

Innocent IV

(Encyclopedia)Innocent IV, d. 1254, pope (1243–54), a Genoese named Sinibaldo Fieschi, a distinguished jurist who studied and later taught law at the Univ. of Bologna; successor of Celestine IV. He was of a noble...

Rudolf I

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf I or Rudolf of Hapsburg ro͞oˈdŏlf [key], 1218–91, German king (1273–91), first king of the Hapsburg dynasty. Rudolf's election as king ended the interregnum (1250–73), during which tim...

Crusades

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Crusader States (c.1140) Crusades kro͞oˈsādz [key], series of wars undertaken by European Christians between the 11th and 14th cent. to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. After...

Sickingen, Franz von

(Encyclopedia)Sickingen, Franz von fränts fən zĭˈkĭngən [key], 1481–1523, German knight. Placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire because of his profitable forays along the Rhine, he served King Franci...

Dauphiné

(Encyclopedia)Dauphiné dōfēnāˈ [key], region and former province, SE France, bordering on Italy. It is now divided into three departments, Haute-Alpes, Isère, and Drôme. In the east the Alps culminate in the...

Augsburg, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Augsburg, Peace of, 1555, temporary settlement within the Holy Roman Empire of the religious conflict arising from the Reformation. Each prince was to determine whether Lutheranism or Roman Catholicis...

Lombard League

(Encyclopedia)Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...

Guelphs and Ghibellines

(Encyclopedia)Guelphs and Ghibellines gwĕlfs, gĭbˈəlēnz, –lĭnz [key], opposing political factions in Germany and in Italy during the later Middle Ages. The names were used to designate the papal (Guelph) pa...