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Pechenegs

(Encyclopedia)Pechenegs pätsĭnäksˈ [key], nomadic people of the Turkic family. Their original home is not known, but in the 8th and 9th cent. they inhabited the region between the lower Volga and the Urals. Pus...

Muhammad II, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429–81, Ottoman sultan (1451–81), son and successor of Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed ...

Constantine IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine IV, c.652–685, Byzantine emperor (668–85), son and successor of Constans II. He defended Constantinople against the annual naval attacks of the Muslims, who finally withdrew in 678; Gr...

Gregory Nazianzen, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory Nazianzen, Saint nāzēănˈzĭn [key], c.330–390, Cappadocian theologian, Doctor of the Church, one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church. He is sometimes called Gregory of Nazianzus and ...

Dwight, Harrison Gray Otis

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Harrison Gray Otis, 1803–62, American Congregational missionary to the Armenians, b. Conway, Mass. He served the Armenian population of Constantinople for 30 years. His travels with Eli Smit...

Varangians

(Encyclopedia)Varangians vərănˈjēənz [key], name given by Slavs and Byzantine Greeks to Scandinavians who began to raid the eastern shores of the Baltic and penetrate Eastern Europe by the 9th cent. Their lead...

Monotheletism

(Encyclopedia)Monotheletism or Monothelitism both: mənŏthˈə lĭtĭzˌəm [key] [Gr.,=one will], 7th-century opinion condemned as heretical by the Third Council of Constantinople in 680 (see Constantinople, Thir...

Orthodox Eastern Church

(Encyclopedia)Orthodox Eastern Church, community of Christian churches whose chief strength is in the Middle East and E Europe. Their members number some 300 million worldwide. The Orthodox agree doctrinally in acc...

council, ecumenical

(Encyclopedia)council, ecumenical ĕkˌyo͞omĕnˈĭkəl [key] [Gr.,=universal], in Christendom, council of church leaders, the decisions of which are accepted by some segment of the church as authoritative, also c...

Socrates Scholasticus

(Encyclopedia)Socrates Scholasticus, fl. 5th cent., Byzantine historian. His Ecclesiastical History (in Greek, 7 vol.) continues the work of Eusebius for the period from 305 to 439. The work is unusual for its obje...