Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

288 results found

Nestorianism

(Encyclopedia)Nestorianism, Christian heresy that held Jesus to be two distinct persons, closely and inseparably united. In 428, Emperor Theodosius II named an abbot of Antioch, Nestorius (d. 451?), as patriarch of...

John VIII, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John VIII (John Palaeologus), 1390–1448, Byzantine emperor (1425–48), son and successor of Manuel II. When he acceded, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced by the Turks to the city of Constantino...

Ali Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Ali Pasha älēˈ päshäˈ [key], 1744?–1822, Turkish pasha [military governor] of Yannina (now Ioánnina, Greece), a province of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He was called the Arslan [lion] of Yan...

Simeon I

(Encyclopedia)Simeon I, c.863–927, ruler (893–927) and later first czar of Bulgaria. He was placed on the throne by his father, Boris I, who had returned from a monastery to depose his first son, Vladimir (reig...

Alexius II

(Encyclopedia)Alexius II (Alexius Comnenus), 1168–83, Byzantine emperor (1180–83), son and successor of Manuel I. His mother, Mary of Antioch, who was regent for him, alienated the population by favoring the La...

Anthemius of Tralles

(Encyclopedia)Anthemius of Tralles ănthēˈmēəs, trălˈēz [key], fl. 6th cent., Greek architect, engineer, and mathematician. By order of Emperor Justinian and with the aid of Isidorus of Miletus, he built (53...

Ducas

(Encyclopedia)Ducas dyo͞oˈkəs [key], Greek family and dynasty of Constantinople. Some of its members were Byzantine emperors—Constantine X, Michael VII, Alexius V, and John III. ...

Evagrius Scholasticus

(Encyclopedia)Evagrius Scholasticus ēvāˈgrēəs [key], c.536–c.600, Syrian ecclesiastical historian, a prominent, honored lawyer in Antioch and Constantinople. His Ecclesiastical History (431–594), written i...

Henry of Flanders

(Encyclopedia)Henry of Flanders, c.1174–1216, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1206–16), brother and successor of Emperor Baldwin I. The ablest and most respected of the Latin emperors, he fought successfully a...

eunuch

(Encyclopedia)eunuch yo͞oˈnĭk [key] [Gr.,=keeper of the couch], castrated human male, particularly a chamberlain of a harem in Asia. The custom of employing eunuchs as servants in wealthy or royal households is ...