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Neoplatonism

(Encyclopedia)Neoplatonism nēˌōplāˈtənĭzəm [key], ancient mystical philosophy based on the doctrines of Plato. Neoplatonism was an early influence on Christian thinkers. The Christian apologists Clement...

Macedon

(Encyclopedia)Macedon măsˈədŏn [key], ancient country, roughly equivalent to the modern region of Macedonia. In the history of Greek culture Macedon had its single significance in producing the conquerors and a...

Rhodes

(Encyclopedia)Rhodes rôˈᵺôs [key], island (1990 est. pop. 90,000), c.540 sq mi (1,400 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; largest of the Dodecanese, near Turkey. The modern city of Rhodes or Ródhos (199...

Gregory I, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory I, Saint (Saint Gregory the Great), c.540–604, pope (590–604), a Roman; successor of Pelagius II. A Doctor of the Church, he was distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership. Hi...

Drake, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Drake, Sir Francis, 1540?–1596, English navigator and admiral, first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577–80). In 1585, Drake commanded a fleet that sacked Vigo in Spain and burned São ...

Northern War

(Encyclopedia)Northern War, 1700–1721, general European conflict, fought in N and E Europe at the same time that the War of the Spanish Succession was fought in the west and the south. It arose chiefly from the d...

patristic literature

(Encyclopedia)patristic literature, Christian writings of the first few centuries. They are chiefly in Greek and Latin; there is analogous writing in Syriac and in Armenian. The first period of patristic literature...

scholasticism

(Encyclopedia)scholasticism skōlăsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. Virtually all medieval philosophers of any significance were theologians, and their philoso...

Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Alfred, 849–99, king of Wessex (871–99), sometimes called Alfred the Great, b. Wantage, Berkshire. All these pursuits were interrupted, but not ended, by new Danish invasions between 892 and 896...

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