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mir, former Russian peasant community

(Encyclopedia)mir mēr [key], former Russian peasant community. The mir, which antedated serfdom (16th cent.) in Russia, persisted in its primitive form until after the Russian Revolution of 1917. In a community of...

John George

(Encyclopedia)John George, 1585–1656, elector of Saxony (1611–56). A drunkard, he nonetheless ruled the leading German Protestant state during the Thirty Years War. He vacillated in his policy between support o...

Julian the Apostate

(Encyclopedia)Julian the Apostate (Flavius Claudius Julianus), 331?–363, Roman emperor (361–63), nephew of Constantine I; successor of Constantius II. He was given an education that combined Christian and Neopl...

Golden Bull

(Encyclopedia)Golden Bull, term translated from the Latin bulla aurea and generally referring to a bull (edict) with a golden seal. Golden bulls were promulgated by medieval Byzantine rulers and by Western European...

Philo

(Encyclopedia)Philo jo͞odēˈəs [key] [Lat.,=Philo the Jew], c.20 b.c.–c.a.d. 50, Alexandrian Jewish philosopher. His writings have had an enormous influence on both Jewish and Christian thought, and particular...

Galerius

(Encyclopedia)Galerius (Caius Galerius Valerius Maximinianus) gəlērˈēəs [key], d. 310, Roman emperor (305–10). Diocletian appointed him caesar for the eastern part of the empire in 293 (Constantius I was cae...

Lancaster, John of, duke of Bedford

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, John of, duke of Bedford: see Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of. ...

Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of: see John of Gaunt. ...

John of Lancaster, duke of Bedford

(Encyclopedia)John of Lancaster, duke of Bedford: see Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of. ...

Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem

(Encyclopedia)Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem: see Knights Hospitalers. ...