Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Robert I, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert I or Robert the Bruce, 1274–1329, king of Scotland (1306–29). He belonged to the illustrious Bruce family and was the grandson of that Robert the Bruce who in 1290 was an unsuccessful claim...

Roses, Wars of the

(Encyclopedia)Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later assoc...

Artevelde, Jacob van

(Encyclopedia)Artevelde, Jacob van yäˈkôp vän ärˈtəvĕldə [key], c.1290–1345, Flemish statesman, of a wealthy family of Ghent. In 1337 the Flemish cloth industry underwent a severe crisis. The pro-French ...

Stigand

(Encyclopedia)Stigand stĭgˈənd [key], d. 1072, English prelate. He held simultaneously the sees of Winchester and Canterbury from 1052 though official recognition of this did not come until 1058 from Benedict X,...

Seymour of Sudeley, Thomas Seymour, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Seymour of Sudeley, Thomas Seymour, Baron, 1508?–1549, English nobleman. After the marriage (1536) of his sister Jane to Henry VIII, he served on various diplomatic missions, was in command of the E...

Margaret of Anjou

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Anjou ănˈjo͞o, Fr. äNzho͞oˈ [key], 1430?–1482, queen consort of King Henry VI of England, daughter of René of Anjou. Her marriage, which took place in 1445, was negotiated by Will...

Langham, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Langham, Simon lăngˈəm [key], d. 1376, English prelate and statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He ruled the abbey of Westminster with such skill that Edward III appointed (1360) him t...

Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of kärnärˈvən [key], 1866–1923, English Egyptologist. With Howard Carter he excavated in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, fro...

Towton Field

(Encyclopedia)Towton Field touˈtən [key], North Yorkshire, N England, near Tadcaster. It was the scene (1461) of a bloody and decisive battle in which the forces of Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians. See Roses,...

Fortescue, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Fortescue, Sir John fôrˈtĭskyo͞o [key], c.1394–1476, English jurist. A supporter of the Lancastrian king Henry VI, he was chief justice of the Court of King's Bench from 1442 until 1461, when He...