Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Feckenham, John de

(Encyclopedia)Feckenham, John de fĕkˈənəm [key], 1518?–1585, English abbot. He became a Benedictine monk at Evesham, studied at Oxford, and later served as chaplain to the bishop of Worcester and to Edmund Bo...

Edward I

(Encyclopedia)Edward I, 1239–1307, king of England (1272–1307), son of and successor to Henry III. Even more important than Edward's military exploits were the legal and constitutional developments of his rei...

Edward V

(Encyclopedia)Edward V, 1470–83?, king of England (1483), elder son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, t...

Godwin

(Encyclopedia)Godwin or Godwine both: gŏdˈwĭn [key], d. 1053, earl of Wessex. He became chief adviser to King Canute, was created (c.1018) an earl, and was given great wealth and lands. After Canute's death (103...

Rulers of England and Great Britain (table)

(Encyclopedia)Rulers of England and Great Britain(including dates of reign) Saxons and Danes House of Normandy House of Blois House of Plantagenet House of Lancaster House of York House of Tudor Ho...

Harold

(Encyclopedia)Harold, 1022?–1066, king of England (1066). The son of Godwin, earl of Wessex, he belonged to the most powerful noble family of England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Through Godwin's influen...

Eustace II

(Encyclopedia)Eustace II yo͞oˈstĭs [key], d. 1093, count of Boulogne. He was the brother-in-law of Edward the Confessor of England. Visiting England in 1051, he and his followers became involved in a brawl with ...

seal, stamp

(Encyclopedia)seal, stamp made from a die or matrix of metal, a gem, or other hard substance that yields an impression on wax or other soft substance. The use of seals is very ancient, examples of great antiquity o...

Harthacanute

(Encyclopedia)Harthacanute both: härˈdĭkəno͞ot [key], d. 1042, king of Denmark (1035–42) and of the English (1040–42); son of Canute and Emma. On his father's death (1035) he succeeded to the throne of Den...

penance

(Encyclopedia)penance pĕnˈəns [key], sacrament of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches. By it the penitent (the person receiving the sacrament) is absolved of his or her sins by a confessor (the pers...