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Bancroft, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, Edward, 1744–1821, spy in the American Revolution, b. Westfield, Mass. He studied medicine and natural history, producing a book (1769) on Guiana's flora and fauna, a defense of the coloni...

Æthelred, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Æthelred, 965?–1016, king of England (978–1016), called Æthelred the Unready [Old Eng. unrœd=without counsel]. He was the son of Edgar and the half-brother of Edward the Martyr, whom he succeed...

Wessex

(Encyclopedia)Wessex wĕsˈĭks [key], one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. It may have been settled as early as 495 by Saxons under Cerdic, who is reputed to have landed in Hampshire. Cerdic's grandson, Cea...

relics

(Encyclopedia)relics, part of the body of a saint or a thing closely connected with the saint in life. In traditional Christian belief they have had great importance, and miracles have often been associated with th...

La Chaise, François d'Aix de

(Encyclopedia)La Chaise, François d'Aix de fräNswäˈ dāks də lä shĕz [key], 1624–1709, French Jesuit, confessor of Louis XIV after 1675. His influence at court was considerable. The great cemetery in NE Pa...

Westminster Abbey

(Encyclopedia)Westminster Abbey, originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery (closed in 1539) in London. One of England's most important Gothic structures, it is also a national shrine. The first church ...

crown

(Encyclopedia)crown, circular head ornament, symbolizing sovereign dignity. (For crowns worn by nobles, see coronet.) The use of the crown as a symbol of royal rank is of ancient tradition in Egypt and the Middle E...

Fisher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469–1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504–34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mothe...

Conrad of Marburg

(Encyclopedia)Conrad of Marburg, d. 1233, German churchman. He was confessor (1225–31) of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and administrator of her husband's benefices in his absence. His zeal against heresy earned him a...

Fleury, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Fleury, Claude flörēˈ [key], 1640–1723?, French ecclesiastical historian, a Roman Catholic priest, confessor to Louis XV, and author of the learned and unbiased Histoire ecclésiastique. This gr...