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John VIII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John VIII, d. 882, pope (872–82), a Roman; successor of Adrian II. John strenuously opposed the activities of St. Ignatius of Constantinople in Bulgaria. When Ignatius died, John recognized Photius ...

Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas, 1897–1967, English physicist, educated at the Univ. of Manchester and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was a fellow of St. John's College (1928–46) and professor of n...

satire

(Encyclopedia)satire, term applied to any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. It is more easily recognized than defined. From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishne...

Huntington, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Huntington, Samuel, 1731–96, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Windham, Conn. He was a delegate (1775–84) to and president (1779–81) of t...

John of Salisbury

(Encyclopedia)John of Salisbury sôlzˈbərē [key], c.1110–1180, English scholastic philosopher, b. Salisbury. He studied in France at Paris and Chartres under Abelard and other famous teachers. He was secretary...

Mandeville, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Mandeville, Sir John, 14th-century English author of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Originally written in Norman French, the work became enormously popular and was translated into English, Latin,...

Bury, John Bagnell

(Encyclopedia)Bury, John Bagnell băgˈnəl byo͝oˈrē [key], Irish historian, an authority on the Byzantine Empire. He was professor at the Univ. of Dublin from 1893 to 1902 and at Cambridge from 1902. Bury consi...

Donne, John

(Encyclopedia)Donne, John dŭn, dŏn [key], 1572–1631, English poet and divine. He is considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets. All of Donne's verse—his love sonnets and his religious and philosophic...

James, Saint (St. James the Greater)

(Encyclopedia)James, Saint, d. c.a.d. 43, in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Greater. He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John; these brothers were the Boanerges, or Sons of...

Eyre, Edward John

(Encyclopedia)Eyre, Edward John âr [key], 1815–1901, British colonial administrator. In Australia (1833–45) he was a magistrate, explorer, and writer on Australian geography, and had a reputation for sympathy ...

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