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Wettin

(Encyclopedia)Wettin vĕtˈĭn [key], German dynasty, which ruled in Saxony, Thuringia, Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria. It takes its name from a castle on the Saale near Halle. The family gained promi...

Regensburg

(Encyclopedia)Regensburg rāˈgənsbo͝orkh [key], city (1994 pop. 125,337), Bavaria, SE Germany, a port at the confluence of the Danube (Donau) and Regen rivers. In English it is known as Ratisbon. The city is a c...

Tuscany

(Encyclopedia)Tuscany tŭsˈkənē [key], Ital. Toscana, region (1991 pop. 3,538,619), 8,876 sq mi (22,989 sq km), N central Italy, bordering on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west and including the Tuscan Archipelago. ...

Medici, Italian family

(Encyclopedia)Medici mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. Of obscure origin, they rose to immense wealth as merchants and ba...

Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem

(Encyclopedia)Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem kərēmˈ ăbˈdo͝ol jəbärˈ [key], 1947–, American basketball player, b. New York City as Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor. At 7 ft 2 in. (218 cm), he led the Univ. of Califor...

higher criticism

(Encyclopedia)higher criticism, name given to a type of biblical criticism distinguished from textual or lower criticism. It seeks to interpret text of the Bible free from confessional and dogmatic theology. Higher...

Abravanel, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Abravanel or Abarbanel, Isaac əbräˈvənĕl, –bärbə– [key], 1437–1508, Jewish theologian, biblical commentator, and financier, b. Lisbon. He served as treasurer to Alfonso V of Portugal but ...

Graz

(Encyclopedia)Graz gräts [key], city, capital of Styria prov., SE Austria, on the Mur River. The second la...

Gallas, Matthias, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Gallas, Matthias, Graf von mätēˈäs gräf fən gälˈäs [key], 1584–1647, imperial general in the Thirty Years War. He served under Tilly, commander of the Catholic League, in Germany until 1629...