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orders, holy

(Encyclopedia)orders, holy [Lat. ordo,=rank], in Christianity, the traditional degrees of the clergy, conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Order. The episcopacy, priesthood or presbyterate, and diaconate were in gene...

Clement VI, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement VI, 1291–1352, pope (1342–52), a Frenchman named Pierre Roger; successor of Benedict XII. His court was at Avignon. He had been archbishop of Sens, archbishop of Rouen, and cardinal (1338)...

Theodoric the Great

(Encyclopedia)Theodoric the Great, c.454–526, king of the Ostrogoths and conqueror of Italy, b. Pannonia. He spent part of his youth as a hostage in Constantinople. Elected king in 471 after his father's death, h...

pontifex maximus

(Encyclopedia)pontifex maximus pŏnˈtĭfĕks măkˈsĭməs [key], highest priest of Roman religion and official head of the college of pontifices. As the chief administrator of religious affairs he regulated the c...

Carolingians

(Encyclopedia)Carolingians kărəlĭnˈjēənz [key], dynasty of Frankish rulers, founded in the 7th cent. by Pepin of Landen, who, as mayor of the palace, ruled the East Frankish Kingdom of Austrasia for Dagobert ...

Schleswig, former duchy, Germany and Denmark

(Encyclopedia)Schleswig shlĕsˈvĭkh [key], Dan. Slesvig, former duchy, N Germany and S Denmark, occupying the southern part of Jutland. The Eider River separates it from Holstein. German Schleswig forms part of S...

Dithmarschen

(Encyclopedia)Dithmarschen dĭtˈmärshən [key], region, SW Schleswig-Holstein, N Germany, between the Elbe and Eider rivers. It is chiefly an agricultural region, with extensive cattle raising in the west. The ea...

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...

Fulk

(Encyclopedia)Fulk fŭlk [key], 1092–1143, Latin king of Jerusalem (1131–43), count of Anjou (1109–29) as Fulk V, great-grandson of Fulk Nerra. He journeyed (1120) to the Holy Land as a pilgrim and returned t...

Molé, Louis Mathieu, Comte

(Encyclopedia)Molé, Louis Mathieu, Comte lwē mätyöˈ kôNt môlāˈ [key], 1781–1855, French politician. He was made a count and minister of justice by Emperor Napoleon I and later served in several cabinets ...

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