Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Thomas à Becket, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Thomas à Becket, Saint, or Saint Thomas Becket, 1118–70, English martyr, archbishop of Canterbury, b. London. He is called St. Thomas of Canterbury and occasionally St. Thomas of London. In exi...

monarchy

(Encyclopedia)monarchy, form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life. The power of this sovereig...

Suger

(Encyclopedia)Suger süzhĕrˈ [key], 1081–1151, French cleric and statesman, abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, minister of kings Louis VI and Louis VII. Born into a peasant family and educated at the abbey of Sain...

Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st duke of, c.1366–1399, English nobleman. He was created earl of Nottingham in 1383, and in 1385 he was made earl marshal of England for life. He joined Thomas of Woodstoc...

Charles IV, king of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Charles IV, 1748–1819, king of Spain (1788–1808), second son of Charles III, whom he succeeded in place of his imbecile older brother. Unlike his father, Charles IV was an ineffective ruler and in...

Conrad IV, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad IV, 1228–54, German king (1237–54), king of Sicily and of Jerusalem (1250–54), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. He was elected (1237) king of the Romans at his father's instigation...

Diane de France

(Encyclopedia)Diane de France dyän də fräNs [key], 1538–1619, duchess of Angoulême; illegitimate daughter of King Henry II of France. She was legitimized in 1547. She was married to François, eldest son of C...

La Trémoille, Georges de

(Encyclopedia)La Trémoille or La Trimouille, Georges de zhôrzh də lä trāmoiˈyə or trēmo͞oˈyə [key], c.1385–1446, favorite of King Charles VII of France, sometime chamberlain to John the Fearless of Bur...

Godoy, Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Godoy, Manuel de mänwĕlˈ dā gōᵺoiˈ [key], 1767–1851, Spanish statesman. An army officer, he won the favor of Queen María Luisa and rose rapidly at the court of Charles IV. The king made him...

Northumberland, Henry Percy, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Northumberland, Henry Percy, 1st earl of, 1342–1408, English nobleman. He fought in France in the Hundred Years War, became warden of the Scottish Marches, and was a supporter of John Wyclif. Create...