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Justin Martyr, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Justin Martyr, Saint, c.a.d. 100–c.a.d. 165, Christian apologist, called also Justin the Philosopher. Born in Samaria of pagan parents, he studied philosophy, and after his conversion in Ephesus to ...

John Frederick I

(Encyclopedia)John Frederick I, 1503–54, elector (1532–47) and duke (1547–54) of Saxony; last elector of the Ernestine branch of the house of Wettin. Like his father, John the Steadfast, whom he succeeded, Jo...

Carlstadt

(Encyclopedia)Carlstadt, Karlstadt käˈrôlōshtätˌ [key], c.1480–1541, German Protestant reformer, whose original name was Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein. As early as 1516, Carlstadt presented theses denying fre...

Ismail, shah of Persia

(Encyclopedia)Ismail ĭsmäēlˈ [key], 1486–1524, shah of Persia (1502–24), founder of the Safavid dynasty. He restored Persia to the position of a sovereign state for the first time since the Arab invasion of...

Hulagu Khan

(Encyclopedia)Hulagu Khan ho͞oläˈgo͞o khän [key], 1217–65, Mongol conqueror, grandson of Jenghiz Khan. His brother Mangu, grand khan of the Mongols, directed him to quell a revolt in Persia. In 1256, in the ...

Janissaries

(Encyclopedia)Janissaries jănˈĭsârˌēz [key] [Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the rec...

Qayrawan, Al

(Encyclopedia)Qayrawan, Al kīrwänˈ, Fr. kĕrwäNˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 102,600), NE Tunisia. It is a sacred city of Islam. Founded in 670 by Uqbah bin Nafi, an Arab leader, it was the seat of Arab governors i...

Khatami, Mohammad

(Encyclopedia)Khatami, Mohammad khätˈämē [key], 1943–, Iranian religious and political leader. From a prominent clerical family, Khatami opposed the regime of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi in the 1960s and 70s, ...

cult

(Encyclopedia)cult, ritual observances involved in worship of, or communication with, the supernatural or its symbolic representations. A cult includes the totality of ideas, activities, and practices associated wi...

bin Laden, Osama

(Encyclopedia)bin Laden, Osama or Usama ōsäˈmə bĭn lädˈən, ŭsäˈmə [key], 1957?–2011, Saudi-born leader of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization devoted to uniting all Muslims and establishing a transnati...