Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Agnus Dei

(Encyclopedia)Agnus Dei ăgˈnəs dēˈī, änˈyo͝os dāˈē [key] [Lat.], the Lamb of God, i.e., Jesus. The lamb of the Passover sacrifice is said to prefigure the crucifixion. Isaiah calls the expected Messiah ...

Kirkaldy of Grange, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Kirkaldy of Grange, Sir William kərkôlˈdē [key], d. 1573, Scottish soldier and politician. Associated with his father in the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546, he was captured by the French in 154...

Carey, William

(Encyclopedia)Carey, William, 1761–1834, English Baptist missionary and Orientalist, one of the first Protestant missionaries to India. He helped found the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792 and shortly thereafte...

Mary I, 1516–58, queen of England

(Encyclopedia)Mary I (Mary Tudor), 1516–58, queen of England (1553–58), daughter of Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragón. During the spread of Protestantism in the reign of her half-brother, Edward VI, Mary w...

Ruthven

(Encyclopedia)Ruthven rĭvˈən, ro͞othˈvən [key], Scottish noble family, believed to trace its ancestry to Thor, a Saxon or Dane, who settled in Scotland in the reign of David I. The name is derived from lands ...

Robertson, William

(Encyclopedia)Robertson, William, 1721–93, Scottish churchman and historian. As moderator (1762–80) of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, he led the moderate party and enforced the right of the sta...

Tavener, Sir John Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Tavener, Sir John Kenneth tăvˈənər, –nə [key], 1944–2013, English composer, b. London; studied Royal Academy of Music. Tavener, whose work shows a consistent but evolving tonal or modal style...

Suffolk, Henry Grey, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Suffolk, Henry Grey, duke of, d. 1554, English nobleman. He became 3d marquess of Dorset on his father's death (1530), and in 1534 he married Frances, daughter of Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, and...

Baliol, Edward de

(Encyclopedia)Baliol, Edward de bālˈyəl [key], d. 1363, king of Scotland, son of John de Baliol (d. 1315). Having secured English support for his claim to the Scottish throne, he invaded Scotland in 1332 and was...

Avalon Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Avalon Peninsula, 3,579 sq mi (9,270 sq km), SE N.L., Canada, on Newfoundland. It is nearly divided at its center by Conception Bay and St. Mary's Bay. The peninsula is the most densely populated part...