Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wenceslaus, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Wenceslaus, 1361–1419, Holy Roman emperor (uncrowned) and German king (1378–1400), king of Bohemia (1378–1419) as Wenceslaus IV, elector of Brandenburg (1373–76), son and successor of Emperor ...

Yellow Emperor

(Encyclopedia)Yellow Emperor, Mandarin Huangdi, legendary Chinese ruler and culture hero; tradition holds that he reigned from 2697 b.c. to 2597 b.c. He is one of the mythical prehistoric emperors who supposedly cr...

Otto III, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Otto III, 980–1002, Holy Roman emperor (996–1002) and German king (983–1002), son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano. On Otto's accession Henry the Wrangler, the ...

Fletcher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, John, 1579–1625, English dramatist, b. Rye, Sussex, educated at Cambridge. A member of a prominent literary family, he began writing for the stage about 1606, first with Francis Beaumont, ...

Albert I, Holy Roman Emperor

(Encyclopedia)Albert I, c.1250–1308, Holy Roman Emperor (1298–1308), son of Rudolf I. Albert was invested with Austria and Styria in 1282 by his father, who also hoped to secure the succession as king of the Ge...

Marsilius of Padua

(Encyclopedia)Marsilius of Padua märsĭlˈēəs, păˈdyo͞oə [key], d. c.1342, Italian political philosopher. He is satirically called Marsiglio. Little is known with certainty of his life except that he was rec...

Formosus

(Encyclopedia)Formosus fôrmōˈsəs [key], c.816–896, pope (891–96), probably a Roman; successor of Stephen VI. Under Pope Nicholas I he had been bishop in Bulgaria, where he pursued a rigorous Romanizing camp...

Angelus, Byzantine emperors

(Encyclopedia)Angelus ănˈjələs [key], family name and dynasty of three Byzantine emperors (1185–1204): see Isaac II; Alexius III; Alexius IV. ...

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand I, 1503–64, Holy Roman emperor (1558–64), king of Bohemia (1526–64) and of Hungary (1526–64), younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Brought up in Spain, he was expected to...

Fisher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469–1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504–34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mothe...