Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Benedict XI

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XI, d. 1304, pope (1303–4), an Italian (b. Treviso) named Niccolo Boccasini; successor of Boniface VIII. Prior to his election he had been master general of the Dominican order. As pope he ...

Towton Field

(Encyclopedia)Towton Field touˈtən [key], North Yorkshire, N England, near Tadcaster. It was the scene (1461) of a bloody and decisive battle in which the forces of Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians. See Roses,...

Satyre Ménippée

(Encyclopedia)Satyre Ménippée or Satire Ménippée sätērˈ mānēpāˈ [key], anonymous French political pamphlet (1st ed. 1594) circulated in Paris in the 1590s. A brilliant lampoon attacking the leaders of th...

Camphausen, Ludolf

(Encyclopedia)Camphausen, Ludolf lo͞oˈdôlf kämpˈhouzən [key], 1803–90, Prussian statesman and businessman. A leading merchant in Cologne, he headed the liberal ministry appointed by King Frederick William I...

Proust, Joseph Louis

(Encyclopedia)Proust, Joseph Louis zhôzĕfˈ lwē pro͞ost [key], 1754–1826, French chemist. He was professor of chemistry at the artillery school in Segovia, Spain, and director of the laboratory of Charles IV ...

Victor Amadeus III

(Encyclopedia)Victor Amadeus III, 1726–96, king of Sardinia (1773–96), son and successor of Charles Emmanuel III. He declared war on France in 1792 after French Revolutionary troops had occupied Savoy and Nice....

Hohenstaufen

(Encyclopedia)Hohenstaufen hōˌənshtouˈfən [key], German princely family, whose name is derived from the castle of Staufen built in 1077 by a Swabian count, Frederick. In 1079, Frederick married Agnes, daughter...

Alfonso XI, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso XI, 1311–50, Spanish king of Castile and León (1312–50), son and successor of Ferdinand IV. His vigorous campaign against Granada provoked an invasion by the Moors from Morocco; they took...

Amenemhet III

(Encyclopedia)Amenemhet III äˌmĕnĕmˈhĕt, āˌ– [key], d. 1801 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XII dynasty. He was the son and successor of Sesostris III, with whom he had been coregent. He extended the ...

John of Nepomuk, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John of Nepomuk, Saint nāˈpōmo͝ok [key], d. 1393, patron saint of Bohemia, a martyr. He is also called John Nepomucen. He was vicar general of Bohemia under King Wenceslaus IV (later Holy Roman Em...