Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Görtz, Georg Heinrich von

(Encyclopedia)Görtz, Georg Heinrich von gāˈôrk hīnˈrĭkh fən görts [key], 1668–1719, Swedish diplomat and financial expert, a German. While in the service of Frederick V, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, he help...

Fontana, Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Domenico fōntäˈnä [key], 1543–1607, Italian architect. He went to Rome, where he built (c.1580) the Sistine Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore for Cardinal Peretti. When his ...

Louise of Savoy, duchesse d'Angoulême

(Encyclopedia)Louise of Savoy, duchesse d'Angoulême düshĕsˈ däNgo͞olĕmˈ [key], 1476–1531, regent of France; daughter of Duke Philip II of Savoy and mother of King Francis I of France and Margaret, queen o...

Papineau, Louis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Papineau, Louis Joseph lwē zhôsĕfˈ päpēnōˈ [key], 1786–1871, French Canadian political leader and insurgent, b. Montreal. After serving as an officer in the War of 1812, he entered (1814) th...

Reichsregiment

(Encyclopedia)Reichsregiment rīkhsˈrāˌgēmĕntˈ [key] [Ger.,=government of the empire], imperial council created by the Diet of Augsburg in 1500. It was intended to form the executive branch of the government ...

Spica

(Encyclopedia)Spica spīˈkə [key], brightest star in the constellation Virgo; Bayer designation Alpha Virginis; 1992 position R.A. 13h24.8m, Dec. −11°07′. A bluish-white star of spectral class B1 V, its appa...

mosque

(Encyclopedia)mosque mŏsk [key], building for worship used by members of the Islamic faith. Muhammad's house in Medina (a.d. 622), with its surrounding courtyard and hall with columns, became the prototype for the...

Aleppo

(Encyclopedia)Aleppo əlĕpˈ [key], Arabic Haleb, city (2021 est. pop. 1,917,000), capital of Aleppo governorate, NW Syria. It is a commercial and industrial center located in a semide...

Antioch, city, Turkey

(Encyclopedia)Antioch äntäkˈyä [key], city, capital of Hatay prov., S Turkey, on the Orontes (Asi) River, near the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of Mt. Silpius. Antioch is the trad...

Gorgan

(Encyclopedia)Gorgan jo͝orjänˈ [key], town, N Iran, E of the Caspian Sea. The surrounding region yields ...

Browse by Subject