Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Breton Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Breton Succession, War of the, 1341–65, an important episode of the Hundred Years War. Duke John III of Brittany died in 1341 without heirs. The succession was contested by his half-brother, John de...

French literature

(Encyclopedia)French literature, writings in medieval French dialects and standard modern French. Writings in Provençal and Breton are considered separately, as are works in French produced abroad (as at Canadian ...

Basselin, Olivier

(Encyclopedia)Basselin, Olivier ōlēvyāˈ bäsəlăNˈ [key], 15th cent., French miller of Vire, Normandy. He was one of the Compagnons du Vau de Vire [companions of the Vire valley], who made drinking songs, lov...

Renan, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Renan, Ernest ĕrnĕstˈ rənäNˈ [key], 1823–92, French historian and critic. He began training for the priesthood but renounced it in 1845. His first trip to Italy (1849) influenced his interest ...

Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount, 1724–1816, British admiral. Entering the navy in 1741, he served with distinction in the Seven Years War. In 1781 he was sent to the West Indies as second in command...

Solesmes

(Encyclopedia)Solesmes sôlĕmˈ [key], village (1993 est. pop. 1,284), Sarthe dept., NW France. Its famous Benedictine Abbey de Saint-Pierre de Solesmes (founded 1010) was a pilgrimage site and led in the revival ...

Samuel, Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Samuel, Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount, 1870–1963, British statesman. Entering Parliament as a Liberal in 1902, he was postmaster general (1910–14, 1915–16) and home secretary (1916). He los...

Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de zhôrzh lwē ləklĕrkˈ kôNt də büfôNˈ [key], 1707–88, French naturalist and author. From 1739 he was keeper of the Jardin du Roi (later the Jardin des ...

Steenkerque

(Encyclopedia)Steenkerque stānkĕrkˈ [key], Du. Steenkerke, village, Hainaut prov., S Belgium, near Mons. There, in 1692, the French under Marshal François Henri de Luxembourg defeated William III of England in ...

Staël, Germaine de

(Encyclopedia)Staël, Germaine de zhĕrmĕnˈ də stäl [key], 1766–1817, French-Swiss woman of letters, whose full name was Anne Louise Germaine Necker, baronne de Staël-Holstein. Born in Paris, the daughter of...