Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

264 results found

Cossa, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Cossa, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā kôsˈsä [key], c.1370–1419, Neapolitan churchman, antipope (1410–15; see Schism, Great) with the name John XXIII. He had a military career before entering the...

Charles I, king of Naples and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles I (Charles of Anjou), 1227–85, king of Naples and Sicily (1266–85), count of Anjou and Provence, youngest brother of King Louis IX of France. He took part in Louis's crusades to Egypt (124...

French Revolutionary calendar

(Encyclopedia)French Revolutionary calendar, the official calendar of France, Nov. 24, 1793–Dec. 31, 1805. Its introduction was decreed by the Convention on Oct. 5, 1793, but it was computed from Sept. 22, 1792, ...

Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of

(Encyclopedia)Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of, murder of French Protestants, or Huguenots, that began in Paris on Aug. 24, 1572. It was preceded, on Aug. 22, by an attempt, ordered by Catherine de' Medici, on ...

coronation

(Encyclopedia)coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

George of Podebrad

(Encyclopedia)George of Podebrad pôdˈyĕbrät [key], 1420–71, king of Bohemia (1458–71). A Bohemian nobleman, he became leader of the Utraquists, or the moderate Hussites, in the wars between Hussites and Cat...

Cato the Younger

(Encyclopedia)Cato the Younger or Cato of Utica, 95 b.c.–46 b.c., Roman statesman, whose full name was Marcus Porcius Cato; great-grandson of Cato the Elder. Reared by his uncle Marcus Livius Drusus, he showed an...

Roman Catholic Church

(Encyclopedia)Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. “Roman Cathol...

Henry IV, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1553–1610, king of France (1589–1610) and, as Henry III, of Navarre (1572–1610), son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret; first of the Bourbon kings of France. Henry's marri...

Rome, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Roman Empire (a.d. 117) CE5 Rome, Ital. Roma, city (1991 pop. 2,775,250), capital of Italy and see of the pope, whose residence, Vatican City, is a sovereign state within the city of Rome. R...