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Monte Cassino

(Encyclopedia)Monte Cassino mônˈtā käs-sēˈnō [key], monastery, in Latium, central Italy, E of the Rapido River. Situated on a hill (1,674 ft/510 m) overlooking Cassino, it was founded c.529 by St. Benedict o...

Lombards

(Encyclopedia)Lombards lŏmˈbərdz, –bärdz [key], ancient Germanic people. By the 1st cent. a.d. the Lombards were settled along the lower Elbe. After obscure migrations they were allowed (547) by Byzantine Emp...

Sabelli

(Encyclopedia)Sabelli səbĕlˈī [key], people of ancient Italy who spoke Oscan. They were a loose group and seemed to have had little or no political unity. Oscan-speaking tribes expanded over central Italy, and ...

Alboin

(Encyclopedia)Alboin ălˈboin [key], d. 572?, first Lombard king in Italy (569–572?). With the Avars he defeated the Gepidae (see Germans). He then led (568) an army across the Alps into Italy, took (569) Milan,...

Symonds, John Addington

(Encyclopedia)Symonds, John Addington sĭmˈənz [key], 1840–93, English author. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, constant ill health exiled him for the greater part of his life to Italy and Switzerland. His many w...

Gigli, Beniamino

(Encyclopedia)Gigli, Beniamino bānyämēˈnō jēˈlyē [key], 1890–1957, Italian tenor. He made his debut (1914) at Rovigo, Italy, as Enzo in La Gioconda. At the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, he was a lead...

Aversa

(Encyclopedia)Aversa ävĕrˈsä [key], city, Campania, S Italy. It is an agricultural and transportation center, noted for its sparkling white wine. It also produces shoes, mozzarella ...

Etruria

(Encyclopedia)Etruria ĭtro͝orˈēə [key], ancient country, W central Italy, now forming Tuscany and part of Umbria. It was the territory of the Etruscans, who in the 6th cent. b.c. spread Etruscan civilization t...

Authari

(Encyclopedia)Authari ôˈthârī [key], d. 590, Lombard king (584–90). Elected by the Lombard dukes to end the anarchy that prevailed in Italy after the murder (572?) of Alboin (see Lombards), Authari consolidat...

Lampedusa

(Encyclopedia)Lampedusa, island, 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km), S Sicily, Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, the largest of the Pelagie Islands and Italy's southernmost territory. Il Porto is the onl...