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atlas, in geography

(Encyclopedia)atlas, in geography, collection of maps or charts. It usually includes data on various features of a country, e.g., its topography, natural resources, climate, and population, as well as its agricultu...

Septuagint

(Encyclopedia)Septuagint sĕpˈtyo͞oəjĭnt [key] [Lat.,=70], oldest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Hellenistic Jews, possibly from Alexandria, c.250 b.c. Legend, according to the fictional l...

Bessarion

(Encyclopedia)Bessarion bĕsârˈēən [key], 1395?–1472, Byzantine humanist, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a leading figure at the Council of Ferrara-Florence, which he attended as metropolitan o...

Armagnacs and Burgundians

(Encyclopedia)Armagnacs and Burgundians, opposing factions that fought to control France in the early 15th cent. The rivalry for power between Louis d'Orléans, brother of the recurrently insane King Charles VI, an...

Frederick VIII, king of Denmark

(Encyclopedia)Frederick VIII, 1843–1912, king of Denmark (1906–12), son and successor of Christian IX. He fought in the war with Prussia in 1864 and always retained an interest in military affairs. He was succe...

Romanus II

(Encyclopedia)Romanus II, 939–63, Byzantine emperor (959–63), son and successor of Constantine VII. A profligate, he came under the domination of his second wife, Theophano. She, along with the eunuch Joseph Br...

Matilda, countess of Tuscany

(Encyclopedia)Matilda, 1046–1115, countess of Tuscany, called the Great Countess; supporter of Pope Gregory VII in the papal conflict with the Holy Roman emperors. Ruling over Tuscany and parts of Emilia-Romagna ...

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2d duke of, 1443–1524, English nobleman, son of John Howard, 1st duke of Norfolk. He fought at the battle of Bosworth (1485) in which his father was killed. He himself was ca...

Simnel, Lambert

(Encyclopedia)Simnel, Lambert sĭmˈnəl [key], c.1475–1525, imposter and pretender to the English throne. Little is known of his early life, but before 1486 he caught the attention of an Oxford priest, Richard S...

Bernstorff, Johann Hartwig Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Bernstorff, Johann Hartwig Ernst bĕrnsˈtôrf [key], 1712–72, Danish politician, of German (Hanoverian) origin. As minister of foreign affairs (1751–70) under Frederick V and Christian VII, he s...