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Medici, Lorenzo de', 1492–1519, duke of Urbino

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Lorenzo de', 1492–1519, duke of Urbino (1516–19); son of Piero de' Medici. His uncle, Pope Leo X, made the youthful Lorenzo duke of Urbino. After his early death, however, Urbino reverted ...

Simeon I

(Encyclopedia)Simeon I, c.863–927, ruler (893–927) and later first czar of Bulgaria. He was placed on the throne by his father, Boris I, who had returned from a monastery to depose his first son, Vladimir (reig...

Catherine of Siena, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Catherine of Siena, Saint sēĕnˈə [key], 1347–80, Italian mystic and diplomat, a member of the third order of the Dominicans, Doctor of the Church. The daughter of Giacomo Benincasa, a Sienese dy...

papacy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 papacy pāˈpəsē [key], office of the pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is pope by reason of being bishop of Rome and thus, according to Roman Catholic belief, successor in the see ...

Fisher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469–1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504–34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mothe...

Pius XI

(Encyclopedia)Pius XI, 1857–1939, pope (1922–39), an Italian named Achille Ratti, b. Desio, near Milan; successor of Benedict XV. Pius's pontificate was marked by great diplomatic activity and by many importa...

Lawrence of Brindisi, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence of Brindisi, Saint brēnˈdēzē [key], 1559–1619, Italian Capuchin priest, Doctor of the Church, b. Brindisi, kingdom of Naples, as Cesare De Rossi. He joined the Capuchin Friars at the ag...

Carolingian architecture and art

(Encyclopedia)Carolingian architecture and art, art forms and structures created by the Carolingians. Toward the beginning of the Carolingian Period, in the 8th cent., a gradual change appeared in Western culture a...

Margaret of Scotland, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Scotland, Saint, d. 1093, queen consort of Malcolm III and sister of Edgar Atheling. She was married to Malcolm c.1070. A deeply religious woman, she worked to replace the Celtic practices...

Schism of East and West

(Encyclopedia)Schism of East and West, division between the Orthodox Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church. See Christianity; Ferrara-Florence, Council of; Leo IX, Saint; Lyons, Second Council of; papacy; Ph...