Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hilary of Poitiers, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Hilary of Poitiers, Saint poitērzˈ, poiˈtyā [key], c.315–367?, bishop of Poitiers from c.350, Doctor of the Church. A convert from paganism, he distinguished himself as a supporter of Athanasius...

Leo I, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo I, d. 474, Byzantine or East Roman emperor (457–74). Chosen by the senate to succeed Marcian, he sought to counteract the preponderance of Germans in the Roman army by enlisting Isaurians. A nav...

Leo IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV (Leo the Khazar), d. 780, Byzantine emperor (775–80), son and successor of Constantine V. He owed his nickname to his mother, a Khazar princess. Leo tempered the iconoclastic excesses of his ...

Leo V, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo V (Leo the Armenian), d. 820, Byzantine emperor (813–20), successor of Michael I. A former general, Leo successfully defended (813) Constantinople against the Bulgars and concluded a 30-year tru...

Leo VI, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo VI (Leo the Wise or Leo the Philosopher), 862?–912, Byzantine emperor (886–912), son and successor of Basil I. He added to the work of his father by the publication (887–93) of the Basilica,...

Bolt, Usain St. Leo

(Encyclopedia)Bolt, Usain St. Leo, 1986–, Jamaican sprinter. Unusually tall (6 ft 5 in./1.96 m) for his sport, he won the gold medal for the 200-m sprint at the 2002 world junior championships and then broke the ...

Caprivi, Leo, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Caprivi, Leo, Graf von lāˈō gräf fən käprēˈvē [key], 1831–99, German chancellor, whose full name was Georg Leo, Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuculi. A former army officer and head of...

Arnold of Brescia

(Encyclopedia)Arnold of Brescia brĕshˈə [key], c.1090–1155, Italian monk and reformer, b. Brescia. A priest of irreproachable life, Arnold studied at Paris, where according to tradition he was a pupil of Peter...

Lombard League

(Encyclopedia)Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...

Guibert of Ravenna

(Encyclopedia)Guibert of Ravenna gwĭbˈərt, gēbĕrˈ [key], d. 1100, Italian churchman, antipope (1080–1100) Clement III, b. Parma. As imperial chancellor of Italy (1057–63), he consistently supported the Ho...