Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Randolph, Thomas, English diplomat

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Thomas, 1523–90, English diplomat. He was graduated from Oxford (1545) and served as principal of Broadgates Hall (later Pembroke College), Oxford, until forced because of his Protestant s...

Taylor, John, English writer

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, John, 1578?–1653, English writer. He was a boatman on the Thames and hence is often called the Water Poet. A traveler throughout England and the Continent, he recorded his observations in bo...

Pole, English noble family

(Encyclopedia)Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339). His oldest so...

Protectorate, in English history

(Encyclopedia)Protectorate, in English history, name given to the English government from 1653 to 1659. Following the English civil war and the execution of Charles I, England was declared (1649) a commonwealth und...

Bacon, Francis, English painter

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Francis, 1910–92, English painter, b. Dublin. A self-taught artist, Bacon rejected abstraction in painting to explore a repertoire of strange, fractured, and often bizarre figurative images, ...

Cave, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Cave, Edward, 1691–1754, English publisher. He founded (1731) the Gentleman's Magazine, the first modern magazine in English. Cave gave Samuel Johnson his first regular literary employment when he p...

Spargo, John

(Encyclopedia)Spargo, John spärˈgō [key], 1876–1966, American reformer and author, b. Cornwall, England. An early socialist, he was active in the Socialist party of the United States but resigned in 1917 becau...

Browse by Subject