Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

261 results found

Shkodër

(Encyclopedia)Shkodër sko͞oˈtərē [key], Serbo-Croatian Skadar, anc. Scodra, city (1989 est. pop. 80,200), capital of Shkodër dist., NW Albania, at the outlet of Lake Scutari. It is a market center in a fertil...

Saladin

(Encyclopedia)Saladin sălˈədĭn [key], Arabic Salah ad-Din, 1137?–1193, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent. He lived for 10 year...

Alexander VI, pope

(Encyclopedia)Alexander VI, 1431?–1503, pope (1492–1503), a Spaniard (b. Játiva) named Rodrigo de Borja or, in Italian, Rodrigo Borgia; successor of Innocent VIII. He took Borja as his surname from his mother'...

Holy Alliance

(Encyclopedia)Holy Alliance, 1815, agreement among the emperors of Russia and Austria and the king of Prussia, signed on Sept. 26. It was quite distinct from the Quadruple Alliance (Quintuple, after the admission o...

Michael the Brave

(Encyclopedia)Michael the Brave, d. 1601, prince of Walachia (1593–1601), of Transylvania (1599–1600), and of Moldavia (1600). Michael was one of Romania's greatest medieval rulers, as well as a celebrated mili...

Omar Khayyam

(Encyclopedia)Omar Khayyam kīämˈ [key], fl. 11th cent., Persian poet and mathematician, b. Nishapur. He was called Khayyam [tentmaker] probably because of his father's occupation. The details of his life are mos...

Paris, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Paris, Congress of, 1856, conference held by representatives of France, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Sardinia, Russia, Austria, and Prussia to negotiate the peace after the Crimean War....

Perak

(Encyclopedia)Perak pāˈrăk [key], state (1991 pop. 1,880,016), 8,030 sq mi (20,798 sq km), Malaysia, central Malay Peninsula, on the Strait of Malacca. Perak is bordered on the N by Thailand. The capital is Ipoh...

Sarawak

(Encyclopedia)Sarawak səräˈwäk [key], state (1991 pop. 1,648,217), 48,342 sq mi (125,206 sq km), Malaysia, in NW Borneo and on the South China Sea. It is bordered on the NE by the states of Brunei and Sabah and...

Richard, earl of Cornwall

(Encyclopedia)Richard, earl of Cornwall, 1209–72, second son of King John of England and brother of Henry III. In 1227, following an expedition to Gascony and Poitou, Richard forced Henry to grant him the land an...