Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

299 results found

English literature

(Encyclopedia)English literature, literature written in English since c.1450 by the inhabitants of the British Isles; it was during the 15th cent. that the English language acquired much of its modern form. For the...

church and state

(Encyclopedia)church and state, the relationship between the religion or religions of a nation and the civil government of that nation, especially the relationship between the Christian church and various civil gov...

Jefferson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy. After 1809, Jefferson lived in retirem...

Parliament

(Encyclopedia)Parliament, legislative assembly of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Over the centuries it has become more than a legislative body; it is the sovereign power of Great Britain,...

Slovakia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Slovakia slôˈvĕnskô [key], republic (2015 est. pop. 5,439,000), 18,917 sq mi (48,995 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic in the west, by Austria in the southwest, b...

Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Netherlands nĕᵺˈərləndz [key], Du. Nederland or Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, officially Kingdom of the Netherlands, constitutional monarchy (2015 est. pop. 16,938,000), 15,963 sq mi (41,34...

Croatia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Croatia krōāˈshə [key], Croatian Hrvatska, officially Republic of Croatia, republi...

Russian Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Russian Revolution, violent upheaval in Russia in 1917 that overthrew the czarist government. The civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia until 1920. ...

English civil war

(Encyclopedia)English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the “parliamentarians,” that culminated in the defeat and execution ...

Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Holy Roman Empire (c.1100) CE5 Holy Roman Empire, designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renu...