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fabliau

(Encyclopedia)fabliau, plural fabliaux both: fäblēōˈ [key], short comic, often bawdy tale in verse that deals realistically and satirically with middle-class or lower-class characters. Fabliaux were often direc...

Fernán González

(Encyclopedia)Fernán González fārnänˈ gōnthäˈlāth [key], d. 970, first count of Castile. As count of Burgos from c.930 he took advantage of Leonese divisions and the war against the Moors to establish the ...

Sassetta

(Encyclopedia)Sassetta säs-sĕtˈtä [key], c.1400–1450, Italian painter of the Sienese school, whose original name was Stefano di Giovanni. A popular artist, he painted many large altarpieces, scenes from the l...

Scharwenka, Franz Xaver

(Encyclopedia)Scharwenka, Franz Xaver fränts ksävârˈ shärvĕngˈkä [key], 1850–1924, Polish-German pianist and composer. He founded his own conservatories in Berlin (1881) and New York City (1891). Beginnin...

Severn, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Severn, Joseph sĕvˈərn [key], 1793–1879, English portrait and landscape painter. He was consul at Rome from 1861 to 1872. He is best known for his devotion to Keats during the poet's last days. H...

Sigtuna

(Encyclopedia)Sigtuna sĭgˈtüˌnä [key], town (1990 pop. 4,918), Stockholm co., E Sweden, on Lake Skarven, near Stockholm. Founded c.1000, it was one of Sweden's earliest towns, its first capital, and a center o...

pinto horse

(Encyclopedia)pinto horse, American light horse, characterized by large, irregular color markings—most commonly black (or dark) and white. Horses of this pattern, known regionally as “paints” [Span. pinto=pai...

Peter Canisius, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Peter Canisius, Saint kənĭshˈēəs [key], 1521–97, Dutch Jesuit, Doctor of the Church, b. Nijmegen. He spent his life traveling widely strengthening wavering Roman Catholics, preaching, and instr...

Tirano

(Encyclopedia)Tirano tēräˈnō [key], town (1991 pop. 8,919), Lombardy, N Italy, on the Adda River, in the Valtellina, near the Swiss border. It is an agricultural and silk market. Nearby is the Church of the Mad...

Toyokuni

(Encyclopedia)Toyokuni tōyōˈko͞onē [key], 1769–1825, Japanese color-print artist, whose name in full was Toyokuni Utagawa. He was one of the leading masters of the period of the popular ukiyo-e school. After...