(Encyclopedia) OccitanOccitanôksētäNˈ [key] or ProvençalProvençalprôväNsälˈ [key], member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages…
(Encyclopedia) pardon, in law, exemption from punishment for a criminal conviction granted by the grace of the executive of a government. A general pardon to a class of persons guilty of the same…
(Encyclopedia) benefit of clergy, term originally applied to the exemption of Christian clerics from criminal prosecution in the secular courts. The privilege was established by the 12th cent., and…
(Encyclopedia)
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Valerian, Valeriana officinalis
valerian, common name for some members of the Valerianaceae, a family chiefly of herbs and shrubs of temperate and colder regions of the…
(Encyclopedia) Valla, LorenzoValla, Lorenzolōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides…
(Encyclopedia) catechismcatechismkătˈəkĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=oral instruction], originally oral instruction in religion, later written instruction. Catechisms are usually written in the form of questions…
(Encyclopedia) Somerset, county (1991 pop. 459,100), 1,333 sq mi (3,453 sq km), SW England, on the Bristol Channel. The county seat is Taunton. The terrain is generally low and flat in the center (…
(Encyclopedia) Suffolk, county (1991 pop. 629,900), 1,466 sq mi (3,798 sq km), E England. The county seat is Ipswich. The county is divided into seven administrative districts: Waveney, Suffolk…
(Encyclopedia) stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of…
(Encyclopedia) table, article of furniture employed for household or ecclesiastical purposes. Elaborately decorated tables of wood or metal were known in ancient Egypt and Assyria, and the Greeks…
