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Janissaries

(Encyclopedia)Janissaries jănˈĭsârˌēz [key] [Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the rec...

Alfonso I, king of Aragón and Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso I (Alfonso the Battler) ălfŏnˈsō, äl– [key], d. 1134, king of Aragón and Navarre (1104–34), brother and successor of Peter I. The husband of Urraca, queen of Castile, he fought unsuc...

separatists

(Encyclopedia)separatists, in religion, those bodies of Christians who withdrew from the Church of England. They desired freedom from church and civil authority, control of each congregation by its membership, and ...

Philippians

(Encyclopedia)Philippians fəlĭpˈēənz [key], letter of the New Testament, written by St. Paul from captivity probably in Rome (c.a.d. 60) to the Christians of Philippi (in Macedonia), the first European city th...

acrostic

(Encyclopedia)acrostic əkrŏˈstĭk [key], arrangement of words or lines in which a series of initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken together, stand in a set order ...

Thomas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Saint, one of the Twelve Apostles, called Didymus. According to John, he refused to believe in the resurrection until he saw Jesus' wounds; hence the expression “doubting Thomas.” John 11....

Nerva

(Encyclopedia)Nerva (Marcus Cocceius Nerva) nûrˈvə [key], c.a.d. 30–a.d. 98, Roman emperor (a.d. 96–a.d. 98). He had an honorable career as a statesman at Rome, and his reputation was blameless. At the death...

Yusuf ibn Tashfin

(Encyclopedia)Yusuf ibn Tashfin yo͞oso͝ofˈ ĭˈbən täshfēnˈ [key], d. 1106, ruler in the dynasty of the Almoravids (c.1059–1106). A Muslim, he led the Berbers in N Africa, continued the conquest of Morocco...

Welby, Justin Portal

(Encyclopedia)Welby, Justin Portal, 1956–, archbishop of Canterbury (2013–), b. London, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1978). An oil executive until 1989, he studied theology at St. John's College, Dur...

Mark, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Mark, Saint [Lat. Marcus], Christian apostle, traditional author of the 2d Gospel (see Mark, Gospel according to). His full name was John Mark. His mother, named Mary, had a house in Jerusalem, which ...