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Salvation Army

(Encyclopedia)Salvation Army, Protestant denomination and international nonsectarian Christian organization for evangelical and philanthropic work. The Salvation Army was founded by William Booth, with the assist...

Hesselius, Gustavus

(Encyclopedia)Hesselius, Gustavus hĕsēˈlēəs [key], 1682–1755, American portrait painter, b. Sweden, settled c.1712 in Philadelphia. He was the earliest portrait painter and organ builder in the United States...

Barocci, Federigo

(Encyclopedia)Barocci or Baroccio, Federigo fādārēˈgō bärôtˈchē, –chō [key], c.1530–1612, Italian painter, b. Urbino, where he was continually employed throughout his life. In the 1550s he traveled to...

Judas Iscariot

(Encyclopedia)Judas Iscariot ĭskârˈēət [key], Jesus' betrayer, possibly from the village of Kerioth, the only Judaean disciple among the Twelve, and, according to the Gospel of St. John, their treasurer. Judas...

Necho fl. 670 b.c., lord of Saïs, Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Necho nēˈkō [key], fl. 670 b.c., lord of Saïs, Egypt. He was confirmed in his holding after the Assyrian conquest in 670; he was later taken to Nineveh in chains for plotting to revolt but was par...

Passion cycle

(Encyclopedia)Passion cycle, in art, the depiction of the last events in the life of Jesus. The Passion was a favorite subject of medieval and Renaissance artists and was considered the most ambitious of projects. ...

Maundy Thursday

(Encyclopedia)Maundy Thursday mônˈdē [key] [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the E...

Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3d duke of, 1735–1811, British statesman. After serving as a secretary of state (1765–66), he became first lord of the treasury in Lord Chatham's administration (1...

villein

(Encyclopedia)villein vĭlˈən [key] [O.Fr.,=village dweller], peasant under the manorial system of medieval Western Europe. The term applies especially to serfs in England, where by the 13th cent. the entire unfr...

Grail, Holy

(Encyclopedia)Grail, Holy, a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips. It was identified...