(Encyclopedia) Pillars of Hercules, ancient mythological name for promontories flanking the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. They are usually identified with Gibraltar in Europe and with Mt…
(Encyclopedia) nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for…
(Encyclopedia) Anne of ClevesAnne of Clevesklēvz [key], 1515–57, fourth queen consort of Henry VIII of England. The sister of William, duke of Cleves, one of the most powerful of the German…
(Encyclopedia) Petition of Right, 1628, a statement of civil liberties sent by the English Parliament to Charles I. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king's unpopular foreign policy had caused his…
(Encyclopedia) John of BrienneJohn of Briennebrēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter,…
(Encyclopedia) Ramillies, battle ofRamillies, battle ofrămˈĭlēz, Fr. rämēyēˈ [key], fought May 23, 1706, near the village of Ramillies-Offus, Walloon Brabant prov., Belgium, 12 mi (19 km) S of Tienen…
(Encyclopedia) Semonides of AmorgosSemonides of Amorgossĭmŏnˈĭdēz, əmôrˈgŏs [key], fl. c.650 b.c., Greek iambic poet, b. Samos. He led a colony to the island of Amorgos in the SE Cyclades c.630 b.c.…
(Encyclopedia) Alexander of Hales, d. 1245, English scholastic philosopher, called the Unanswerable Doctor by his fellow scholastics. He was a Franciscan and a lecturer at the Univ. of Paris. His…
(Encyclopedia) Henry of Flanders, c.1174–1216, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1206–16), brother and successor of Emperor Baldwin I. The ablest and most respected of the Latin emperors, he fought…
(Encyclopedia) Hildebrand, Lay of, fragment of an epic in mixed Low and Old High German composed c.800 in the monastery of Fulda. Hildebrand, armorer of Dietrich of Bern (Theodoric the Great),…
