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Tet offensive

(Encyclopedia)Tet offensive, 1968, a series of crucial battles in the Vietnam War. On Jan. 31, 1968, the first day of the celebration of the lunar new year, Vietnam's most important holiday, the Vietnamese Communis...

Hucbald

(Encyclopedia)Hucbald hŭkˈbôld [key], c.840–930, Flemish monk, composer and writer, formerly thought to be the author of the Musica enchiriadis (see polyphony). He wrote a musical treatise, De institutione har...

Gregory of Tours, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory of Tours, Saint, 538–94, French historian, bishop of Tours (from 573), b. Clermont-Ferrand, of a prominent family. He had a distinguished and successful career as bishop. Gregory wrote accou...

Eschweiler

(Encyclopedia)Eschweiler ĕshˈvīlər [key], city, North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, near Aachen. Its m...

McGinley, Phyllis

(Encyclopedia)McGinley, Phyllis, 1905–78, American poet, b. Ontario, Oreg. Her light verse treats aspects of modern life with humor and underlying seriousness. Among her best-known collections of verse are A Pock...

Vigilantius

(Encyclopedia)Vigilantius vĭjˌĭlănˈshəs [key], fl. 400, Christian priest of Gaul who was violently opposed by St. Jerome. Jerome's letters and a tract, Liber contra Vigilantium, declare that Vigilantius denie...

Berceo, Gonzalo de

(Encyclopedia)Berceo, Gonzalo de gōnthäˈlō ᵺā bārthāˈō [key], c.1198–1265?, earliest known Spanish medieval poet. He was a religious in a Benedictine monastery who wrote prolifically on saints and othe...

catacombs

(Encyclopedia)catacombs katˈəkōmz [key], cemeteries of the early Christians and contemporary Jews, arranged in extensive subterranean vaults and galleries. Besides serving as places of burial, the catacombs were...

veronica, Christian relic

(Encyclopedia)veronica vərŏnˈĭkə [key] [Lat., probably connected with Greek Berenice], relic preserved in St. Peter's Church, Rome. It is said to be a veil that a woman used to wipe the face of Jesus as he was...

Spagna, Lo

(Encyclopedia)Spagna, Lo lō späˈnyä [key], c.1450–c.1528, Italian painter, b. Spain, whence his nickname. His real name was Giovanni di Pietro. His art belongs to the Umbrian school and reveals his indebtedne...