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Constantinople, Fourth Council of

(Encyclopedia)Constantinople, Fourth Council of, 869–70, regarded as the eighth ecumenical council by the modern Roman Catholic Church. It has never been accepted by the Orthodox Church, which instead recognizes ...

Charles of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Charles of Valois välwäˈ [key], 1270–1325, French prince and military leader, third son of Philip III and father of Philip VI. He dominated the reign in France of his nephew Louis X. On the excom...

chant

(Encyclopedia)chant, general name for one-voiced, unaccompanied, liturgical music. Usually it refers to the liturgical melodies of the Byzantine, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches and is analo...

Isaac I

(Encyclopedia)Isaac I (Isaac Comnenus) īˈzək kŏmnēˈnəs [key], c.1005–1061, Byzantine emperor (1057–59), first of the Comnenus dynasty. Proclaimed emperor by the army, he deposed Michael VI, who had succe...

Anna Comnena

(Encyclopedia)Anna Comnena kŏmnēˈnə [key], b. 1083, d. after 1148, Byzantine princess and historian; daughter of Emperor Alexius I. She plotted, during and after her father's reign, against her brother, John II...

Bet Shean

(Encyclopedia)Bet Shean bāt shĭänˈ [key], town, NE Israel, in the Jordan River valley, c.300 ft (90 m) below ...

dome

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Parts of a dome dome, a roof circular or (rarely) elliptical in plan and usually hemispherical in form, placed over a circular, square, oblong, or polygonal space. Domes have been built with a...

civil law

(Encyclopedia)civil law, as used in this article, a modern legal system based upon Roman law, as distinguished from common law. Civil law is based on written legal codes, a hallmark of the Roman legal system, in wh...

Franks

(Encyclopedia)Franks, group of Germanic tribes. By the 3d cent. a.d., they were settled along the lower and middle Rhine. The two major divisions were the Salian Franks in the north and the Ripuarian Franks in the ...

Westphalia, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Westphalia, Peace of, 1648, general settlement ending the Thirty Years War. It marked the end of the Holy Roman Empire as an effective institution and inaugurated the modern European state system. The...