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Basques

(Encyclopedia)Basques băsks [key], people of N Spain and SW France. There are about 2 million Basques in the three Basque provs. and Navarre, Spain; some 250,000 in Labourd, Soule, and Lower Navarre, France; and c...

Catalonia

(Encyclopedia)Catalonia kătəlōˈnēə [key], Catalan Catalunya, Span. Cataluña, autonomous communit...

Medieval Latin literature

(Encyclopedia)Medieval Latin literature, literary works written in the Latin language during the Middle Ages. Many literary genres were already being taken over by writing in the vernacular, which had begun in...

Papal States

(Encyclopedia)Papal States, Ital. Lo Stato della Chiesa, from 754 to 1870 an independent territory under the temporal rule of the popes, also called the States of the Church and the Pontifical States. The territory...

illumination, in art

(Encyclopedia)illumination, in art, decoration of manuscripts and books with colored, gilded pictures, often referred to as miniatures (see miniature painting); historiated and decorated initials; and ornamental bo...

Slovenia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Slovenia slōvēˈnēə [key], Slovene Slovenija, officially Republic of Slovenia, republic (2015 est. pop. 2,075,000), 7,817 sq mi (20,246 sq km). It is bounded in the north by Austria, in the...

Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Saxony săkˈsənē [key], Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of...

Middle Ages

(Encyclopedia)Middle Ages, period in Western European history that followed the disintegration of the West Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th cent. and lasted into the 15th cent., i.e., into the period of the Renaissa...

feudalism

(Encyclopedia)feudalism fyo͞oˈdəlĭzəm [key], form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. The term fe...

German art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)German art and architecture, artistic works produced within the region that became politically unified as Germany in 1871 generally followed the stylistic currents of Western Europe. The sentimental...