Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

All Souls' Day

(Encyclopedia)All Souls' Day, Nov. 2 (exceptionally, Nov. 3), feast of the Roman Catholic Church on which the church on earth prays for the souls of the faithful departed still suffering in purgatory. The proper of...

Maximus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Maximus, Saint, c.580–662, Greek theologian. He was secretary to Emperor Heraclius and subsequently abbot at the monastery of Chrysopolis. To curb Monotheletism he went to Rome and persuaded Pope St...

abbey

(Encyclopedia)abbey, monastic house, especially among Benedictines and Cistercians, consisting of not less than 12 monks or nuns ruled by an abbot or abbess. Many abbeys were originally self-supporting. In the Bene...

Rabanus Maurus Magnentius

(Encyclopedia)Rabanus Maurus Magnentius rəbāˈnəs môˈrəs măgnĕnˈshəs [key], c.780–856, German scholar and theologian. His name appears also as Hrabanus and Rhabanus. A student under Alcuin, he was later...

Rudolph, Paul Marvin

(Encyclopedia)Rudolph, Paul Marvin, 1918–97, American modernist architect, b. Elkton, Ky. Rudolph taught at several universities and served as chair of the Yale architecture department from 1958–65. He was one ...

Fuller, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Fuller, Margaret, 1810–50, American writer, lecturer, and public intellectual, b. Cambridgeport (now part of Cambridge), Mass. She was one of the most influential personalities in the American liter...

Einhard

(Encyclopedia)Einhard āˈgĭnhärt [key], c.770–840, Frankish historian. Educated in the monastery of Fulda, he continued his studies at Charlemagne's palace school in Aachen and rose to high favor with the empe...

Dunstan, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Dunstan, Saint dŭnsˈtən [key], c.910–88, English monk, archbishop of Canterbury (960–88), b. near Glastonbury. He lived as a monk until called (940) to court by King Edmund of Wessex. He became...

Whitby, Synod of

(Encyclopedia)Whitby, Synod of, called by King Oswy of Northumbria in 663 at Whitby, England. Its purpose was to choose between the usages of the Celtic and Roman churches, primarily in the matter of reckoning the ...

Suger

(Encyclopedia)Suger süzhĕrˈ [key], 1081–1151, French cleric and statesman, abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122, minister of kings Louis VI and Louis VII. Born into a peasant family and educated at the abbey of Sain...

Browse by Subject