Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Manasseh ben Israel

(Encyclopedia)Manasseh ben Israel, 1604–57, Jewish scholar and communal leader, b. Portugal. Early in his life he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a rabbi and started (1627) the first Hebrew press there. He ...

Mansur, al-, 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba

(Encyclopedia)Mansur, al- (Muhammad ibn Abi-Amir al-Mansur billah), 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba, known in Spanish as Almanzor. He became steward to Princess Subh, wife of the caliph Hakim II, and under h...

Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint gädälēˈ dĕkhäkhwēˈᵺschwa;, –dālēˈ dāgäkwēˈtä [key] or Saint Catherine Tekakwitha, 1656–80, Native American holy woman known as the Lily of the Mohawks, b...

Hierapolis

(Encyclopedia)Hierapolis hīərăpˈəlĭs [key], ancient city of Phrygia, W Asia Minor, 7 mi (11.3 km) N of Laodicea and on a plateau 500 ft (152 m) above the Lycus valley (in present-day Turkey). Devoted to the w...

Hilda, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Hilda, Saint, 614–80, English abbess of Whitby, princess of Northumbria. She became a Christian at the age of 13 and a nun at 33. About 647 she set out for a convent in France, but was recalled by S...

Heinemann, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Heinemann, Gustav go͝osˈtäf hīnˈəmän [key], 1899–1976, West German political leader. A corporation lawyer and wartime leader of the Confessing Church, he helped found the Christian Democratic...

Angelus Silesius

(Encyclopedia)Angelus Silesius yōhänˈəs shĕfˈlər [key], 1624–77, German poet. He is best known for his pastoral lyric cycles Heilige Seelenlust (1657–68) and Cherubinischer Wandersmann (1674–75), which...

Gronchi, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Gronchi, Giovanni jōvänˈnē grônˈkē [key], 1887–1978, Italian political leader. He entered parliament in 1919 as a member of the new Popular party. When Benito Mussolini seized power in 1922 a...

Gotthelf, Jeremias

(Encyclopedia)Gotthelf, Jeremias yārāmēˈäs gôtˈhĕlf [key], 1797–1854, Swiss writer and clergyman. His real name was Albert Bitzius; his pen name is that of the hero of his autobiographical Bauernspiegel (...

antinomianism

(Encyclopedia)antinomianism ăntĭnōˈmēənĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=against the law], the belief that Christians are not bound by the moral law, particularly that of the Old Testament. The idea was strong among the Gno...