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Chiusi

(Encyclopedia)Chiusi kyo͞oˈsē [key], Lat. Clusium, Etruscan Chamars, town, in Tuscany, central Italy, in...

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 (...

Ficino, Marsilio

(Encyclopedia)Ficino, Marsilio märsēˈlyō fēchēˈnō [key], 1433–99, Italian philosopher. Under the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici, Ficino became the most influential exponent of Platonism in Italy in the 15...

Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst

(Encyclopedia)Quimby, Phineas Parkhurst, 1802–66, American mental healer, b. Lebanon, N.H. He became interested in mesmerism and gave exhibitions of that art in New England and New Brunswick. He then turned to me...

Papin, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Papin, Denis dənēˈ päpăNˈ [key], 1647–1712?, French physicist and inventor. He was an assistant of Christian Huygens and of Robert Boyle and was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Marbur...

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...

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...

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...

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...