Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

249 results found

Amadis of Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Amadis of Gaul ämädēsˈ də gōl [key], famous prose romance of chivalry, first composed in Spain or Portugal and probably based on French sources. Entirely fictional, it dates from the 13th or 14t...

Amalfi

(Encyclopedia)Amalfi ämälˈfē [key], town, in Campania, S Italy, a small fishing port on the Gulf of Sorrento. Built on a mountain slope, it is also a picturesque seaside resort. Acc...

Frye, Northrop

(Encyclopedia)Frye, Northrop nôrˈthrəp [key], 1912–91, Canadian literary critic, b. Quebec. In 1936 he was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Canada. In 1948 he was appointed professor of English a...

Huntington's disease

(Encyclopedia)Huntington's disease, hereditary, acute disturbance of the central nervous system usually beginning in middle age and characterized by involuntary muscular movements and progressive intellectual deter...

Jeux Floraux, Académie des

(Encyclopedia)Jeux Floraux, Académie des äkädāmēˈ dā jö flôrōˈ [key] [Fr.,=academy of floral games], one of the oldest known literary societies. It was founded (c.1323) at Toulouse, France, by seven trou...

law

(Encyclopedia)law, rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of cond...

Rostenkowski, Dan

(Encyclopedia)Rostenkowski, Dan (Daniel David Rostenkowski) rŏsˌtənkouˈskē [key], 1928–2010, U.S. congressman, b. Chicago, grad. Loyola Univ. (1951). A Democrat, he was first elected as a U.S. representative...

Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de

(Encyclopedia)Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de hēl älˈvärĕth kärēˈlyō dā älbôrnôthˈ [key], 1310?–1367, Spanish and papal statesman and general, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Alfonso...

Chindaswinth

(Encyclopedia)Chindaswinth chĭnˈdəswĭnth [key], d. 653, Visigothic king of Spain (642–53). His reign began violently as factions of the nobility sought to dominate royal policy. Chindaswinth prevailed and, to...

Glasgow, Ellen

(Encyclopedia)Glasgow, Ellen glăsˈgō [key], 1873–1945, American novelist, b. Richmond, Va. In revolt against the romantic treatment of Southern life, Glasgow presented in fiction a social history of Virginia s...