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Ignatius of Constantinople, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ignatius of Constantinople, Saint, c.800–877, Greek churchman, patriarch of Constantinople. A son of Byzantine Emperor Michael I, he was castrated and shut up in a monastery (813) by the man who dep...

Beyazid I

(Encyclopedia)Beyazid I bāyäzĭdˈ [key], 1347–1403, Ottoman sultan (1389–1402), son and successor of Murad I. He besieged Byzantine Emperor Manuel II at Constantinople, then overcame the Turkish rulers in E ...

Paschal II

(Encyclopedia)Paschal II păsˈkəl [key] [Lat.,=of Easter], d. 1118, pope (1099–1118), an Italian (b. near Ravenna) named Ranieri; successor of Urban II. He was a monk and, as a reformer, was made a cardinal by ...

Ostrogoths

(Encyclopedia)Ostrogoths (East Goths), division of the Goths, one of the most important groups of the Germans. According to their own unproved tradition, the ancestors of the Goths were the Gotar of S Sweden. By th...

Lyons, First Council of

(Encyclopedia)Lyons, First Council of lyôNˈ [key], 1245, 13th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened at Lyons, France, by Pope Innocent IV to deal with his struggle with Holy Roman Emperor Fred...

Gelasius I, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gelasius I, Saint jĭlāˈshēəs [key], d. 496, pope (492–96); successor of St. Felix III (also known as Felix II). He was a firm upholder of the papal supremacy in a dispute with Anastasius, the B...

despotism

(Encyclopedia)despotism, government by an absolute ruler unchecked by effective constitutional limits to his power. In Greek usage, a despot was ruler of a household and master of its slaves. The title was applied ...

Flor, Roger de

(Encyclopedia)Flor, Roger de, d. c.1306, German commander of Spanish mercenaries, b. Italy. He entered the order of the Knights Templars and fought (1291) at Acre (see Akko, but he was obliged to leave the order wh...

Zacharias, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Zacharias or Zachary, Saint zăkərīˈəs, zăkˈərē [key], pope (741–52), a Calabrian Greek; successor of St. Gregory III. He was the first pope after Gregory the Great not to seek confirmation ...

Walter Sans Avoir

(Encyclopedia)Walter Sans Avoir, Fr. Gautier Sans-Avoir, d. 1096, French Crusader, known as Walter the Penniless. He joined Peter the Hermit as leader of an army to the Holy Land. In what came to be known as the Po...