Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Roman Empire: see Rome; Byzantine Empire; Holy Roman Empire. ...

Macrinus

(Encyclopedia)Macrinus (Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus) məkrīˈnəs [key], 164–218, Roman emperor (217–18). A Moorish officer, prefect of the Praetorian Guard under Caracalla, he was threatened by the emper...

Viète, François

(Encyclopedia)Viète or Vieta, François fräNswäˈ vyĕt, vyātäˈ, vīēˈtə [key], 1540–1603, French mathematician. As a founder of modern algebra, he introduced the use of letters as algebraic symbols and ...

Harper, Ida Husted

(Encyclopedia)Harper, Ida Husted, 1851–1931, American woman suffragist. Allied with the woman-suffrage movement from 1898, she became the official reporter and historian of the National American Woman Suffrage As...

sanctuary

(Encyclopedia)sanctuary, sacred place, especially the most sacred part of a sacred place. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, a sanctuary served as asylum, a place of refuge for persons fleeing from violence o...

Diyarbakir

(Encyclopedia)Diyarbakir dēyärˈbäkŭrˌ [key], anc. Amida, city, capital of Diyarbakir prov., SE Turkey...

Hohenzollern, German princely family

(Encyclopedia)Hohenzollern hōˌən-tsôlˈərn [key], German princely family that ruled Brandenburg (1415–1918), Prussia (1525–1918), and Germany (1871–1918). Originating in S Germany and traceable to the 11...

Matthias

(Encyclopedia)Matthias, 1557–1619, Holy Roman emperor (1612–19), king of Bohemia (1611–17) and of Hungary (1608–18), son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. He was appointed governor of Austria (1593) by h...

Duggah

(Encyclopedia)Duggah or Dougga both: do͞oˈgə [key], village, Tunisia, SW of Tunis. It is a tourist spot noted for the ruins of the ancient city of Thugga, including a Punic mausoleum (2d cent. b.c.); temples, ar...

Boris I

(Encyclopedia)Boris I, d. 907, khan [ruler] of Bulgaria (852–89). Baptized in 864, he introduced Christianity of the Byzantine rite among the Bulgarians. There followed a rivalry between Rome and Constantinople f...

Browse by Subject