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Eusebius of Nicomedia

(Encyclopedia)Eusebius of Nicomedia nĭkōmēˈdēə [key], d. 342, Christian churchman and theologian, leader of the heresy of Arianism. He was bishop of Nicomedia (330–39) and patriarch of Constantinople (339�...

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...

Epirus, despotate of

(Encyclopedia)Epirus, despotate of. When, in 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople on the ruins of the Byzantine Empire, an independent Greek state emerged in Epirus under M...

Isaac I

(Encyclopedia)Isaac I (Isaac Comnenus) īˈzək kŏmnēˈnəs [key], c.1005–1061, Byzantine emperor (1057–59), first of the Comnenus dynasty. Proclaimed emperor by the army, he deposed Michael VI, who had succe...

Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovich, Count nyĭkəlīˈ pävˈləvĭch ĭgnäˈtyəf [key], 1832–1908, Russian diplomat. He was sent to China as an envoy in 1859. There he played the Chinese against the Bri...

Heraclius

(Encyclopedia)Heraclius hĕrəklīˈəs, hĭrăkˈlēəs [key], c.575–641, Byzantine emperor (610–41). The son of a governor of Africa, he succeeded the tyrant Phocas, whom he deposed and had executed. In the e...

harem

(Encyclopedia)harem hârˈəm [key] [Arabic], term applied to women's apartments in a Muslim household. In the ancient Arab world women enjoyed a certain amount of freedom. However, with the advent of Islam, the ve...

Gregory X

(Encyclopedia)Gregory X, d. 1276, pope (1271–76), an Italian named Tebaldo Visconti, b. Piacenza; successor of Clement IV. After Clement IV's death the cardinals took 34 months to elect a pope. Gregory was archde...

mufti

(Encyclopedia)mufti mŭfˈtē [key], in Islamic law, attorney or judicial/religious scholar who writes his opinion (fatwa) on legal subjects for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases. The recorded o...

Murad II

(Encyclopedia)Murad II, 1403–51, Ottoman sultan (1421–51), son and successor of Muhammad I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He was opposed at his accession by a pretender, Mustafa, who rapidly gain...