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Maine, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Maine, Gulf of, part of the Atlantic Ocean, between SE Maine and SW Nova Scotia, at the entrance of the Bay of Fundy. The area is noted for its scenery and fishing. Overfishing and pollution led to th...

Aberdeen, University of

(Encyclopedia)Aberdeen, University of, at Aberdeen, Scotland; founded by the bishop of Aberdeen under the authority of a papal bull obtained 1494–95. It has faculties of arts and divinity; biological sciences; cl...

Pillars of Hercules

(Encyclopedia)Pillars of Hercules, ancient mythological name for promontories flanking the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. They are usually identified with Gibraltar in Europe and with Mt. Acha at Ceuta i...

nullity of marriage

(Encyclopedia)nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for example, is void, a...

Anne of Cleves

(Encyclopedia)Anne of Cleves klēvz [key], 1515–57, fourth queen consort of Henry VIII of England. The sister of William, duke of Cleves, one of the most powerful of the German Protestant princes, she was conside...

Petition of Right

(Encyclopedia)Petition of Right, 1628, a statement of civil liberties sent by the English Parliament to Charles I. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king's unpopular foreign policy had caused his government to e...

John of Brienne

(Encyclopedia)John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...

Ramillies, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Ramillies, battle of rămˈĭlēz, Fr. rämēyēˈ [key], fought May 23, 1706, near the village of Ramillies-Offus, Walloon Brabant prov., Belgium, 12 mi (19 km) S of Tienen, in the War of the Spanish...

Semonides of Amorgos

(Encyclopedia)Semonides of Amorgos sĭmŏnˈĭdēz, əmôrˈgŏs [key], fl. c.650 b.c., Greek iambic poet, b. Samos. He led a colony to the island of Amorgos in the SE Cyclades c.630 b.c. In one of the few extant f...

Alexander of Hales

(Encyclopedia)Alexander of Hales, d. 1245, English scholastic philosopher, called the Unanswerable Doctor by his fellow scholastics. He was a Franciscan and a lecturer at the Univ. of Paris. His Summa universae the...