Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Schlegel, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Schlegel, Friedrich von fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1772–1829, German philosopher, critic, and writer, most prominent of the founders of German romanticism. Educated in law at Göttingen and Leipzig, h...

Taglioni, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Taglioni, Maria, 1804–84, Italian ballerina, b. Stockholm. Taglioni is considered the first and foremost ballerina of the romantic period. She made her debut in Vienna in 1822 in a ballet created fo...

Byrd, William, 1652–1704, English planter in colonial Virginia

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1652–1704, English planter in early Virginia. He came to America as a youth and took up lands he had inherited on both sides of the James River, including the site that would later be...

Uhland, Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Uhland, Ludwig lo͝otˈvĭkh o͞oˈlänt [key], 1787–1862, German poet, leader of the Swabian group. He studied and practiced law at Tübingen, held various official posts, and taught German literat...

Edmund, Saint, 1170?–1240, English churchman, archbishop of Canterbury

(Encyclopedia)Edmund, Saint (Edmund Rich), 1170?–1240, English churchman, archbishop of Canterbury, b. Abingdon. He taught at Oxford. A forceful preacher, he successfully preached (1227) the crusade against the S...

graveyard school

(Encyclopedia)graveyard school, 18th-century school of English poets who wrote primarily about human mortality. Often set in a graveyard, their poems mused on the vicissitudes of life, the solitude of death and the...

Blackmore, Richard Doddridge

(Encyclopedia)Blackmore, Richard Doddridge, 1825–1900, English novelist. Although trained as a lawyer and called to the bar, he abandoned his legal career because of ill health. His reputation rests chiefly on hi...

Brahms, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Brahms, Johannes brämz, Ger. yōhänˈnĕs bräms [key], 1833–97, German composer, b. Hamburg. Brahms ranks among the greatest masters of the romantic period. The son of a musician, he early showed...

Michelet, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Michelet, Jules zhül mēshəlāˈ [key], 1798–1874, French writer, the greatest historian of the romantic school. Born in Paris of poor parents, he visualized himself throughout his life as a champ...

Murasaki Shikibu

(Encyclopedia)Murasaki Shikibu mo͞oˌräsäˈkē shēˌkēbo͞oˈ [key], c.978–1031?, Japanese novelist, court figure at the height of the Heian period (794–1185). Known also as Lady Murasaki, she is celebrate...