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Obrecht, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Obrecht, Jacob yäˈkōp ōˈbrĕkht [key], c.1450–1505, Flemish composer. Obrecht was ordained as a priest in 1480. He wrote an early four-part setting of the St. Matthew Passion. His sacred music ...

Ludus Coventriae

(Encyclopedia)Ludus Coventriae lo͞oˈdəs kəvĕnˈtrēā [key], one of four extant cycles of English miracle plays. In the 17th cent. it was mistakenly designated as originating in the town of Coventry. Because o...

mazurka

(Encyclopedia)mazurka məzûrˈkə, –zo͝orˈ– [key], Polish national dance that spread to England and the United States at the beginning of the 19th cent. Danced by four or eight couples and characterized by s...

Minkowski, Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Minkowski, Hermann hĕrˈmän mĭnkôfˈskē [key], 1864–1909, Russian mathematician. He was educated in Germany and was professor at the Univ. of Königsberg (1894–96), the Federal Institute of T...

Kit-Cat Club

(Encyclopedia)Kit-Cat Club, London political and literary club, active c.1700–1720. The membership of some four dozen included leading Whig politicians and London's best young writers. Among them were Charles Sey...

ruminant

(Encyclopedia)ruminant, any of a group of hooved mammals that chew their cud, i.e., that regurgitate and chew again food that has already been swallowed. Ruminants have an even number of toes on each foot and a sto...

Imperial College London

(Encyclopedia)Imperial College London, officially The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, England, est. 1907 through the merger of the Royal College (1845), Royal School of Mines (1851), a...

vestal

(Encyclopedia)vestal vĕsˈtəl [key], in Roman religion, priestess of Vesta. The vestals were first two, then four, then six in number. While still little girls, they were chosen from prominent Roman families to s...

Shrewsbury, John Talbot, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Shrewsbury, John Talbot, 1st earl of shrōzˈbərē, shro͞ozˈ– [key], 1388?–1453, English soldier. As lieutenant of Ireland (1414–19, 1445–47) he quelled unrest in that country, but he achie...

Constable, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Constable, Henry kŏnˈstəbəl [key], 1562–1613, English poet. After graduating from Cambridge in 1580 he went to Paris, where the atmosphere was more congenial for one of Roman Catholic faith. The...