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False Decretals

(Encyclopedia)False Decretals dĭkrēˈtəlz [key], collection of documents, partly spurious, treating of canon law. It was composed between 847 and 852 probably in France, either at Reims or in the province of Tou...

Medici, Piero de', 1471–1503, Italian merchant prince

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Piero de', 1471–1503, Italian merchant prince. He succeeded his father, Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico), as head of the Medici family and as leader of the Florentine state. In 1494...

Diodati, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Diodati, Giovanni jōvänˈnē dyōdäˈtē [key], 1576–1649, Swiss Calvinist scholar and theologian, of a family of Italian Protestant refugees. He succeeded (1609) Theodore Beza as professor of th...

Ivo of Chartres, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ivo of Chartres, Saint īˈvō, shärˈtrə [key], c.1040–c.1116, French churchman, bishop of Chartres (after 1090). He was fearlessly outspoken and was briefly imprisoned for opposing the irregular...

Mena, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Mena, Juan de hwän dā māˈnä [key], 1411–56, Spanish poet and scholar. Influenced by the Italian school, he modeled his chief work Laberinto de Fortuna (1444) upon Dante. This 300-stanza allegor...

Fanfani, Amintore

(Encyclopedia)Fanfani, Amintore ämēntôˈrā fänfänˈē [key], 1908–99, Italian political leader, a Christian Democrat. A noted scholar, he held several cabinet posts after World War II and was secretary of t...

Orlando, Italian form of Roland

(Encyclopedia)Orlando: see Roland.

Theodosius

(Encyclopedia)Theodosius, d. 376, Roman general under Valentinian I. He defeated (368–69) the Picts and Scots in Britain and the Alemanni in Gaul (369). He suppressed (372–74) a Berber uprising in N Africa, but...

canon law

(Encyclopedia)canon law, in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters). It is the la...

Poliziano, Angelo

(Encyclopedia)Poliziano, Angelo pōlĭshˈən [key], 1454–94, Italian poet, philologist, and humanist. Of middle-class origin, he was given a classical education, completed under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medi...