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Origen

(Encyclopedia)Origen ôrˈĭjĭn [key], 185?–254?, Christian philosopher and scholar. His full name was Origines Adamantius, and he was born in Egypt, probably in Alexandria. When he was quite young, his father w...

John XXIII, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XXIII, Saint, 1881–1963, pope (1958–63), an Italian (b. Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo) named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; successor of Pius XII. He was of peasant stock. Educated at Bergamo and t...

More, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)More, Sir Thomas (Saint Thomas More), 1478–1535, English statesman and author of Utopia, celebrated as a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a Latin education in the household of Cardin...

pragmatic sanction

(Encyclopedia)pragmatic sanction, decision of state dealing with a matter of great importance to a community or a whole state and having the force of fundamental law. The term originated in Roman law and was used o...

Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Christianity, religion founded in Palestine by the followers of Jesus. One of the world's major religions, it predominates in Europe and the Americas, where it has been a powerful historical force and...

Charles VII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Charles VII (Charles the Well Served), 1403–61, king of France (1422–61), son and successor of Charles VI. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years War. Although excluded from the throne by the ...

Charles XII, king of Sweden

(Encyclopedia)Charles XII, 1682–1718, king of Sweden (1697–1718), son and successor of Charles XI. The regency under which he succeeded was abolished in 1697 at the request of the Riksdag. At the coronation he ...

Anjou

(Encyclopedia)Anjou äNzho͞oˈ [key], region and former province, W France, coextensive roughly with Maine-et-Loire and parts of Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe depts. Angers, the historic capital, and Saumur ...

Han, Chinese dynasty

(Encyclopedia)Han hän [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 202 b.c. to a.d. 220. Liu Pang, the first Han emperor, had been a farmer, minor village official, and guerrilla fighter under the Ch'in dynasty. During...

Gallicanism

(Encyclopedia)Gallicanism gălˈĭkənĭzˌəm [key], in French Roman Catholicism, tradition of resistance to papal authority. It was in opposition to ultramontanism, the view that accorded the papacy complete auth...

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