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Paul VI, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Paul VI, Saint, 1897–1978, pope (1963–78), an Italian (b. Concesio, near Brescia) named Giovanni Battista Montini; successor of John XXIII. The broader international outlook of the Vatican unde...

Normandy

(Encyclopedia)Normandy nôrmäNdēˈ [key], region and former province, NW France, bordering on the English Channel. It now includes five departments—Manche, Calvados, Eure, Seine-Maritime, and Orne. Normandy is ...

Zaporizhzhya

(Encyclopedia)Zaporizhzhya zäpˌərĭzhˈə [key], Rus. Zaporozhye, city (1989 pop. 884,000), capital of Zaporizhzhya region, in Ukraine, a port on the Dnieper River, opposite the island of Khortytsya. The city, f...

Middle Ages

(Encyclopedia)Middle Ages, period in Western European history that followed the disintegration of the West Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th cent. and lasted into the 15th cent., i.e., into the period of the Renaissa...

Francis I, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Francis I, 1494–1547, king of France (1515–47), known as Francis of Angoulême before he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law, King Louis XII. The king also had some notable political achievem...

Visconti

(Encyclopedia)Visconti vēskônˈtē [key], Italian family that ruled Milan from the 13th cent. until 1447. In the 12th cent. members of the family received the title of viscount, from which the name is derived. Ot...

Inquisition

(Encyclopedia)Inquisition ĭnˌkwĭzĭshˈən [key], tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church established for the investigation of heresy. The Spanish Inquisition was independent of the medieval Inquisition. It was...

tap dance

(Encyclopedia)tap dance, theatrical dance form in which the dancer, wearing shoes with metal heel and toe taps, beats out complex, syncopated rhythms on the floor. After a slump in popularity in the 1960s, tap ...

Maximilian I, 1459–1519, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian I, 1459–1519, Holy Roman emperor and German king (1493–1519), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. As emperor, he aspired to restore forceful imperial leadership and i...

Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...