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encomienda

(Encyclopedia)encomienda ānkōmyānˈdä [key] [Span. encomendar=to entrust], system of tributory labor established in Spanish America. Developed as a means of securing an adequate and cheap labor supply, the enco...

Alexis, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexis əlyĭksyāˈ mēkhīˈləvĭch [key], 1629–76, czar of Russia (1645–76), son and successor of Michael. His reign, marked by numerous popular outbreaks, was crucial for the later developmen...

Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, marquês de

(Encyclopedia)Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, marquês de səbəstyouNˈ zho͝ozĕˈ dĭ kərväˈlyō ē mĕˈlo͝o märkāsˈ dĭ po͝ombälˈ [key], 1699–1782, Portuguese statesman. After studying...

Baliol, John de, 1249–1315, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Baliol, John de, 1249–1315, king of Scotland (1292–96), son of John de Baliol (d. 1269). He became head of the family after the death of his elder brothers in 1278. At the death of Margaret Maid o...

Offa

(Encyclopedia)Offa ŏfˈə [key], d. 796, king of Mercia (757–96). He succeeded Æthelbald to the throne, but it was some years before he attained the power of his predecessor. Gradually he asserted his overlords...

orientation

(Encyclopedia)orientation, in architecture, the disposition of the parts of a building with reference to the points of the compass. From remote antiquity the traditional belief in the efficacy of religious ceremoni...

allegiance

(Encyclopedia)allegiance, in political terms, the tie that binds an individual to another individual or institution. The term usually refers to a person's legal obligation of obedience to a government in return for...

electrodynamics

(Encyclopedia)electrodynamics, study of phenomena associated with charged bodies in motion and varying electric and magnetic fields (see charge; electricity); since a moving charge produces a magnetic field, electr...

eminent domain

(Encyclopedia)eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over a...

Health and Human Services, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Health and Human Services, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with administering government health programs. Successor to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfar...