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Sodoma, Il

(Encyclopedia)Sodoma, Il ēl sôˈdōmä [key], c.1477–1549, Sienese painter, whose real name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Born in Vercelli, Piedmont, he went to Rome c.1508. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, he pai...

John, king of England

(Encyclopedia)John, 1167–1216, king of England (1199–1216), son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. John, though often cruel and treacherous, was an excellent administrator, much concerned with rendering...

Normans

(Encyclopedia)Normans, designation for the Northmen, or Norsemen, who conquered Normandy in the 10th cent. and adopted Christianity and the customs and language of France. Abandoning piracy and raiding, they adopte...

concordat

(Encyclopedia)concordat kənkôrˈdăt [key], formal agreement, specifically between the pope, in his spiritual capacity, and the temporal authority of a state. Its juridical status is now generally accepted as bei...

Loreto

(Encyclopedia)Loreto lōrĕˈtō [key], town (1991 est. pop. 10,780), in the Marche, central Italy, on a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It has silk industries and is a famous place of pilgrimage. According to l...

Mun, Albert, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Mun, Albert, comte de älbĕrˈ kôNt də möN [key], 1841–1914, French Roman Catholic leader and politician. A monarchist at first, he later loyally supported the Third Republic. He was one of the ...

Rolfe, Frederick William

(Encyclopedia)Rolfe, Frederick William, 1860–1913, English novelist, also known as Baron Corvo. After a vain attempt to become a priest, Rolfe earned a living painting and teaching before he began to write under ...

Alessandria

(Encyclopedia)Alessandria älās-sänˈdrēä [key], city, capital of Alessandria prov., in Piedmont, NW Italy, at the confluence of the Tanaro and Bormida rivers. It is an industrial c...

Fátima

(Encyclopedia)Fátima fäˈtēmə [key], hamlet, W central Portugal, in Beira Litoral. At the nearby Cova da Iria is the national shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima. This became a great Roman Catholic cent...

Hochhuth, Rolf

(Encyclopedia)Hochhuth, Rolf rôlf hōkhˈho͞ot [key], 1931–2020, German dramatist. His provocative first drama, The Deputy (1963), accuses Pope Pius XII and the Roman Catholic clergy of tolerating Nazi crimes a...