Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cairo geniza

(Encyclopedia)Cairo geniza kōˈrō gənˈēzə [key], archive of ancient Jewish manuscripts found in the synagogue of Fostat-Cairo, Egypt (built 882). In the 1890s western scholars visited the synagogue and remove...

Acominatus, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Acominatus, Michael kōnēāˈtēz [key], c.1140–1220, Byzantine writer and metropolitan of Athens. Acominatus' speeches, poems, and letters give much information about medieval Athens, which he, a ...

Zeyer, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Zeyer, Julius yo͝oˈlĭo͝os zāˈĕr, tsīˈər [key], 1841–1901, Czech writer. Restless, nostalgic, and mystical, Zeyer wrote ornate, almost decadent epic poetry based on ancient and medieval leg...

Wellesley College

(Encyclopedia)Wellesley College, at Wellesley, Mass.; for women; chartered 1870, opened 1875. Long a leader in women's education, it was the first woman's college to have scientific laboratories. With Lake Waban an...

Zittau

(Encyclopedia)Zittau tsĭtˈou [key], city (1994 pop. 30,874), Saxony, E central Germany, on the Lusatian Neisse River, near the Polish and Czech borders. It is a road and rail hub and a center for the environmenta...

Vivarais

(Encyclopedia)Vivarais vēvärāˈ [key], region, roughly coextensive with Ardèche dept., SE France. Its mountainous terrain rises to 5,753 ft (1,754 m) in the Mézenc. Cattle raising is the chief occupation. Silk...

Bodø

(Encyclopedia)Bodø bōˈdö [key], city, capital of Nordland co., W Norway, at the mouth of the Saltfjord,...

Bonifacio

(Encyclopedia)Bonifacio bōnēfäˈchö [key], town (1993 est. pop. 2,701), S Corsica, France. A picturesque port with trade in olive oil, wine, and fish, Bonifacio faces Sardinia across the Strait of Bonifacio (7 ...

miracle play

(Encyclopedia)miracle play or mystery play, form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th cent., reaching its height in the ...

Grosseteste, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Grosseteste, Robert grōsˈtĕst [key], c.1175–1253, English prelate. Educated at Oxford and probably also at Paris, he became one of the most learned men of his time. He taught at Oxford and later,...