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Bloch, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Bloch, Marc blôk [key], 1886–1944, French historian and an authority on medieval feudalism. He taught at the Univ. of Strasbourg from 1919, became professor at the Sorbonne in 1936, and was cofound...

equestrianism

(Encyclopedia)equestrianism, art of riding and handling a horse. Horseback riding was practiced as far back as the Bronze Age and was thereafter adapted to commerce, industry, war, sport, and recreation. Diverse st...

sword

(Encyclopedia)sword, weapon of offense and defense in personal combat, consisting of a blade with a sharp point and one or two cutting edges, set in a hilt with a handle protected by a metal case or cross guard. Th...

Mass, in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Mass, religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, which has as its central act the performance of the sacrament of the Eucharist. It is based on the ancient Latin liturgy of the city of Rome, now ...

Merchants of the Staple

(Encyclopedia)Merchants of the Staple or Merchant Staplers, English trading company that controlled the export of English raw wool. The first wool staple (i.e., a place designated by royal ordinance as a special ce...

Laon

(Encyclopedia)Laon läN [key], commercial town (1990 pop. 28,670), capital of Aisne dept., N France. It has forges, a printing plant, and factories that make heating equipment and metal goods. Situated on a rocky h...

Mars, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Mars, in astronomy, 4th planet from the sun, with an orbit next in order beyond that of the earth. Mars has two natural satellites, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. The innermost of these, Phobos...

Fuente Obejuna

(Encyclopedia)Fuente Obejuna or Fuenteovejuna both: fwānˈtā ōvāho͞oˈnä ...

Dean, Bashford

(Encyclopedia)Dean, Bashford, 1867–1928, American zoologist and armor expert, b. New York City, grad. College of the City of New York, 1886, Ph.D. Columbia, 1890. He taught zoology at Columbia (1891–1927), serv...

Menéndez Pidal, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Menéndez Pidal, Ramón rämōnˈ mānānˈdĕth pēᵺälˈ [key], 1869–1968, Spanish scholar and philologist. Menéndez Pidal was a noted authority on Spanish epic literature and the Spanish langu...