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Mérida, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Mérida, city (1990 pop. 53,732), capital of Extremadura, in Badajoz prov., SW Spain, on the Guadiana River. It is a rail hub and agricultural center producing textiles, leather, and cork. The colony ...

Ward, Mrs. Humphry

(Encyclopedia)Ward, Mrs. Humphry, 1851–1920, English novelist, whose maiden name was Mary Augusta Arnold; granddaughter of Thomas Arnold. She was born in Tasmania but was brought to England and grew up in Oxford;...

Pickens, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Pickens, Andrew, 1739–1817, American Revolutionary soldier, b. near Paxtang, Pa. He moved (1752) to South Carolina and took part (1761) in frontier warfare against the Cherokee. During the American ...

Constance, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Constance, Council of, 1414–18, council of the Roman Catholic Church, some of its sessions being reckoned as the 16th ecumenical council. It was summoned to end the Great Schism (see Schism, Great),...

Berengar of Tours

(Encyclopedia)Berengar of Tours bĕˈrĭng–gər [key], c.1000–1088?, French theologian, also called Bérenger and Berengarius, b. Tours. He was archdeacon of Angers (c.1040–1060). After studying at Chartres, ...

Cossa, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Cossa, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā kôsˈsä [key], c.1370–1419, Neapolitan churchman, antipope (1410–15; see Schism, Great) with the name John XXIII. He had a military career before entering the...

Robert Guiscard

(Encyclopedia)Robert Guiscard gēskärˈ [key], c.1015–1085, Norman conqueror of S Italy, a son of Tancred de Hauteville (see Normans). Robert joined (c.1046) his brothers in S Italy and fought with them to expel...

Nyssa

(Encyclopedia)Nyssa nĭsˈə [key], name of several ancient cities devoted to the worship of Dionysus. The best known of them is a town of Cappadocia, Asia Minor, near the Halys (now the Kizil Irmak) River. It was ...

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...

Robert of Geneva

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Geneva, d. 1394, Genevan churchman, antipope (1378–94; see Schism, Great) with the name Clement VII. He was archbishop of Cambrai (1368) and was created (1371) a cardinal. He was subsequen...