Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rolle of Hampole, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Rolle of Hampole, Richard rōl [key], c.1300–c.1349, English religious writer, a Yorkshire hermit. He wrote mainly in Latin, but his English works are important for the history of the language. Some...

Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, duchess of, 1660–1744, confidante of Queen Anne of England. Born Sarah Jennings, she was a childhood friend of Princess Anne. In 1677 she married John Churchill, later ...

Anne of Brittany

(Encyclopedia)Anne of Brittany, 1477–1514, queen of France as consort of Charles VIII from 1491 to 1498 and consort of Louis XII from 1499 until her death. The daughter of Duke Francis II of Brittany, she was hei...

Arundel, Thomas Howard, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Arundel, Thomas Howard, earl of, 1585–1646, first great English art collector and patron of arts. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he married a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth and was always c...

Melville, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Melville, Andrew, 1545–1622, Scottish religious reformer and scholar. He studied abroad, came under the influence of Theodore Beza, and was a professor at Geneva. He was principal (1574–80) of the...

Robert II, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert II, 1316–90, king of Scotland (1371–90), nephew and successor of David II. He was the first sovereign of the house of Stuart, or Stewart (see Stuart, family), which eventually succeeded to ...

Balfour, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Balfour, Sir James, d. 1583, Scottish judge and politician. Captured (1547) at St. Andrews after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, he served a sentence in the French galleys and on his release (1549) abj...

Alexius II

(Encyclopedia)Alexius II (Alexius Comnenus), 1168–83, Byzantine emperor (1180–83), son and successor of Manuel I. His mother, Mary of Antioch, who was regent for him, alienated the population by favoring the La...

Harrow, borough, Greater London, England

(Encyclopedia)Harrow, outer borough of Greater London, SE England. For centuries Harrow grew foodstuffs for London. It is mainly residential and contains parts of the...

Nicodemus, Gospel of

(Encyclopedia)Nicodemus, Gospel of, book composed of the Acts of Pilate and Christ's Descent into Hell, part of the loosely defined New Testament Apocrypha. The Acts of Pilate is an amplified account of the trial, ...