Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Arnold of Brescia

(Encyclopedia)Arnold of Brescia brĕshˈə [key], c.1090–1155, Italian monk and reformer, b. Brescia. A priest of irreproachable life, Arnold studied at Paris, where according to tradition he was a pupil of Peter...

Knights of the Golden Circle

(Encyclopedia)Knights of the Golden Circle, secret order of Southern sympathizers in the North during the Civil War. Its members were known as Copperheads. Dr. George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian who had moved to Ohi...

Slidell, John

(Encyclopedia)Slidell, John slīdĕlˈ, slīˈdəl [key], 1793–1871, American political leader and diplomat, b. New York City. He became a prominent lawyer and political figure in New Orleans and served as a Demo...

Juárez, Benito

(Encyclopedia)Juárez, Benito bānēˈtō hwäˈrās [key], 1806–72, Mexican liberal statesman and national hero. Revered by Mexicans as one of their greatest political figures, Juárez, with great moral courage ...

electors

(Encyclopedia)electors, in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, the princes who had the right to elect the German kings or, more exactly, the kings of the Romans (Holy Roman emperors). Until the reign (1493–1519...

Francis I, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Francis I, 1494–1547, king of France (1515–47), known as Francis of Angoulême before he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law, King Louis XII. The king also had some notable political achievem...

Holland, former county, Holy Roman Empire; former province, the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)Holland, former county of the Holy Roman Empire and, from 1579 to 1795, chief member of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Its name is popularly applied to the entire Netherlands. Holland has be...

Frederick III, elector of Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Frederick III or Frederick the Wise, 1463–1525, elector of Saxony (1486–1525). At Wittenberg he founded (1502) the university where Martin Luther and Melanchthon taught. At a crucial period for th...

Conrad III, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad III, c.1093–1152, German king (1138–52), son of Frederick, duke of Swabia, and Agnes, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV; first of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He joined his brother Frede...

balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...