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pillar

(Encyclopedia)pillar, freestanding columnar supporting member. It is a general term, little used as an exact architectural definition except as applied to an upright support in the medieval styles, consisting of an...

Mull

(Encyclopedia)Mull, island, 351 sq mi (909 sq km), Argyll and Bute, NW Scotland, largest island of the Inner Hebrides, separated from the mainland by the Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorn. The land is mountainous...

Bern

(Encyclopedia)Bern or Berne bĕrn [key], canton, 2,658 sq mi (6,883 sq km), W central Switzerland. The seco...

Éboli

(Encyclopedia)Éboli ĕˈbōlē [key], town, in Campania, S Italy. It is an agricultural and market center....

Vehmgericht

(Encyclopedia)Vehmgericht fāˈmĭk [key], in medieval Germany, a type of criminal tribunal. The inability of the Holy Roman emperors to exercise effective central control over their lands and the extensive feudal ...

John of Brienne

(Encyclopedia)John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...

Iglesias

(Encyclopedia)Iglesias ēglāˈzyäs [key], town, SW Sardinia, Italy. The zinc and lead mines of the region ...

Roermond

(Encyclopedia)Roermond ro͞orˈmônd [key], city (1994 pop. 43,110), Limburg prov., SE Netherlands, at the confluence of the Maas (Meuse) and Roer rivers. It has an agricultural market. Manufactures include chemica...

Amersfoort

(Encyclopedia)Amersfoort äˈmərsfōrt [key], city, Utrecht prov., central Netherlands. It is a transportation and manufacturing center. Points of interest include a 14th-century water...

Robert the Devil

(Encyclopedia)Robert the Devil, hero of a medieval legend. He was sold to the devil by his mother before his birth but upon discovering the fact did penance and was able to purify himself of his many sins. The tale...