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Toronto, University of

(Encyclopedia)Toronto, University of, at Toronto, Ont., Canada; nondenominational; provincially supported; coeducational; founded 1827 as King's College. It achieved university status in 1849 and is governed under ...

Westminster, Statutes of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, Statutes of, in medieval English history, legislative promulgations made by Edward I in Parliament at Westminster. Westminster I (1275) practically constitutes a code of law; it covers a ...

miracle play

(Encyclopedia)miracle play or mystery play, form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th cent., reaching its height in the ...

Cambridge, University of

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge, University of, at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th cent. (legend places its origin even earlier than that of t...

Italic languages

(Encyclopedia)Italic languages, subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages that may be divided into two groups. The first group consists of the ancient Italic languages and dialects that were once spoken in...

Haskins, Charles Homer

(Encyclopedia)Haskins, Charles Homer, 1870–1937, American historian, an authority on medieval history, b. Meadville, Pa. At Harvard (1902–31) he was professor and dean of graduate studies (1908–24); in the la...

treble

(Encyclopedia)treble, highest part in choral music, thus corresponding in pitch to soprano, but associated with the voice of a boy or a girl. The term appeared in 15th-century English polyphony, probably as an angl...

Vida, Marco Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Vida, Marco Girolamo märˈkō jērôˈlämō vēˈdä [key], c.1490–1566, Italian poet, b. Cremona. After joining the humanist court of Pope Leo X, he was given a priory at Frascati and was commiss...

Valla, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Valla, Lorenzo lōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides into Latin. From hi...

Tower of London

(Encyclopedia)Tower of London, ancient fortress in London, England, just east of the City and on the north bank of the Thames, covering about 13 acres (5.3 hectares). Now used mainly as a museum, it was a royal res...