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Vatican Council, First

(Encyclopedia)Vatican Council, First, 1869–70, the 20th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church (see council, ecumenical), renowned chiefly for its enunciation of the doctrine of papal infallibility. Tw...

Maistre, Joseph de

(Encyclopedia)Maistre, Joseph de zhôzĕfˈ də mĕsˈtrə [key], 1753–1821, French writer and diplomat. Born in Savoy, he was Sardinian ambassador at St. Petersburg from 1803 to 1817. A passionate Roman Catholic...

Mandeville, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Mandeville, Bernard mănˈdəvĭl [key], 1670–1733, English author, b. Dordrecht, Holland. A physician, he went to London in 1692 ostensibly to learn the language, but eventually settled there perma...

Test Act

(Encyclopedia)Test Act, 1673, English statute that excluded from public office (both military and civil) all those who refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, who refused to receive the communion acc...

Togliatti, Palmiro

(Encyclopedia)Togliatti, Palmiro pälmēˈrō tōlyätˈtē [key], 1893–1964, Italian Communist leader. A lawyer, he helped found the Italian Communist party in 1921. He lived in Moscow for many years after the F...

shamrock

(Encyclopedia)shamrock, a plant with leaves composed of three leaflets. According to legend it was used by St. Patrick in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity; it is now used as the emblem of Ireland. An artifici...

determinism

(Encyclopedia)determinism, philosophical thesis that every event is the inevitable result of antecedent causes. Applied to ethics and psychology, determinism usually involves a denial of free will, although many ph...

dharma

(Encyclopedia)dharma därˈmə [key]. In Hinduism, dharma is the doctrine of the religious and moral rights and duties of each individual; it generally refers to religious duty, but may also mean social order, righ...

Aylmer, John

(Encyclopedia)Aylmer, John ālˈmər [key], 1521–94, bishop of London. His name is also spelled Ælmer or Elmer. He was briefly chaplain to the duke of Suffolk and tutor to his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. In 1553 h...

original sin

(Encyclopedia)original sin, in Christian theology, the sin of Adam, by which all humankind fell from divine grace. Saint Augustine was the fundamental theologian in the formulation of this doctrine, which states th...