Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gallitzin

(Encyclopedia)Gallitzin gəlyēˈtsĭn [key], Russian princely family. Among many alternate spellings are Galitzin, Galytzin, and Galitsin. Vasily Vasilyevich Gallitzin, d. 1619, helped to enthrone the first false ...

New Sweden

(Encyclopedia)New Sweden, Swedish colony (1638–55), on the Delaware River; included parts of what are now Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. With the support of Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna, Admiral Kl...

Feodor III

(Encyclopedia)Feodor III, 1661–82, czar of Russia (1676–82), son and successor of Alexis. Although an invalid, Feodor strove to carry out reforms. In 1681 he abolished the system of precedence among the boyar f...

Walter Sans Avoir

(Encyclopedia)Walter Sans Avoir, Fr. Gautier Sans-Avoir, d. 1096, French Crusader, known as Walter the Penniless. He joined Peter the Hermit as leader of an army to the Holy Land. In what came to be known as the Po...

Aeneas, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Aeneas ēˈnēəs, ĭnēˈ– [key], palsied man whom Peter cured in the Acts of the Apostles. ...

Ney, Michel

(Encyclopedia)Ney, Michel mēshĕlˈ nā [key], 1769–1815, marshal of France. Called “the bravest of the brave” by Napoleon I, Ney, a cooper's son from Saarlouis, rapidly rose to glory in the French Revolutio...

torpedo boat

(Encyclopedia)torpedo boat, small fast warship built specially for using the torpedo as a means of attack. The first modern torpedo boat was the Lightning, built for the British navy in 1877 by the shipyards of Sir...

David, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)David, Elizabeth, 1914–92, English food writer, b. Elizabeth Gwynne. Daughter of a wealthy Conservative MP, she cut her culinary eyeteeth in Paris while studying at the Sorbonne, then developed her ...

relics

(Encyclopedia)relics, part of the body of a saint or a thing closely connected with the saint in life. In traditional Christian belief they have had great importance, and miracles have often been associated with th...

Alexis, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexis əlyĭksyāˈ mēkhīˈləvĭch [key], 1629–76, czar of Russia (1645–76), son and successor of Michael. His reign, marked by numerous popular outbreaks, was crucial for the later developmen...