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Robert of Gloucester

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Gloucester glŏsˈtər [key], fl. 1260–1300, English chronicler. Possibly a monk of Gloucester, he is known only from the vernacular metrical chronicle of English history that bears his na...

Jude, epistle of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)Jude, epistle of the New Testament, the next to last book of the Bible. The Jude who wrote it has been identified since ancient times with St. Jude the apostle, but most modern scholars deny the ident...

Thanet, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Thanet, Isle of thănˈĭt [key], former island forming the NE portion of Kent, SE England, bounded by the North Sea and branches of the Stour River. The isle was occupied by the Romans, who had a for...

Paul I

(Encyclopedia)Paul I, 1754–1801, czar of Russia (1796–1801), son and successor of Catherine II. His mother disliked him intensely and sought on several occasions to change the succession to his disadvantage. Du...

Russian Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Russian Revolution, violent upheaval in Russia in 1917 that overthrew the czarist government. The civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia until 1920. ...

Petrokrepost

(Encyclopedia)Petrokrepost shlüˈsəlbo͝orkh [key], town and fortress, NW European Russia, E of St. Petersburg. The town, the terminus of a railroad and of the lateral canals on Lake Ladoga, has shipbuilding and ...

Gulistan, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Gulistan, Treaty of go͞olĭstänˈ [key], 1813, signed by Russia and Iran (Persia) at Gulistan, a village in what is now NW Azerbaijan. It ended the Russo-Persian war that had begun in 1804. Persia c...

Montpellier, University of

(Encyclopedia)Montpellier, University of, at Montpellier, France; founded 1220 by Cardinal Conrad and confirmed by papal bull. The university was suppressed during the French Revolution and replaced by faculties of...

Alfonso IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso IV, 1291–1357, king of Portugal (1325–57), son and successor of Diniz. Disgruntled by the favoritism his father showed toward Alfonso's illegitimate half-brothers, Alfonso rose in revolt i...

Alexander II, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Alexander II, 1198–1249, king of Scotland (1214–49), son and successor of William the Lion. He joined the English barons in their revolt against King John of England in 1215. Though he made his pe...