Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

444 results found

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

(Encyclopedia)Stabat Mater Dolorosa stäˈbät mäˈtĕr dōˌlōrōˈsä [key] [Lat.,=the sorrowful mother was standing], 13th-century hymn of the Roman Church attributed to Jacopone da Todi. A prayer meditating o...

Bilderdijk, Willem

(Encyclopedia)Bilderdijk, Willem wĭlˈəm bĭlˈdərdīk [key], 1756–1831, Dutch poet. He tutored Louis Bonaparte in Dutch and later conducted a small private college at Leiden, where his pupils included Isaäc ...

Saint Helena

(Encyclopedia)Saint Helena həlēˈnə [key], island, 47 sq mi (122 sq km), in the S Atlantic Ocean, 1,200 mi (1,931 km) W of Africa. Together with the islands of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, it comprises the Br...

viol

(Encyclopedia)viol, family of bowed stringed instruments, the most important ensemble instruments from the 15th to the 17th cent. The viol's early history is indefinite, but it is recognizable in depictions from as...

Camões, Luís de

(Encyclopedia)Camões or Camoens, Luís de both: lo͞oēshˈ dĭ kəmoiNshˈ [key], 1524?–1580, Portuguese poet, the greatest figure in Portuguese literature. Born of a poor family, Camões gained wide familiarit...

New York Pro Musica

(Encyclopedia)New York Pro Musica (New York Pro Musica Antiqua), vocal and instrumental ensemble, founded in New York City in 1952 by Noah Greenberg. One of the earliest groups to attempt historically correct perfo...

Muldoon, Sir Robert David

(Encyclopedia)Muldoon, Sir Robert David, 1921–92, New Zealand political leader, prime minister (1975–84). Originally a public accountant, he entered parliament in 1960 as a member of the conservative National p...

Barros, João de

(Encyclopedia)Barros, João de zhwouN dĭ bäˈro͝osh [key], 1496–1570, Portuguese historian. Of noble family, he early entered the service of the prince who became King John III. The most important office he he...

Cochin

(Encyclopedia)Cochin kōˌchĭnˈ [key], former princely state, 1,493 sq mi (3,867 sq km), SW India, on the ...

Ambrosian Library

(Encyclopedia)Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy; founded c.1605 by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo. Named for Milan's patron saint, it was one of the first libraries to be open to the public. Its earliest collection was a...

Browse by Subject