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cantor

(Encyclopedia)cantor [Lat.,=singer], a singer or chanter, especially one who performs the solo chants of a church service. The office of cantor, at first an honorary one, originated in the Jewish synagogues, in whi...

Diana, in Roman religion

(Encyclopedia)Diana dīănˈə [key], in Roman religion, goddess of the moon, forests, animals, and women in childbirth. She was probably originally a forest goddess and a special patroness of women. She was identi...

Cossa, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Cossa, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā kôsˈsä [key], c.1370–1419, Neapolitan churchman, antipope (1410–15; see Schism, Great) with the name John XXIII. He had a military career before entering the...

Petre, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Petre, Sir Edward pēˈtər [key], 1631–99, English Jesuit, confessor of James II of England. He attended the Jesuit seminary of Saint-Omer. He was imprisoned (1679–80) in connection with the Popi...

Mars, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Mars, in Roman religion and mythology, god of war. In early Roman times he was a god of agriculture, but in later religion (when he was identified with the Greek Ares) he was primarily associated with...

Tindal, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Tindal, Matthew tĭnˈdəl [key], c.1655–1733, English deist. For a short time in the reign of James II he was a Roman Catholic, but in 1688 he returned to the Church of England. The first of his pu...

Milo, Roman partisan leader

(Encyclopedia)Milo (Titus Annius Papianus Milo), 95 b.c.–47 b.c., Roman partisan leader. As tribune of the people (57 b.c.) he obtained the recall from exile of Cicero. At the insistence of Pompey, Milo hired a g...

Charron, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Charron, Pierre pyĕr shärôNˈ [key], 1541–1603, French Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. He was an important contributor to 17th-century theological thought, combining an individual form...

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