Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Philip II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip II or Philip Augustus, 1165–1223, king of France (1180–1223), son of Louis VII. During his reign the royal domains were more than doubled, and the royal power was consolidated at the expens...

Sharp, James

(Encyclopedia)Sharp, James, 1613–79, Scottish prelate. As a Presbyterian minister, Sharp became (1650) a leader of the moderate wing of the Scottish church called the Resolutioners. He was captured (1651) by Oliv...

Goffe, William

(Encyclopedia)Goffe, William gôf [key], d. c.1679, English soldier and regicide. A personal adherent of Oliver Cromwell, he fought in the English civil war, signed the death warrant of Charles I, and became an adm...

Wexford, town, Republic of Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Wexford, town (1991 pop. 15,393), seat of Co. Wexford, SE Republic of Ireland, on Wexford Harbour, which is formed by the Slaney River estuary. Wexford serves as the headquarters of the Roman Catholic...

Biddle, John

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, John, 1615–62, founder of English Unitarianism. From his examination of the Scriptures he lost belief in the doctrine of the Trinity and stated his conclusions in Twelve Arguments Drawn Out ...

Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of, 1355–97, English nobleman; youngest son of Edward III. He was betrothed (1374) to Eleanor, heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, and became earl o...

Warbeck, Perkin

(Encyclopedia)Warbeck, Perkin, 1474?–1499, pretender to the English throne, b. Tournai. He lived in Flanders and later in Portugal and arrived in Ireland in the employ of a silk merchant in 1491. There adherents ...

Geoffrey

(Encyclopedia)Geoffrey jĕfˈrē [key], 1158–86, duke of Brittany (1171–86); fourth son of Henry II of England. Betrothed (1166) to Constance, heiress of Brittany, he was recognized as heir to the duchy in 1169...

Joan of Kent

(Encyclopedia)Joan of Kent, 1328–85, English noblewoman; daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I. She early gained wide note for her beauty and charm, though the appellation Fair M...

Vidal, Peire

(Encyclopedia)Vidal, Peire pĕr vēdälˈ [key], fl. 1180–1206, Provençal troubadour, b. Toulouse. He spent much of his career in S France and traveled widely in Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Spain, and Malta. Richard...