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Orsini

(Encyclopedia)Orsini ōrsēˈnē [key], powerful Roman family that included three popes and numerous other churchmen, soldiers and statesmen. The eponymous ancestor was one Ursus. Giacinto Orsini, who became Pope C...

Terry, Sir Richard Runciman

(Encyclopedia)Terry, Sir Richard Runciman, 1865–1938, English organist and musicologist. He was organist and choir director (1901–24) of Westminster Cathedral. Terry studied and made collections of early Englis...

Leo IV, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV, Saint, d. 855, pope (847–55), a Roman; successor of Sergius II. He had seen the Saracen attack on Rome (846), and to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its suburbs. He built a ...

Mendip Hills

(Encyclopedia)Mendip Hills, range of hills, c.25 mi (40 km) long, across N Somerset, SW England, extending SE from the vicinity of Hutton to the Frome valley. Primarily limestone, the hills have numerous caves (Woo...

Moesia

(Encyclopedia)Moesia mēˈshə [key], ancient region of SE Europe, south of the lower Danube River. Inhabited by Thracians, it was captured by the Romans in 29 b.c. It was later organized as a Roman province, compr...

Trogus

(Encyclopedia)Trogus (Cnaeus Pompeius Trogus) trōˈgəs [key], fl. a.d. 5, Roman historian of Gallic origin. His history of the world, which survives only in excerpts by Justin, dealt with Assyria, Persia, Greece,...

emperor

(Encyclopedia)emperor [Lat. imperator=one holding supreme power, especially applied to generals], the sovereign head of an empire. In the Roman republic the term imperator referred to the chief military commander a...

Honorius III

(Encyclopedia)Honorius III, d. 1227, pope (1216–27), a Roman named Cencio Savelli; successor of Innocent III. He was created cardinal in 1197 and was an able administrator of the papal treasury. He authored the o...

German Catholics

(Encyclopedia)German Catholics, religious groups founded in 1844 by dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church. They were led by two excommunicated priests, Johann Czerski of Schneidemühl, Posen, and Johann Ronge o...

gens

(Encyclopedia)gens jĕnz [key], ancient Roman kinship group. It was the counterpart of what is known in other societies as a patrilineal clan or sib, and the word has been used in social science as a generic term f...