Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Eucharist

(Encyclopedia)Eucharist yo͞oˈkərĭst [key] [Gr.,=thanksgiving], Christian sacrament that repeats the action of Jesus at his last supper with his disciples, when he gave them bread, saying, “This is my body,”...

Boleslaus III

(Encyclopedia)Boleslaus III, 1085–1138, duke of Poland (1102–38). The kingdom had been divided by his father, Ladislaus Herman, between Boleslaus and his elder brother Zbigniew, whose legitimacy was disputed. Z...

Flavian

(Encyclopedia)Flavian flāˈvēən [key], ancient Roman gens. The name was applied especially to three Roman emperors, Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. ...

Naevius, Gnaeus

(Encyclopedia)Naevius, Gnaeus nīˈəs nēˈvəs [key], c.264–195 b.c., Roman poet and dramatist. Born in Campania, he served in the first Punic War (264–241 b.c.), which he evoked in De Bello Punico. Now only ...

Peutinger, Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Peutinger, Konrad kônˈrät poiˈtĭng–ər [key], 1465–1547, German antiquarian, diplomat, politician, and economist. One of the earliest writers in Germany on Roman inscriptions, he introduced t...

Cannae

(Encyclopedia)Cannae kănˈē [key], ancient village, Apulia, SE Italy, scene in 216 b.c. of Hannibal's crushing defeat of the Romans. Hannibal's troops assumed a crescent-shaped formation to meet the Roman troops,...

Saint Boniface

(Encyclopedia)Saint Boniface sānt bŏnˈĭfās [key], former city and historic community, SE Man., Canada, on the Red River opposite Winnipeg. It is now part of Winnipeg. It is an industrial center, with large sto...

Silchester

(Encyclopedia)Silchester sĭlˈchĭstər [key], village, Hampshire, S England. It is noted for the ruins of the Roman-British town Calleva Atrebatum. The outside walls (2,760 yd/2,524 m in circumference), forum, am...

Felix, Antonius

(Encyclopedia)Felix, Antonius, fl. a.d. 60, Roman procurator of Judaea, Samaria, Galilee, and Peraea (c.a.d. 52–a.d. 60), a freedman of Claudius I. He was judge of the apostle Paul. He married Drusilla, a Herodia...

Hinsley, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Hinsley, Arthur, 1865–1943, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Yorkshire, he attended Catholic schools in England and Rome. He was ordained in 1893 and spent several dec...