Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sebastian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Sebastian, Saint, fl. 3d cent.?, Roman martyr. Little is known of his life. According to tradition he was an officer of the Praetorian guards much favored by Emperor Diocletian, who did not know that ...

Basil, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Basil, Saint: see Basil the Great, Saint. ...

Silverius, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Silverius, Saint sĭlvērˈēəs [key], d. 537, pope (536–37), an Italian; successor of St. Agapetus I. The son of Pope Hormisdas, who had been married before taking orders, St. Silverius was electe...

Simon, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Saint sīˈmən [key], in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles. In the Gospels he is called the Canaanite or Cananaean or Zelotes, synonymous terms referring probably to association wi...

Bartholomew, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bartholomew, Saint bärthŏlˈəmyo͞o [key], in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles, usually identified with Nathanael. Nathanael is a given name, Bartholomew an Aramaic patronymic meaning ...

Peter, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Peter, Saint, d. a.d. 64?, most prominent of the Twelve Apostles, listed first in the Gospels, and traditionally the first bishop of Rome. His original name was Simon, but Jesus gave him the nickname ...

Pilon, Germain

(Encyclopedia)Pilon, Germain zhĕrmăNˈ pēlôNˈ [key], 1535–90, French sculptor. He was court sculptor under the later Valois sovereigns. He executed several sculptures on Henry II's mausoleum at Saint-Denis. ...

Ignatius of Loyola, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ignatius of Loyola, Saint loiyōˈlə [key], 1491–1556, Spanish churchman, founder of the Jesuits (see Jesus, Society of), b. Loyola Castle near Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. In 1539, Ignatius drew u...

Assisi

(Encyclopedia)Assisi äs-sēˈzē [key], town, Umbria, central Italy. A religious and tourist center, it stands on a hill in the Apennines with an expansive view of the plains below. Al...

John Paul II, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John Paul II, Saint 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (15...