Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mönchengladbach

(Encyclopedia)Mönchengladbach münˈ– [key], city (1994 pop. 265,312), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany. It is the twin city of adjacent Rheydt and is a major center of the German cotton textile industry. Tex...

Cluny

(Encyclopedia)Cluny klo͞oˈnē, Fr. klünēˈ [key], former abbey, E France, in the present Saône-et-Loire dept., founded (910) by St. Berno, a Burgundian monk and reformer. Cluny was one of the chief religious a...

Gregory II, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory II, Saint, d. 731, pope (715–31), a Roman; successor of Constantine. When Byzantine Emperor Leo III tried to impose iconoclasm in Italy by an imperial edict, Gregory answered that the empero...

Lawrence of Brindisi, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence of Brindisi, Saint brēnˈdēzē [key], 1559–1619, Italian Capuchin priest, Doctor of the Church, b. Brindisi, kingdom of Naples, as Cesare De Rossi. He joined the Capuchin Friars at the ag...

Theodore of Studium, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Theodore of Studium, Saint sto͞oˈdēəm [key], 759–826, Byzantine Greek monastic reformer, also called St. Theodore the Studite. As an abbot he was early exiled for opposing the marriage of Empero...

Boniface, Saint, German missionary

(Encyclopedia)Boniface, Saint, d. 1009, German missionary, known also by his lay name, Bruno of Querfurt. He evangelized the Balts and died a martyr. He is known as the Apostle of the Prussians. Feast: June 19. ...

Saint Elmo's fire

(Encyclopedia)Saint Elmo's fire, luminous discharge of electricity extending into the atmosphere from some projecting or elevated object. It is usually observed (often during a snowstorm or a dust storm) as brushli...

Wallenstadt, Lake of

(Encyclopedia)Wallenstadt, Lake of välˈənshtätˌ [key], Ger. Walensee or Wallensee, narrow mountain lake, c.9 sq mi (23 sq km), between St. Gall and Glarus cantons, E Switzerland. It is connected with Zürich b...

Appenzell

(Encyclopedia)Appenzell äˈpəntsĕl [key], canton, NE Switzerland. A rural and sparsely populated region, it is mainly a meadowland dotted with small farms. Appenzell retains many anc...

Brébeuf, Jean de, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Brébeuf, Jean de, Saint zhäN də brāböfˈ [key], 1593–1649, French Roman Catholic missionary, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. A Norman, he was sent (1625) to Quebec and did missionar...