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Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

(Encyclopedia)Austro-Hungarian Monarchy or Dual Monarchy, the Hapsburg empire from 1867 until its fall in 1918. The internal weakness of the empire became immediately obvious. Czech regiments deserted wholesal...

Nike

(Encyclopedia)Nike nīˈkē [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of victory, daughter of Pallas and Styx. Often an attendant of Zeus or Athena, she also presided over all contests, athletic as well as mi...

lares

(Encyclopedia)lares lârˈēz [key], in Roman religion, guardian spirits. According to some they were ghosts of the dead, destructive spirits who frequented crossroads and had to be propitiated. Others say that the...

maenads

(Encyclopedia)maenads mēˈnădz [key], in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, female devotees of Dionysus. They roamed mountains and forests, adorned with ivy and skins of animals, waving the thyrsus. When the...

Mansel, Henry Longueville

(Encyclopedia)Mansel, Henry Longueville mănˈsəl [key], 1820–71, English philosopher and theologian. A disciple of Sir William Hamilton, he systematized his teacher's conception of the relativity of knowledge, ...

Beecher, Catharine Esther

(Encyclopedia)Beecher, Catharine Esther, 1800–1878, American educator, b. East Hampton, N.Y.; daughter of Lyman Beecher. She first taught in New London, Conn., and in 1824 founded a girls' school in Hartford. Lat...

vestal

(Encyclopedia)vestal vĕsˈtəl [key], in Roman religion, priestess of Vesta. The vestals were first two, then four, then six in number. While still little girls, they were chosen from prominent Roman families to s...

Chinguetti

(Encyclopedia)Chinguetti, town, central Mauritania, on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar. Founded in the 8th cent., it was a center on several trans-Saharan trade routes...

Gezelle, Guido

(Encyclopedia)Gezelle, Guido gēˈdō khĕzĕlˈə [key], 1830–99, Flemish poet, b. Bruges, a Roman Catholic priest. A forerunner of the Flemish literary revival, he was the leading poet of the Flemings. In six v...

Avranches

(Encyclopedia)Avranches ävräNshˈ [key], town, Manche dept., NW France, in Normandy, on the English Channel. Because of its proximity to the rocky island of Mont-Saint-Michel, Avranch...