Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Vlad IV

(Encyclopedia)Vlad IV, 1431?–1476, prince of Walachia (1448, 1456–62, 1476), known as Vlad the Impaler. He was the son of Prince Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil) and is therefore also called Dracula or son of the D...

Balaklava

(Encyclopedia)Balaklava bələkläˈvə [key], section of the city of Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula. In ancient times it was an important Greek commercial city. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the Genoese ...

Muawiya

(Encyclopedia)Muawiya mo͞oäˈwēä [key], d. 680, 1st Umayyad caliph (661–80), one of the greatest Muslim statesmen; son of Abu Sufyan, a Koreish tribesman of Mecca. He submitted to Islam the year of the surren...

Oleg

(Encyclopedia)Oleg ôlĕkhˈ [key], d. c.912, founder of Kievan Rus. Succeeding his kinsman Rurik as leader of the Varangians at Novgorod, Oleg led forth his retainers to seize Kiev (c.879). He made Kiev his capita...

Mahmud I

(Encyclopedia)Mahmud I mämo͞odˈ, mäˈmo͞od [key], 1696–1754, Ottoman sultan (1730–54), son of Mustafa II, nephew and successor of Ahmed III. A revolt of the Janissaries put him on the throne of the Ottoman...

Bury, John Bagnell

(Encyclopedia)Bury, John Bagnell băgˈnəl byo͝oˈrē [key], Irish historian, an authority on the Byzantine Empire. He was professor at the Univ. of Dublin from 1893 to 1902 and at Cambridge from 1902. Bury consi...

Adler, Viktor

(Encyclopedia)Adler, Viktor vĭkˈtôr ädˈlər [key], 1852–1918, Austrian socialist politician and journalist, founder and leader of the Austrian Social Democratic party. Initially a German nationalist, he beca...

Umar

(Encyclopedia)Umar ōˈmär [key], c.581–644, 2d caliph (see caliphate). At first hostile to Islam, he was converted by 618, becoming an adviser to Muhammad. He succeeded Abu Bakr as caliph without opposition in ...

capitularies

(Encyclopedia)capitularies kəpĭchˈo͝olĕrˌēz [key], decrees and written commands of the Carolingian kings of the Franks, so called because they were divided into capitula, or chapters. Both legislative and ad...

Pontus, ancient country, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Pontus, ancient country, NE Asia Minor (now Turkey), on the Black Sea coast. On its inland side were Cappadocia and W Armenia. It was not significantly penetrated by Persian or Hellenic civilization. ...