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Constitution of Athens

(Encyclopedia)Constitution of Athens, treatise by Aristotle or a member of his school, written in the late 4th cent. b.c. It was lost until discovered on Egyptian papyrus in 1890. It is a history of the Athenian go...

Senones

(Encyclopedia)Senones sēnōˈnēz, sĕnˈōnēz [key], name of two distinct groups of ancient people of Gaul. One settled in NE Italy S of the Po in the 4th cent. B.C; the other lived in the valley of the Seine. ...

Nalanda

(Encyclopedia)Nalanda nəlänˈdə [key], Buddhist monastic center in what is now Baragaon, Bihar state, E central India. Often referred to as a university, Nalanda was, from the 4th to the 12 cent. a.d., the most ...

Barbara, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barbara, Saint, fl. 3d or 4th cent., virgin martyr, whose life is shrouded in contradictory legends. Her father is said to have shut her up in a tower and then to have killed her for being a Christian...

Agnes, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Agnes, Saint, 4th cent., virgin martyr. A noble Roman girl martyred at the age of 13 after rejecting a well-born suitor. She was included in the Depositio Martyrum of 354. On her feast day lambs are b...

Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of, 1355–97, English nobleman; youngest son of Edward III. He was betrothed (1374) to Eleanor, heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, and became earl o...

Kalávrita

(Encyclopedia)Kalávrita kəläˈvrĭtə [key], ancient Cynaetha, town, central Greece, It is chiefly a summer resort. At the nearby monastery of Hagia Laura (founded 961) the Greeks first rallied (1821) in the War...

Alban, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Alban, Saint ôlˈbən [key], 3d or 4th cent., traditionally the first British martyr. He lived and died at Verulamium, now St. Albans. In 793 an abbey was founded there in his honor. Feast: Roman Cat...

Berenice, city, ancient Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Berenice or Berenike, city of ancient Egypt, on the Red Sea. Founded by Ptolemy II and named in his mother's honor, it commanded the trade with Arabia and India, flourishing from the 3d cent. b.c. to ...

Mortimer, Sir Edmund de

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Sir Edmund de, 1376–1409, English nobleman; youngest son of Edmund de Mortimer, 3d earl of March. In 1398 when young Edmund, the 5th earl, nephew of Sir Edmund, succeeded to the title whil...