Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

anointing of the sick

(Encyclopedia)anointing of the sick, sacrament of the Orthodox Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, formerly known as extreme unction. In it a sick or dying person is anointed on eyes, ears, nostrils, lips...

East India Company, British

(Encyclopedia)East India Company, British, 1600–1874, company chartered by Queen Elizabeth I for trade with Asia. The original object of the group of merchants involved was to break the Dutch monopoly of the spic...

star-of-Bethlehem, in botany

(Encyclopedia)star-of-Bethlehem, in botany, low, spring-blooming bulbous plant (Ornithogalum umbellatum) of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native to the Mediterranean region but naturalized in North America an...

Fathers of the Church

(Encyclopedia)Fathers of the Church, collective name for the Christian writers of early times whose work is considered generally orthodox. A convenient definition includes all such writers up to and including St. G...

Eutropius, consul of East Roman Emperor Arcadius

(Encyclopedia)Eutropius, d. 399, consul of East Roman Emperor Arcadius. A eunuch of the palace, he brought about the marriage (395) of Arcadius and Eudoxia and succeeded Rufinus as chief minister. He repelled (398)...

Eight, the

(Encyclopedia)Eight, the, group of American artists in New York City, formed in 1908 to exhibit paintings. They were men of widely different tendencies, held together mainly by their common opposition to academism....

Edmund, Saint, d. 869, king of East Anglia

(Encyclopedia)Edmund, Saint, d. 869, king of East Anglia (855–869). He was supposedly martyred by the invading Danes for his adherence to Christianity. His shrine was at Bury St. Edmunds. Feast: Nov. 20. ...

Browse by Subject