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Albert the Bear

(Encyclopedia)Albert the Bear, c.1100–1170, first margrave of Brandenburg (1150–70). He was a loyal vassal of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II, who, as duke of Saxony, helped him take (1123) Lower Lusatia and the ...

Damon and Pythias

(Encyclopedia)Damon and Pythias dāˈmən, pĭthˈēəs [key], two youths whose loyalty to each other symbolizes true friendship. Pythias, a Pythagorean, condemned to death for plotting against Dionysius I of Syrac...

will-o'-the-wisp

(Encyclopedia)will-o'-the-wisp, phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may r...

Hereward the Wake

(Encyclopedia)Hereward the Wake hĕrˈĭwərd [key], fl. 1070, Anglo-Saxon rebel against William I. A thane, he apparently held land in Lincolnshire. In 1070 he sacked Peterborough with the aid of a Danish fleet an...

Merton, Walter de

(Encyclopedia)Merton, Walter de, d. 1277, English bishop, founder of Merton College, Oxford. He was lord chancellor from 1261 to 1263, was reappointed after the death of Henry III (1272), and was made bishop of Roc...

Ogier the Dane

(Encyclopedia)Ogier the Dane ōˈjēər, ōzhyāˈ [key], in the chansons de geste, a paladin of Charlemagne. Although his military feats save emperor and kingdom, he is for a time at odds with Charlemagne. In some...

heraldry

(Encyclopedia)heraldry, system in which inherited symbols, or devices, called charges are displayed on a shield, or escutcheon, for the purpose of identifying individuals or families. In the Middle Ages the herald,...

Emory University

(Encyclopedia)Emory University ĕmˈərē [key], near Atlanta, Ga.; coeducational; United Methodist; chartered as Emory College 1836, opened 1837 at Oxford. It became Emory Univ. in 1915 and in 1919 moved to Atlant...

Hearn, Lafcadio

(Encyclopedia)Hearn, Lafcadio lăfkäˈdēō hûrn [key], 1850–1904, American-Japanese author, b. Lefkás, Ionian Islands, of Irish-Greek parentage. After a difficult childhood, he was educated in Ireland, Englan...

Fowler, Henry Watson

(Encyclopedia)Fowler, Henry Watson, 1858–1933, English lexicographer, b. Devon, educated at Oxford. Both he and his brother, Francis G. Fowler (1870–1918), had been teachers before they began their literary col...