Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Strasbourg, Oath of

(Encyclopedia)Strasbourg, Oath of, 842, oath sworn by Charles the Bald (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles II) and Louis the German in solemnizing their alliance against their brother, Emperor Lothair I. The chief po...

William of Champeaux

(Encyclopedia)William of Champeaux shămpōˈ, shäNpōˈ [key], c.1070–1121, French scholastic philosopher. William studied and taught in Paris. In 1109 he founded the monastic school of St. Victor, which later ...

Biscay, Bay of

(Encyclopedia)Biscay, Bay of bĭsˈkā [key], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, indenting the coast of W Europe from Ushant island (Île d'Ouessant) off Brittany, NW France, to Cape Ortegal, NW Spain. The bay is noted for...

Jefferson, Territory of

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Territory of, in U.S. history, region that roughly encompassed the present-day state of Colorado, although extending 2° farther south and 1° farther north, organized by its inhabitants (1...

Arnold of Brescia

(Encyclopedia)Arnold of Brescia brĕshˈə [key], c.1090–1155, Italian monk and reformer, b. Brescia. A priest of irreproachable life, Arnold studied at Paris, where according to tradition he was a pupil of Peter...

Westminster, City of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, City of, inner borough (1991 pop. 181,500) of Greater London, SE England, on the Thames River. Westminster is the location of the principal offices and residences of Great Britain's natio...

Tehuantepec, Isthmus of

(Encyclopedia)Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, c.125 mi (200 km) wide at its narrowest, S Mexico, between the Gulf of Campeche and the Gulf of Tehuantepec. It is mostly a rolling, tropical lowland with the lowest pass elev...

Conrad of Marburg

(Encyclopedia)Conrad of Marburg, d. 1233, German churchman. He was confessor (1225–31) of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and administrator of her husband's benefices in his absence. His zeal against heresy earned him a...

Paul of Samosata

(Encyclopedia)Paul of Samosata səmŏsˈətə [key], fl. 260–72, Syrian Christian theologian, heretical patriarch of Antioch. He was a friend and high official of Zenobia of Palmyra. Paul enounced a dynamic monar...

Matthew of Westminster

(Encyclopedia)Matthew of Westminster, name for many years given to the supposed author of an English chronicle in Latin, the Flores historiarum. The chronicle was actually written by various monks. The portion cove...