(Encyclopedia) minstrel, professional secular musician of the Middle Ages. The modern application of the term is general and includes the jongleurs. Certain very able jongleurs ceased their…
(Encyclopedia) romance [O.Fr.,=something written in the popular language, i.e., a Romance language]. The roman of the Middle Ages was a form of chivalric and romantic literature widely diffused…
(Encyclopedia) ToulonToulont&oomacr;lôNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 170,167), Var dept., SE France, in Provence, on the Mediterranean Sea. An important commercial port and industrial center, Toulon…
American Music TimelinePart V: 1930-1960 by David Johnson 1932 1936 1944 1948 1954 1959 Next: 1960s 1932 Blues pianist Thomas A. Dorsey, "father of gospel music," writes song "…
(Encyclopedia) blazonryblazonryblāˈzənrē [key], science of describing or depicting armorial bearings. The introduction, since the Middle Ages, of artificial rules and fanciful medieval terms has…
(Encyclopedia) sword, weapon of offense and defense in personal combat, consisting of a blade with a sharp point and one or two cutting edges, set in a hilt with a handle protected by a metal case or…
(Encyclopedia) Catalan artCatalan artkătˈəlăn, –lən [key]. In Catalonia and the territories of the counts of Barcelona, art flowered in the early Middle Ages and continued to flourish through the…
(Encyclopedia) purgatorypurgatorypûrgˈətôrˌē [key] [Lat.,=place of purging], in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the state after death in which the soul destined for heaven is purified.…
(Encyclopedia) alchemyalchemyălˈkəmē [key], ancient art of obscure origin that sought to transform base metals (e.g., lead) into silver and gold; forerunner of the science of chemistry. Some scholars…
