Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Staël, Germaine de zhĕrmĕnˈ də stäl [key], 1766–1817, French-Swiss woman of letters, whose full name was Anne Louise Germaine Necker, baronne de Staël-Holstein. Born in Paris, the daughter of...

(Encyclopedia) York, Richard, duke of, 1411–60, English nobleman, claimant to the throne. He was descended from Edward III through his father, Richard, earl of Cambridge, grandson of that king, and also through hi...

(Encyclopedia) name. Personal identifying names are found in every known culture, and they often pass from one language to another. Hence the occurrence of Native American place names throughout the United States an...

(Encyclopedia) Presidents of the United States

(Encyclopedia) League or Holy League, in French history, organization of Roman Catholics, aimed at the suppression of Protestantism and Protestant political influence in France. It was foreshadowed as early as 1561 ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Carrot, Daucus carota carrot, common name for some members of the Umbelliferae, a family (also called the parsley family) of chiefly biennial or perennial herbs of north temperate regions. Mos...

(Encyclopedia) Coligny, Gaspard de Châtillon, comte de gäspärˈ də shätēyôNˈ kôNt də kōlēnyēˈ [key], 1519–72, French Protestant leader. A nephew of Anne, duc de Montmorency, he came to the French cou...

(Encyclopedia) Sigismund III, 1566–1632, king of Poland (1587–1632) and Sweden (1592–99). The son of John III of Sweden and Catherine, sister of Sigismund II of Poland, he united the Vasa and Jagiello dynastie...

(Encyclopedia) Vane, Sir Henry, 1613–62, English statesman; son of Sir Henry Vane (1589–1655). Early converted to Puritanism, he went to New England in 1635 and became governor of Massachusetts in 1636. His reli...

(Encyclopedia) Thackeray, William Makepeace thăkˈərē [key], 1811–63, English novelist, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. He is important not only as a great novelist but also as a brilliant satirist. In 1830, ...