Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bela IV bāˈlə, bēˈlə [key], 1206–70, king of Hungary (1235–70), son and successor of Andrew II. He tried to curtail the power of the magnates and set out to recover the crownlands his father...

(Encyclopedia) Bernstorff, Johann Hartwig Ernst bĕrnsˈtôrf [key], 1712–72, Danish politician, of German (Hanoverian) origin. As minister of foreign affairs (1751–70) under Frederick V and Christian VII, he s...

(Encyclopedia) Garnet, Henry Highland gärˈnĭt [key], 1815–82, American abolitionist clergyman, b. Kent co., Md. Born a slave, he escaped in 1824 and was educated at the Oneida Institute, Whitesboro, N.Y. He was...

(Encyclopedia) Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de gŏnˈdəmär, Span. dyāˈgō särmyānˈtō ᵺā äko͞oˈnyä kōnˈdā ᵺā gōndōmärˈ [key], 1567?–1626, Spanish ambassador to England (1613�...

(Encyclopedia) Görtz, Georg Heinrich von gāˈôrk hīnˈrĭkh fən görts [key], 1668–1719, Swedish diplomat and financial expert, a German. While in the service of Frederick V, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, he help...

(Encyclopedia) grenade grĭnādˈ [key], small bomb either thrown by hand or shot from a modified rifle or a grenade launcher. It may be filled with gas or chemicals but more often holds an explosive charge that fra...

(Encyclopedia) Antietam campaign ăntēˈtəm [key], Sept., 1862, of the Civil War. After the second battle of Bull Run, Gen. Robert E. Lee crossed the Potomac to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania. At Frederick, Md.,...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand II, 1578–1637, Holy Roman emperor (1619–37), king of Bohemia (1617–37) and of Hungary (1618–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias. Grandson of Ferdinand I, son of Archduke Ch...

(Encyclopedia) Saxe-Weimar săks-vīˈmär [key], Ger. Sachsen-Weimar, former duchy, Thuringia, central Germany. The area passed in the division of 1485 to the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty and remained wit...

(Encyclopedia) Poland, partitions of. The basic causes leading to the three successive partitions (1772, 1793, 1795) that eliminated Poland from the map were the decay and the internal disunity of Poland and the eme...