Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) despotism, government by an absolute ruler unchecked by effective constitutional limits to his power. In Greek usage, a despot was ruler of a household and master of its slaves. The title was applied ...

(Encyclopedia) John IV, 1604–56, king of Portugal (1640–56). He succeeded as duke of Braganza in 1630. Descended from Manuel I and in illegitimate line from John I, he had the strongest claim to the Portuguese t...

(Encyclopedia) Anhalt änˈhält [key], former state, c.900 sq mi (2,330 sq km), central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony and Brandenburg. Dessau, the capital, and Köthen were the chie...

(Encyclopedia) Anna Leopoldovna kärˈləvnə [key], 1718–46, duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, regent of Russia (1740–41); daughter of Charles Leopold, duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and of Catherine, sister o...

(Encyclopedia) Hertford, William Seymour, 1st marquess and 2d earl of härˈfərd, härtˈ– [key], 1588–1660, English nobleman; great-grandson of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, and grandson of Lady Catherine ...

(Encyclopedia) Basilian monks bəzĭlˈēən [key], monks primarily of the Eastern Church. They follow the Rule of St. Basil the Great, which has been universal among them since the 7th cent. They have no centralize...

(Encyclopedia) stigmata stĭgˈmətə, stĭgmătˈə [key] [plural of stigma, from Gr.,=brand], wounds or marks on a person resembling the five wounds received by Jesus at the crucifixion. Some 300 cases of stigmati...

(Encyclopedia) Pushkin po͝oshˈkĭn, Rus. po͞oshˈkĭn [key], city (1989 pop. 95,000), NW European Russia, a residential and resort suburb of St. Petersburg. It produces road-building equipment and has an importan...

(Encyclopedia) Tudor, Owen, d. 1461, founder of the Tudor dynasty. He belonged to an ancient Welsh family. He was a squire at the court of Henry V, and, probably in 1429, he married Henry's widow, Catherine of Valoi...

(Encyclopedia) Radishchev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich əlyĭksänˈdər nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch rədyēshˈchĭf [key], 1749–1802, Russian writer and liberal. Of a noble family, he studied in Leipzig and there came under ...