Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Leighton, Robert, 1611–84, Scottish prelate and classical scholar. After several years in France, where he seems to have developed an admiration for the Jansenists, he became (1641) a Presbyterian m...

(Encyclopedia) Calonne, Charles Alexandre de shärl älĕksäNˈdrə də kälōnˈ [key], 1734–1802, French statesman, controller general of finances (1783–87). Faced with a huge public debt and a steadily deter...

(Encyclopedia) Orléans, Charles, duc d' shärl dük dôrlāäNˈ [key], 1391–1465, French prince and poet; nephew of King Charles VI. After the assassination of his father, Louis d'Orléans, he became (1407) titu...

(Encyclopedia) Picts, ancient inhabitants of central and N Scotland, of uncertain origin. First mentioned (a.d. 297) by the Roman writer Eumenius as northern invaders of Roman Britain, they were probably descendants...

(Encyclopedia) Bristol, George Digby, 2d earl of, 1612–77, English courtier; son of John Digby, 1st earl of Bristol. At first a member of the parliamentary opposition to Charles I, he later fought for the king in ...

(Encyclopedia) Strathclyde străthˌklīdˈ [key] [Gaelic,=Clyde valley], one of several early medieval Celtic or Welsh kingdoms in present-day S Scotland and N England. Strathclyde was in SW Scotland. To the east w...

(Encyclopedia) Hundred Years War, 1337–1453, conflict between England and France. The Hundred Years War inflicted untold misery on France. Farmlands were laid waste, the population was decimated by war, famine, ...

(Encyclopedia) coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

(Encyclopedia) Frederick II, 1194–1250, Holy Roman emperor (1220–50) and German king (1212–20), king of Sicily (1197–1250), and king of Jerusalem (1229–50), son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and of Consta...

(Encyclopedia) Anjou äNzho͞oˈ [key], region and former province, W France, coextensive roughly with Maine-et-Loire and parts of Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe depts. Angers, the historic capital, and Saumur ...