Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Louis XI, 1423–83, king of France (1461–83), son and successor of Charles VII. A born diplomat, Louis skillfully checked his foreign and domestic enemies and set up an efficient central administ...

(Encyclopedia) Ghent gĕnt [key], Du. Gent, Fr. Gand, city, capital of East Flanders prov., W Belgium, at th...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Northwest Territory Northwest Territory, first possession of the United States, comprising the region known as the Old Northwest, S and W of the Great Lakes, NW of the Ohio River, and E of the...

(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) Wagner, Richard vägˈnər [key], 1813–83, German composer, b. Leipzig. Wagner's second wife, Cosima Wagner, 1837–1930, was the daughter of Liszt and the comtesse d'Agoult. From 1857 to 1870 sh...

(Encyclopedia) French literature, writings in medieval French dialects and standard modern French. Writings in Provençal and Breton are considered separately, as are works in French produced abroad (as at Canadian ...

(Encyclopedia) Renaissance rĕnəsänsˈ, –zänsˈ [key] [Fr.,=rebirth], term used to describe the development of Western civilization that marked the transition from medieval to modern times. This article is conc...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and, across the Savannah River, Georgia (SW). World War II and the postwar pe...

(Encyclopedia) Knights Hospitalers, members of the military and religious Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, sometimes called the Knights of St. John and the Knights of Jerusalem. The symbol of the Orde...

(Encyclopedia) Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn or Ryn rĕmˈbrănt, Du. rĕmˈbränt härˈmənsōn vän rīn [key], 1606–69, Dutch painter, etcher, and draftsman, b. Leiden. Rembrandt is acknowledged as the greate...