Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Chrétien de Troyes or Chrestien de Troyes both: krātyăNˈ də trwä [key], fl. 1170, French poet, author of the first great literary treatments of the Arthurian legend. His narrative romances, comp...

(Encyclopedia) Coptic art, Christian art in the upper Nile valley of Egypt. Reaching its mature phase in the late 5th and 6th cent., the development of Coptic art was interrupted by the Arab conquest of Egypt betwee...

(Encyclopedia) Cyrenaics sīrĭnāˈĭks, sĭ– [key], one of the minor schools of Greek philosophy, flourishing in the late 4th and early 3d cent. b.c. Cyrenaic philosophy taught that present individual pleasure i...

(Encyclopedia) Rorty, Richard, 1931–2007, American philosopher. b. New York City. After studying at the Univ. of Chicago (B.A. 1949, M.A. 1952) and Yale (Ph.D. 1956), Rorty taught philosophy at Wellesley College (...

(Encyclopedia) Darnley, Henry Stuart or Stewart, Lord, 1545–67, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots and father of James I of England (James VI of Scotland). His mother was Margaret Douglas, the daughter of Archi...

(Encyclopedia) Brontë brŏnˈtē [key], family of English novelists, including Charlotte Brontë, 1816–55, English novelist, Emily Jane Brontë, 1818–48, English novelist and poet, and Anne Brontë, 1820–49, ...

(Encyclopedia) Parker, Matthew, 1504–75, English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury. At Cambridge he was influenced by the writings of Martin Luther and other reformers. In 1535 he was appointed chaplain to Anne Bo...

(Encyclopedia) Parr, Catherine, 1512–48, sixth queen consort of Henry VIII of England. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, an officeholder at the court, and had been twice widowed before Henry made her his wi...

(Encyclopedia) Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival, 1919–2008, New Zealand mountain climber and explorer. He went on many mountain-climbing expeditions before 1953, when he and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the first peop...

(Encyclopedia) needle, implement of metal or other material used to carry the thread in sewing and in various forms of needlework and manufacturing. The earliest needles were merely awls or punches. Stone, bone, ivo...