Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) pastoral, literary work in which the shepherd's life is presented in a conventionalized manner. In this convention the purity and simplicity of shepherd life is contrasted with the corruption and arti...

(Encyclopedia) Mar, John Erskine, 6th (or 11th) earl of, 1675–1732, Scottish nobleman, leader of the Jacobites. He was nicknamed “Bobbing John,” probably because of his political vacillation. He succeeded his ...

(Encyclopedia) Marche märsh [key], region and former province, central France, on the NW margin of the Massif Central. It is coextensive with Creuse dept., much of the Haute-Vienne dept., and parts of Vienne, Indre...

(Encyclopedia) Medici, Giuliano de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1479–1516, duke of Nemours (1515–16); younger son of Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and brother of Pope Leo X. He enter...

(Encyclopedia) Pennacook pĕnˈəko͝ok [key], group of Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Although of the Eastern Woodlands ...

(Encyclopedia) positivism pŏˈzĭtĭvĭzəm [key], philosophical doctrine that denies any validity to speculation or metaphysics. Sometimes associated with empiricism, positivism maintains that metaphysical questio...

(Encyclopedia) Callao käyouˈ [key], city, capital of the constitutional prov. of Callao, W Peru, on Callao...

(Encyclopedia) Chartres shärˈtrə [key], capital of Eure-et-Loir dept., NW France, in Orléanais, on the E...

(Encyclopedia) Ford, John, 1895–1973, American film director, b. Cape Elizabeth, Maine, as John Martin Feeney. Ford began directing in 1917 after an apprenticeship with his brother Francis. Over the next 50 years,...

(Encyclopedia) Herrera, Francisco de ᵺā ārāˈrä [key], c.1576–1656, Spanish painter, engraver, miniaturist, and draftsman. He worked in Seville most of his life, executing religious and genre subjects. His ...