Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Colonna kōlônˈnä [key], noble Roman family that played a leading part in the history of Rome from the 12th to the 16th cent. They were hereditary enemies of the Orsini and Caetani families, genera...

(Encyclopedia) Eugene IV, 1383–1447, pope (1431–47), a Venetian named Gabriele Condulmer; successor of Martin V. He was of exemplary character and ascetic habits. Gregory XII, his uncle, made him cardinal (1408)...

(Encyclopedia) Lawes, Henry lôz [key], 1596–1662, English composer. Both he and his brother William were prominent musician-composers, and Henry served the royal family in various capacities until the civil war. ...

(Encyclopedia) Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

(Encyclopedia) Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible, 1530–84, grand duke of Moscow (1533–84), the first Russian ruler to assume formally the title of czar. In his later years, Ivan's character, always stern, grew tyra...

(Encyclopedia) Vendôme, César, duc de sāzärˈ dük də väNdōmˈ [key], 1594–1665, French general and politician; son of King Henry IV and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées. Legitimized in 1595, he was made d...

(Encyclopedia) Aquitaine ăkˈwĭtān, äkētĕnˈ [key], Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. Julius Caesar conquered the Aquitani, an Iberian people of SW Gaul, in 56 b.c. The province that he cr...

(Encyclopedia) Shrapnel, Henry shrăpˈnəl [key], 1761–1842, British general, inventor of the shrapnel shell. The shell, consisting of a steel case filled with bullets and an explosive charge, is fired in midair ...

(Encyclopedia) Miller, Henry, 1891–1980, American author, b. New York City. Miller sought to reestablish the freedom to live without the conventional restraints of civilization. His books are potpourris of sexual ...

(Encyclopedia) Howard, Henry: see Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of. ...