Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Laski, John yän lăsˈkē [key], Latin Johannes Alasco, 1499–1560, Polish Protestant reformer. A learned priest, he went in 1523 to Basel, where he was a close friend of Erasmus. After returning to...

(Encyclopedia) Irene īrēˈnē [key], c.750–803, Byzantine empress (797–802). She served (780–90) as regent for her son, Constantine VI, and later was made (792) joint ruler. Devoted to the Orthodox Church, s...

(Encyclopedia) Braganza brəgänˈzä [key], royal house that ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and Brazil from 1822 to 1889. It took its name from the castle of Braganza or Bragança. The line was descended from Alf...

(Encyclopedia) Christian VII, 1749–1808, king of Denmark and Norway (1766–1808), son and successor of Frederick V. Shortly after his accession his mental illness made him dependent on his physician, Struensee, w...

(Encyclopedia) Crécy –äN–pôNtyöˈ [key], village, Somme dept., N France. A nearby forest is popular for camping. At Crécy, on Aug. 26, 1346, Edward III of England defeated Philip VI of France in the Hundred...

(Encyclopedia) Appian Way ăpˈēən [key], Lat. Via Appia, most famous of the Roman roads, built (312 b.c.) under Appius Claudius Caecus. It connected Rome with Capua and was later extended to Beneventum (now Benev...

(Encyclopedia) John IV, 1604–56, king of Portugal (1640–56). He succeeded as duke of Braganza in 1630. Descended from Manuel I and in illegitimate line from John I, he had the strongest claim to the Portuguese t...

(Encyclopedia) Yusuf ibn Tashfin yo͞oso͝ofˈ ĭˈbən täshfēnˈ [key], d. 1106, ruler in the dynasty of the Almoravids (c.1059–1106). A Muslim, he led the Berbers in N Africa, continued the conquest of Morocco...

(Encyclopedia) Warwick, Richard de Beauchamp, earl of, 1382–1439, English nobleman; son of Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. He fought for Henry IV against Owen Glendower in Wales and the Percys at Shrewsbury ...

(Encyclopedia) Tigranes tīgrāˈnēz [key], c.140 b.c.–55 b.c., king of Armenia (c.96 b.c.–55 b.c.), called also Tigranes I and Tigranes the Great. By an alliance with his father-in-law, Mithradates VI of Pontu...