Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Fools, Feast of, burlesque religious festival of the Middle Ages. It occurred during the Christmas and New Year's revels, on or near New Year's Day. In many places a Lord of Misrule ruled over the rev...

(Encyclopedia) Hawick hôˈîk [key], town, Scottish Borders, S Scotland, on the Teviot River. The largest S...

(Encyclopedia) Siegen, Ludwig von lo͝otˈvĭkh fən zēˈgən [key], c.1609–1680, German engraver, b. Holland, educated in Germany. He is said to have invented (c.1640) the mezzotint process of engraving. Among h...

(Encyclopedia) Tínos or Tenos both: tēˈnôs [key], island (1991 pop. 7,747), 79 sq mi (204 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; one of the Cyclades. Wine, figs, and wheat are produced on Tínos, and blue-hued ma...

(Encyclopedia) Tazewell, Littleton Walter tăzˈwəl [key], 1774–1860, American politcal leader, b. Williamsburg, Va., grad. College of William and Mary, 1792. He was admitted (1796) to the bar, practiced law in V...

(Encyclopedia) Sandys, Edwin săndz [key], 1516?–1588, English prelate, archbishop of York (1576–88). While a student at Cambridge he turned to Protestantism. On the death (1553) of Edward VI, Sandys supported L...

(Encyclopedia) Arras, Treaty of. 1 Treaty of 1435, between King Charles VII of France and Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Through it, France and Burgundy became reconciled. Philip deserted his English allies and r...

(Encyclopedia) Scilly Islands sĭlˈē [key], officially Isles of Scilly, archipelago and unitary authority (2001 pop. 2,153), encompassing more than 150 isles and rocky islets, off Cornwall, SW England, 28 mi (45 k...

(Encyclopedia) Shelley, Percy Bysshe bĭsh [key], 1792–1822, English poet, b. Horsham, Sussex. He is ranked as one of the great English poets of the romantic period. Most of Shelley's poetry reveals his philos...

(Encyclopedia) Leith lēth [key], former town, Edinburgh, SE Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was incorporated into Edinburgh in 1920. As a strategically located port, Leith was the object of c...