Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, founded in 1870. The Metropolitan Museum is the foremost repository of art in the United States and one of the world's great museums. It opened in 1880 on it...

(Encyclopedia) Middle English literature, English literature of the medieval period, c.1100 to c.1500. See also English literature and Anglo-Saxon literature. The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English let...

(Encyclopedia) Reynard the Fox rĕˈnərd, rāˈnärd [key], the supreme trickster and celebrated hero of the medieval beast epics, works predominantly in verse which became increasingly popular after c.1150. They a...

(Encyclopedia) Hyères yĕr [key], city, Var dept., SE France, in Provence, on the Mediterranean Sea. A port...

(Encyclopedia) Kuldiga ko͝olˈdĭgä [key], Ger. Goldingen, town, W Latvia. Founded in 1244, Kuldiga was a residence of the dukes of Courland and still retains a medieval character. The city has two 17th-century ch...

(Encyclopedia) Baldwin IV (Baldwin the Leper), c.1161–1185, Latin king of Jerusalem (1174–85), son and successor of Amalric I. Raymond, count of Tripoli, was regent from 1174 to 1176. Baldwin was constantly enga...

(Encyclopedia) lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

(Encyclopedia) Avicenna ăvĭsĕnˈə [key], Arabic Ibn Sina, 980–1037, Islamic philosopher and physician, of Persian origin, b. near Bukhara. He was the most renowned philosopher of medieval Islam and the most in...

(Encyclopedia) Douglas, Gawin or Gavin gäˈwĭn, găvˈĭn [key], 1474?–1522, Scottish poet and churchman; son of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus. He is considered one of the great medieval Scottish poets. D...

(Encyclopedia) Kutná Hora ko͝otˈnä hôˈrä [key], Ger. Kuttenberg, city (1991 pop. 24,561), central Czech Republic, in Bohemia. Now an agricultural center, it was an important silver-mining center in the Middle...