Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lohengrin lōˈən-grĭn [key], in medieval German story, a knight of the Holy Grail, son of Parzival. He is sent to rescue Princess Elsa of Brabant from an unwanted suitor. Led to Antwerp by a swan, ...

(Encyclopedia) Tübingen tüˈbĭng–ən [key], city (1994 pop. 83,553), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, on the Neckar River. It is a cultural and industrial center; manufactures include textiles, machinery, metal ...

(Encyclopedia) Merchant Adventurers, name given originally to all merchants in England who engaged in export trade, but later applied to loosely organized groups of merchants in the major ports concerned with export...

(Encyclopedia) Arthurian legend, the mass of legend, popular in medieval lore, concerning King Arthur of Britain and his knights. Although there are innumerable variations of the Arthurian legend, the basic story...

(Encyclopedia) tamarind tămˈərĭnd [key], tropical ornamental evergreen tree (Tamarindus indica) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to Africa and probably to Asia, but now widely grown in the tropic...

(Encyclopedia) Sephardim səfärˈdəm [key], one of the two major geographic divisions of the Jewish people, consisting of those Jews whose forebears in the Middle Ages resided in the Iberian Peninsula, as distingu...

(Encyclopedia) Dacia dāˈshə [key], ancient name of the European region corresponding roughly to modern Romania (including Transylvania). It was inhabited before the Christian era by a people who were called Getae...

(Encyclopedia) Vionnet, Madeleine, 1876–1975, French fashion designer. She worked for Parisian and London dressmakers and designed for the Callot Soeurs and Jacques Doucet houses before opening her own studio in 1...

(Encyclopedia) Walpole, Horace or Horatio, 4th earl of Orford, 1717–97, English author; youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, he toured the Continent with his friend Thomas Gray from ...

(Encyclopedia) yeoman yōˈmən [key], class in English society. The term has always been ill-defined, but generally it means a freeholder of a lower status than gentleman who cultivates his own land. With the break...