Columbia Encyclopedia

(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) Middle East, term traditionally applied by western Europeans to the countries of SW Asia and NE Africa lying W of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Thus defined it includes Cyprus, the Asian part of T...

(Encyclopedia) Huizinga, Johan yōhänˈ hoiˈzĭngə [key], 1872–1945, Dutch historian. He began his academic career in Indian literature, but his reputation rests on his work in the cultural history of the late ...

(Encyclopedia) Middle Eastern religions, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East. Little was known about the religions of the city-states of W Asia until stores of religious lit...

(Encyclopedia) Grasse, town, Alpes-Maritime dept., SE France. Probably founded in Roman times, Grasse was a commercial center during the Middle Ages. Destroyed many ti...

(Encyclopedia) Middle East respiratory syndrome: see MERS. ...

(Encyclopedia) inn, in Great Britain, any hotel, public house, tavern, or coffeehouse where lodging is provided. In American usage, the inn is generally a small rural lodging house for transients. Among the earliest...

(Encyclopedia) Natives, Middle American or Mesoamerican, aboriginal peoples living in the area between present-day United States and South America. Although most of Mexico is geographically considered part of North ...

(Encyclopedia) Dukes, Leopold, 1810–91, Hungarian Hebrew scholar. He made a collection of rabbinical proverbs and wrote on the history of Jewish literature, notably of Hebrew poetry in the Middle Ages. He also tra...

(Encyclopedia) Spezia, La lä spĕtˈsyä [key], city (1991 pop. 101,442), capital of La Spezia prov., in Liguria, NW Italy, on the Gulf of La Spezia (an arm of the Ligurian Sea) and at the eastern end of the Rivier...