Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Calais kälāˈ [key], city, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France, in Picardy, on the Straits of Dov...

(Encyclopedia) coffin, closed receptacle for a corpse. Its purpose is usually to protect and to aid preservation of the body, although in the past some have believed that it may confine the spirit of the deceased. B...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Cornet cornet, brass wind musical instrument, created in France about 1830 by adding valves to the post horn. It is usually in B flat and is the same size as the B flat trumpet, but has a more...

(Encyclopedia) Anna Comnena kŏmnēˈnə [key], b. 1083, d. after 1148, Byzantine princess and historian; daughter of Emperor Alexius I. She plotted, during and after her father's reign, against her brother, John II...

(Encyclopedia) Arezzo ärĕtˈtsō [key], city, capital of Arezzo prov., Tuscany, central Italy. It is an agricultural trade center and has machine, clothing, gold, and jewelry industrie...

(Encyclopedia) Sylvester II, c.945–1003, pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and...

(Encyclopedia) rabbi [Heb.,=my master; my teacher], the title of a Jewish spiritual leader. The role of the rabbi has undergone a number of transformations. In the Talmudic period, rabbis were primarily teachers and...

(Encyclopedia) universals, in philosophy, term applied to general or abstract objects such as concepts, qualities, relations, and numbers, as opposed to particular objects. The exact nature of a universal deeply con...

(Encyclopedia) Saint-Quentin săN-käNtăNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 62,085), Aisne dept., N France, on the Somme River. Foundry products, machinery, textiles, and food products are manufactured. Saint-Quentin was fa...

(Encyclopedia) Beauvais bōvāˈ [key], town, capital of Oise dept., N France. Tractors, ceramic tiles, text...