Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Braşov bräshôvˈ [key], Hung. Brassó, Ger. Kronstadt, city, central Romania, in Trans...

(Encyclopedia) Charles Martel märtĕlˈ [key] [O.Fr.,=Charles the Hammer], 688?–741, Frankish ruler, illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. After the death of his father (714) he se...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Clavichord clavichord klăvˈĭkôrd [key], keyboard musical instrument invented in the Middle Ages. It consists of a small rectangular wooden box, placed upon a table or on legs, containing a...

(Encyclopedia) handkerchief. In classical Greece pieces of fine perfumed cotton, known as mouth or perspiration cloths, were often used by the wealthy. From the 1st cent. b.c., Roman men of rank used an oblong cloth...

(Encyclopedia) Toulon to͞olôNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 170,167), Var dept., SE France, in Provence, on the Mediterranean Sea. An important commercial port and industrial center, Toulon is France's principal naval ...

(Encyclopedia) romance [O.Fr.,=something written in the popular language, i.e., a Romance language]. The roman of the Middle Ages was a form of chivalric and romantic literature widely diffused throughout Europe fro...

(Encyclopedia) George, Saint, 4th cent.?, perhaps a soldier in the imperial army who died for the faith in Asia Minor. His life is cloaked in legends; Gibbon's identification of him with George of Cappadocia is fals...

(Encyclopedia) Glastonbury glăsˈtənbərē [key], town, Somerset, SW England. It has a leather industry, but ...

(Encyclopedia) blazonry blāˈzənrē [key], science of describing or depicting armorial bearings. The introduction, since the Middle Ages, of artificial rules and fanciful medieval terms has complicated the science...