Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Abydos əbīˈdəs [key], ancient city of Egypt, c.50 mi (80 km) NW of Thebes, near modern El Balyana. Associated in religion with Osiris, Abydos became the most venerated place in Egypt. It was the f...

(Encyclopedia) Confederation of the Rhine, league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria a...

(Encyclopedia) John I or John the Posthumous, 1316, king of France, posthumous son of King Louis X. He lived only five days and was succeeded by his uncle, Philip V. According to legend, a dying child was substitute...

(Encyclopedia) Juba I jo͞oˈbə [key], c.85 b.c.–46 b.c., king of Numidia in N Africa. He joined Pompey's party and in 49 b.c. routed Caesar's legate, Curio. He fought on the side of Metellus Scipio and took his ...

(Encyclopedia) Maistre, Xavier de də mĕsˈtrə [key], 1763–1852, French writer, b. Savoy; brother of Joseph de Maistre. He served in the Russian army and lived most of his life in St. Petersburg. His works are ...

(Encyclopedia) Petropavlovsk kəmchätˈskē [key], city (1989 pop. 269,000), capital of Kamchatka Territory, Russian Far East. It is a major port and naval base on the Northern Sea Route, and there are shipyards an...

(Encyclopedia) Tate, Nahum nāˈhəm [key], 1652–1715, English poet and dramatist, b. Dublin. He wrote several popular adaptations of Shakespeare, the most famous being his King Lear (1681), in which he omitted th...

(Encyclopedia) miniature painting [Ital.,=artwork, especially manuscript initial letters, done with the red lead pigment minium; the word originally had no implication as to size]. In a general sense the term denote...

(Encyclopedia) Ladislaus I, 1260–1333, duke (1306–20) and later king (1320–33) of Poland; called Ladislaus the Short. He restored the Polish kingdom, which had been partitioned since 1138 (see Piast). In his c...

(Encyclopedia) Seely, John Edward Bernard, 1st baron of Mottistone, 1868–1947, British politician. He served in the South African War and entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1900. Having switched to the Libera...