Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Martin I, Saint, d. 655?, pope (649–55?), an Italian, b. Todi; successor of Theodore I. On his accession he summoned a great council at the Lateran, as St. Maximus had urged, to deal with Monothelet...

(Encyclopedia) Livonia lĭvōˈnēə [key], region and former Russian province, comprising present Estonia and parts of Latvia (Vidzeme and Latgale). It borders on the Baltic Sea and its arms, the Gulf of Riga and t...

(Encyclopedia) Laibach, Congress of līˈbäkh [key], conference of European powers in 1821, held in what is now Ljubljana, Slovenia. The chief powers at the congress were Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, and Great...

(Encyclopedia) Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st earl of nŏtˈĭngəm [key], 1536–1624, English nobleman. A member of one of the branches of the Howard family, he succeeded his father as Baron Howard of Effingham i...

(Encyclopedia) Smolensk smōlĕnskˈ, smô–, Rus. sməlyĕnskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 341,000), capital of Smolensk region, W European Russia, a port on the Dnieper River. It is an important rail junction, a dist...

(Encyclopedia) Seven Years War, 1756–63, worldwide war fought in Europe, North America, and India between France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and (after 1762) Spain on the one side and Prussia, Great Britain,...

(Encyclopedia) Leopold II, 1747–92, Holy Roman emperor (1790–92), king of Bohemia and Hungary (1790–92), as Leopold I grand duke of Tuscany (1765–90), third son of Maria Theresa. Succeeding his father, Holy ...

(Encyclopedia) Lefort, François fräNswäˈ ləfôrˈ [key], 1656–99, Swiss soldier of fortune in Russian service, b. Geneva. He was one of the early boon companions of Peter I (Peter the Great) and remained Pete...

(Encyclopedia) Alexis (Aleksey Petrovich) əlyĭksyāˈ pētrôˈvĭch [key], 1690–1718, Russian czarevich; son of Peter I (Peter the Great) by his first wife, and father of Peter II. Opposing his father's anticle...

(Encyclopedia) serf, under feudalism, peasant laborer who can be generally characterized as hereditarily attached to the manor in a state of semibondage, performing the servile duties of the lord (see also manorial ...