Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Calixtus II, Callixtus II, or Callistus II, d. 1124, pope (1119–24), named Guy of Burgundy, successor of Gelasius II. The son of count William I of Burgundy, he was archbishop of Vienne during the ...

(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 ...

(Encyclopedia) Pobyedonostzev, Konstantin Petrovich kənstəntyēnˈ pētrôˈvĭch pəbyĕdənôsˈtsyĭf [key], 1827–1907, Russian public official and jurist. He was professor of civil law at Moscow when he attr...

(Encyclopedia) Agre, Peter Courtland, 1949–, American molecular biologist, b. Northfield, Minn., M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1974. From 1981 to 2005, Agre taught at Johns Hopkins in the departments of medicine and cell bi...

(Encyclopedia) Oka, river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising in the Sayan Mts., Buryat Republic, S central Siberian Russia. It flows N through Irkutsk oblast to join the Angara River below Bratsk. The lower Oka valley ...

(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) Holy Alliance, 1815, agreement among the emperors of Russia and Austria and the king of Prussia, signed on Sept. 26. It was quite distinct from the Quadruple Alliance (Quintuple, after the admission o...

(Encyclopedia) Wuorinen, Charles Peter wûrˈĭnən [key], 1938–2020, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. New York City. Wuorinen studied at Columbia (B.A., 1961; M.A., 1963) and taught there, at the Man...

(Encyclopedia) Paschal II păsˈkəl [key] [Lat.,=of Easter], d. 1118, pope (1099–1118), an Italian (b. near Ravenna) named Ranieri; successor of Urban II. He was a monk and, as a reformer, was made a cardinal by ...

(Encyclopedia) Amenemhet II äˌmĕnĕmˈhĕt, āˌ– [key], d. 1903 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XII dynasty; son and successor of Sesostris I. He was coregent with his father (1938–1935 b.c.), then sole ...