Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Comtat Venaissin kəNtäˈ vənäsăNˈ [key] or Comtat, region of SE France, Vaucluse dept., comprising the territory around Avignon. Well-irrigated, it is a truck-farming and fruit-growing area. Com...

(Encyclopedia) Paul IV, 1476–1559, pope (1555–59), a Neapolitan named Gian Pietro Carafa; successor of Marcellus II. First superior of the Theatines (see Cajetan, Saint), he was sternly ascetic. A leading reform...

(Encyclopedia) Henry III, 1207–72, king of England (1216–72), son and successor of King John. Henry III has suffered at the hands of many historians, in part, because of the hostility of contemporary chronicl...

(Encyclopedia) Massinger, Philip măsˈənjər [key], 1583–1640, English dramatist, b. Salisbury. He studied at Oxford (1602–6) but left without a degree, apparently to go to London to write plays. A prolific wr...

(Encyclopedia) Mary of Modena mŏdˈĭnə [key], 1658–1718, queen consort of James II of England; daughter of Alfonso IV, duke of Modena. Her marriage (1673) to James, then duke of York, was brought about through ...

(Encyclopedia) investiture, in feudalism, ceremony by which an overlord transferred a fief to a vassal or by which, in ecclesiastical law, an elected cleric received the pastoral ring and staff (the symbols of spiri...

(Encyclopedia) Doddridge, Philip, 1702–51, English nonconformist minister and noted hymn writer. His Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745) has been much translated. His many hymns include “Awake, My S...

(Encyclopedia) Carloman, d. 884, king of the West Franks (France), son of King Louis II (Louis the Stammerer). He became joint ruler with his brother Louis III in 879. His reign was disturbed by revolts in Burgundy,...

(Encyclopedia) John of Nepomuk, Saint nāˈpōmo͝ok [key], d. 1393, patron saint of Bohemia, a martyr. He is also called John Nepomucen. He was vicar general of Bohemia under King Wenceslaus IV (later Holy Roman Em...

(Encyclopedia) Montmorency, Henri, duc de dük də môNmôräNsēˈ [key], the elder, 1534–1614, constable of France; younger son of Anne de Montmorency. He was known as Henri, comte de Damville, before 1579. He ...