Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Westminster, Statutes of, in medieval English history, legislative promulgations made by Edward I in Parliament at Westminster. Westminster I (1275) practically constitutes a code of law; it covers a ...

(Encyclopedia) Catherine of Valois vălˈwä, Fr. välwäˈ [key], 1401–37, queen consort of Henry V of England, daughter of Charles VI of France. Married in 1420, she bore Henry the son who was to become Henry VI...

(Encyclopedia) Sons of Liberty, secret organizations formed in the American colonies in protest against the Stamp Act (1765). They took their name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré in a speech against the Stamp Act...

(Encyclopedia) school of Paris. The center of international art until after World War II, Paris was a mecca for artists who flocked there to participate in the most advanced aesthetic currents of their time. The sch...

(Encyclopedia) Gang of Four, term of opprobrium given by the Chinese Communist authorities to four persons held responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution (1966–69). They were also accused of trying t...

(Encyclopedia) Hesychius of Alexandria hēsĭkˈēəs [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Alexandrian grammarian. Hesychius is known as the compiler of an invaluable lexicon, a glossary of unusual words and expressions occurring...

(Encyclopedia) Liverpool, University of, at Liverpool, England; established 1881 as University College, received royal charter in 1903. It has faculties of arts, education, engineering, law, medicine, dentistry, sci...

(Encyclopedia) Leeds, University of, at Leeds, England; established 1884 by the amalgamation of Yorkshire College (1874) with the Leeds School of Medicine (1831). The school was known as Yorkshire College until 1904...

(Encyclopedia) Brocéliande, Forest of brōsālēäNdˈ [key], Ille-et-Vilaine dept., NW France, in Brittany. In Arthurian legend it was the home of Merlin. It is known today as the Forest of Paimpont. ...

(Encyclopedia) City of David, in the Bible, epithet of Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, and of Jerusalem, his capital. ...