Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) mortmain môrtˈmānˌ [key] [Fr.,=dead hand], ownership of land by a perpetual corporation. The term originally denoted tenure (see tenure, in law) by a religious corporation, but today it includes o...

(Encyclopedia) Ohio Company of Associates, organization for the purchase and settlement of lands on the Ohio River, founded at Boston in 1786. Its organizers were a group of New England men, most of them former Amer...

(Encyclopedia) Finley, Robert fĭnˈlē [key], 1772–1817, American clergyman, a founder of the American Colonization Society, b. Princeton, N.J. In 1787 he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton),...

(Encyclopedia) Sabatier, Auguste ôgo͞ostˈ säbätyāˈ [key], 1839–1901, French Protestant theologian. He was professor (1867–72) of reformed dogmatics at Strasbourg, and from 1877 until his death he was a me...

(Encyclopedia) Teotihuacán tāōtēwäkänˈ [key], ancient commercial and religious center in the central valley of Mexico, c.30 mi (48 km) NE of Mexico City. Once thought to be the great religious center of the T...

(Encyclopedia) Martinson, Harry, 1904–78, Swedish writer. Orphaned early, Martinson was self-educated. His works reveal his appreciation of nature and his distrust of modern technological society. He is best known...

(Encyclopedia) Jesuit: see Jesus, Society of.

(Encyclopedia) Protestantism, form of Christian faith and practice that originated with the principles of the Reformation. The term is derived from the Protestatio delivered by a minority of delegates against the (1...

(Encyclopedia) Levites lēˈvīts [key], a religious caste among the ancient Hebrews, descended from Jacob's son Levi and figuring prominently in the Bible. There were three divisions of Levites—Kohathites, Merari...

(Encyclopedia) Colonna, Vittoria, marchesa di Pescara vētôˈrēä kōlônˈnä märkāˈzä dē pāskäˈrä [key], 1492–1547, Italian poet; daughter of Fabrizio Colonna (see under Colonna). Her love for her hus...