Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) archangel ärkˈānjəl [key], chief angel. They are four to seven in number. Sometimes specific functions are ascribed to them. The four best known in Christian tradition are Michael, Gabriel, Raphae...

(Encyclopedia) Osiris ōsīˈrĭs [key], in Egyptian religion, legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld. He was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. The great benefactor of man...

(Encyclopedia) Undset, Sigrid sĭˈgrĭd o͝onˈsĕt [key], 1882–1949, Norwegian novelist. Poverty forced Undset to do secretarial work for a time (1898–1908). Her early novels of contemporary life, among them J...

(Encyclopedia) Székely sāˈkəlē [key], ethnic group of Transylvania and of present-day Romania. Except in a few isolated communities, where the ancient customs of the Székely have survived, there is little diff...

(Encyclopedia) Apollo Belvedere: see Apollo, in Greek religion. ...

(Encyclopedia) Francis, 1554–84, French prince, duke of Alençon and Anjou; youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Although ill-shapen, pockmarked, and endowed with a curiously formed no...

(Encyclopedia) Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst frēˈdrĭkh däˈnyĕl ĕrnst shlīˈərmäkhˌər [key], 1768–1834, German Protestant theologian, b. Breslau. He broke away from the Moravian Church and stud...

(Encyclopedia) Buber, Martin bo͞oˈbĕr [key], 1878–1965, Jewish philosopher, b. Vienna. Educated at German ...

(Encyclopedia) League or Holy League, in French history, organization of Roman Catholics, aimed at the suppression of Protestantism and Protestant political influence in France. It was foreshadowed as early as 1561 ...

(Encyclopedia) Zoroastrianism zôˌrōăsˈtrēənĭzəm [key], religion founded by Zoroaster, but with many later accretions. The religion's priests, successors to the pre-Zoroastrian Magi, acquired great power b...