Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Leo IV, Saint, d. 855, pope (847–55), a Roman; successor of Sergius II. He had seen the Saracen attack on Rome (846), and to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its suburbs. He built a ...

(Encyclopedia) Ignatius of Constantinople, Saint, c.800–877, Greek churchman, patriarch of Constantinople. A son of Byzantine Emperor Michael I, he was castrated and shut up in a monastery (813) by the man who dep...

(Encyclopedia) Francis de Sales, Saint, 1567–1622, French Roman Catholic preacher, Doctor of the Church, and key figure in the Counter Reformation in France. He was a member of an aristocratic family of Savoy and ...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory II, Saint, d. 731, pope (715–31), a Roman; successor of Constantine. When Byzantine Emperor Leo III tried to impose iconoclasm in Italy by an imperial edict, Gregory answered that the empero...

(Encyclopedia) Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, Laurent, marquis de lōräNˈ märkēˈ də go͞ovyôNˈ-săN-sēr [key], 1764–1830, marshal of France. He served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was made mars...

(Encyclopedia) Cyril, Saint (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem) sĭrˈəl [key], c. 315–386, bishop of Jerusalem (c. 350–386), Doctor of the Church. Ordained by his predecessor as bishop, St. Maximus, he was deposed in 3...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory I, Saint (Saint Gregory the Great), c.540–604, pope (590–604), a Roman; successor of Pelagius II. A Doctor of the Church, he was distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership. Hi...

(Encyclopedia) Anthony of Padua, Saint, 1195–1231, Portuguese Franciscan, Doctor of the Church, b. Lisbon. He was renowned for his eloquence. According to tradition, in a vision he received the child Jesus in his ...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory of Tours, Saint, 538–94, French historian, bishop of Tours (from 573), b. Clermont-Ferrand, of a prominent family. He had a distinguished and successful career as bishop. Gregory wrote accou...

(Encyclopedia) John Baptist de la Salle, Saint băptēstˈ də lä sälˈ [key], 1651–1719, French educator, founder of the Christian Brothers, b. Reims. He became a priest and canon of the cathedral. He spent his...