pope from 1159 to 1181, a vigorous exponent of papal authority, which he defended against challenges by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England.
large island in the Bellingshausen Sea, separated from the Antarctica mainland by the George VI Sound. An extremely rugged region with peaks up to 9,800 feet (2,987 m) above sea level, it is 270 miles (435 km) long and up ...
prince of Novgorod (1236-52) and of Kiev (1246-52) and grand prince of Vladimir (1252-63), who halted the eastward drive of the Germans and Swedes but collaborated with the Mongols in imposing their rule on Russia. By defeating a Swedish invasion ...
theologian and philosopher whose doctrines influenced the teachings of such thinkers as St. Bonaventure and John of La Rochelle. The Summa theologica, for centuries ascribed to him, is largely the work of followers.
despot of Pherae in Thessaly, Greece, from 369 to 358, whose tyranny caused the intervention of a number of city-states in Thessalian affairs. The other Thessalian cities, refusing to recognize Alexander as tagos, or head magistrate, appealed to the Thebans, ...
(c. 525-c. 605), Byzantine physician who practiced and taught in Rome, best known for his treatise on pathology and therapy (in 12 books), which served as a basis for instruction long after his death. It was translated into Arabic and ...
any of a body of legends about the career of Alexander the Great, told and retold with varying emphasis and purpose by succeeding ages and civilizations.
king of Macedonia (336-323 BC). He overthrew the Persian Empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. Already in his lifetime the subject of fabulous stories, he later became the hero ...
celebrated impostor and worker of false oracles. The only account of his career occurs in an expose by Lucian, whose investigations of Alexander's frauds led to a serious attempt on the writer's life.
corrupt, worldly, and ambitious pope, whose neglect of the spiritual inheritance of the church contributed to the development of the Protestant Reformation.
physician and psychoanalyst sometimes referred to as the father of psychosomatic medicine because of his leading role in identifying emotional tension as a significant cause of physical illness.
professional baseball player, one of the finest right-handed pitchers in the history of the game, frequently considered the greatest master of control. From 1911 to 1930 he won 373 or 374 major league games (authorities differ) and lost 208. In ...
prominent British field marshal in World War II noted for his North African campaigns against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and for his later commands in Italy and western Europe.
American pediatrician and microbiologist whose groundbreaking work on influenzal meningitis significantly reduced infant death rates and advanced the field of microbiological genetics.
electrical engineer and television pioneer who developed a high-frequency alternator (a device that converts direct current into alternating current) capable of producing continuous radio waves and thereby revolutionized radio communication.
town, Central Otago local government region, south-central South Island, New Zealand. It lies at the junction of the Clutha and Manuherikia rivers and is surrounded by three mountain ranges. Originally known as Lower Dunstan and Manuherikia, the settlement was named ...
consort of the Russian emperor Nicholas II. Her misrule while the emperor was commanding the Russian forces during World War I precipitated the collapse of the imperial government in March 1917.
city, seat of Douglas county, west-central Minnesota, U.S. It is situated about 70 miles (115 km) northwest of St. Cloud in a lake-resort and dairy-farm region. Settled in 1858 on land that was once part of Ojibwa and Sioux camping ...
city, seat of Rapides parish, central Louisiana, U.S. The city lies along the Red River, opposite Pineville, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Baton Rouge. It was laid out (1805) at the rapids that then marked the head of ...
city and urban muhafazah (governorate), Lower Egypt. Once the greatest city of the ancient world and a centre of Hellenic scholarship and science, Alexandria was the capital of Egypt from its founding by Alexander the Great in 332 BC to ...
city, adjoining Arlington and Fairfax counties, northern Virginia, U.S. It lies on the Potomac River (there bridged at the Maryland state line), 6 miles (10 km) south of the District of Columbia. A fort was built on the site in ...
town, capital of Teleorman judet (county), southern Romania. It lies along the southward-flowing Vedea River in the Danube floodplain. Alexandria is a regional marketing centre for agricultural produce, mostly grain. The town also has flour mills and other food-processing plants. ...
the most famous library of classical antiquity. It formed part of the research institute at Alexandria in Egypt that is known as the Museum, or the Alexandrian Museum.
the first Christian institution of higher learning, founded in the mid-2nd century AD in Alexandria, Egypt. Under its earliest known leaders (Pantaenus, Clement, and Origen), it became a leading centre of the allegorical method of biblical interpretation, espoused a rapprochement ...
(AD 362), a meeting of Christian bishops held in Alexandria, Egypt, summoned by the bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius. It allowed clergy that were readmitted to communion after making common cause with Arians to return to their former ecclesiastical status, provided ...
ancient centre of classical learning at Alexandria in Egypt. A research institute that was especially noted for its scientific and literary scholarship, the Alexandrian Museum was built near the royal palace about 280 BC by Ptolemy I Soter (reigned 323-285/283 ...
the system of liturgical practices and discipline found among Egyptians and Ethiopians of both the Eastern-rite Catholic and independent Christian churches.
estuarine lagoon, southeastern South Australia, 45 miles (70 km) southeast of Adelaide. Together with contiguous Lake Albert and the long, narrow lagoon called The Coorong, it forms the mouth of the Murray River. About 23 miles (37 km) long and ...
verse form that is the leading measure in French poetry. It consists of a line of 12 syllables with major stresses on the 6th syllable (which precedes the medial caesura [pause]) and on the last syllable, and one secondary accent ...
any of the Italian philosophers of the Renaissance who, in the controversy about personal immortality, followed the explanation of Aristotle's De anima (On the Soul) given by Alexander of Aphrodisias, who held that it denied individual immortality.
seaport, capital of the nomos (department) of Evros, western Thrace (Thraki), Greece. It is situated northwest of the Evros (Maritsa) River estuary on the Gulf of Ainos (Enez), an inlet of the Thracian Sea. Founded by the Turks as Dedeagac ...
Russian-born French filmmaker who invented the pinscreen method of animation with his collaborator (later his wife), the animator Claire Parker (1910-81).
only son of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, and the tsarina Alexandra. He was the first male heir born to a reigning tsar since the 17th century.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1945-70) whose allegiance to the Soviet government helped him strengthen the structure of the church within an officially atheistic country.
