important development within Buddhism in India and neighbouring countries, notably Tibet. Vajrayana, in the history of Buddhism, marks the transition from Mahayana speculative thought to the enactment of Buddhist ideas in individual life. The term vajra (Sanskrit: "diamond," or "thunderbolt") ...
in Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism), female embodiment of the cognitive function leading to Buddhahood. Vajrayana emphasizes experience over speculation but uses the terms of speculative philosophical Buddhism in an imaginative way. This practice means that images taken from the ordinary life ...
Indian ruling house originating in the central Deccan in the mid-3rd century AD, the empire of which is believed to have extended from Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra in the south and from the Arabian Sea ...
a mountainous region and panhandle in the Pamir Mountains of extreme northeastern Afghanistan. From the demarcation of the Afghan frontier (1895-96), the panhandle formed a political buffer between Russian Turkistan, British India, and China. It is now bounded by Tajikistan ...
supernatural power believed by the Baltic Finns to reside in those natural sites, objects, and animals that for various reasons attracted popular attention and inspired strong emotional attachments. Vaki was often conceived of as an impersonal power, akin to the ...
town, Abitibi-Temiscamingue region, western Quebec province, Canada. Val-d'Or lies near Lakes Blouin, de Montigny, and Lemoine. Although its name means "valley of gold," there is no valley in the vicinity. The town was founded by miners in 1934, and its ...
city of ancient India that was the capital of the Maitraka dynasty in the 5th-8th century AD. It was situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Cambay (Khambhat), northwest of the port of Bhavnagar, in Saurastra (later Gujarat), western ...
canton, southern Switzerland. It borders Italy to the south and France to the west and is bounded by the cantons of Vaud and Bern on the north and Uri and Ticino on the east. Its area includes the valley of ...
judet (county), south-central Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys, and the Olt and Cerna rivers drain southward through the county. Ramnicu Valcea (q.v.; the county capital), Babeni, and Berzoi are ...
upland region running north-south, about midway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. The hills are a northward extension of the Central Russian Upland. The ridge is overlain by deposited glacial materials in the form of terminal moraines and other detritus. ...
king of Sweden (1250-75) who governed jointly with his father Birger Jarl (q.v.) until the latter's death in 1266 and then reigned alone. Because of an extramarital affair with his wife's sister, a postulant nun, by whom he had a ...
king of Denmark (1157-82) who ended the Wend (Slav) threat to Danish shipping, won independence from the Holy Roman emperor, and gained church approval for hereditary rule by his dynasty, the Valdemars.
king of Denmark (1202-41) who, between 1200 and 1219, extended the Danish Baltic empire from Schleswig in the west to include lands as far east as Estonia. In his later years he worked to unify Denmark's legal and administrative systems.
king of Denmark (1340-75) who united his country under his own rule after a brief period of alien domination. His aggressive foreign policy led to conflict with Sweden, North German principalities, and the North German trading centres of the Hanseatic ...
city, Ciudad Real province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-La Mancha, south central Spain. The city lies on the left bank of the Rio Jabalon, southeast of the city of Ciudad Real. Situated in a fertile area of La ...
painter, president of the Sevilla (Seville) Academy, and the major figure in Sevillian painting for many years, known for his dramatic, inventive, and often violent paintings.
Spanish Humanist. He and his twin brother, Alfonso, were members of an influential intellectual family that played significant roles in the religious, political, and literary life of Spain and its empire.
city, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Situated on Prince William Sound, 305 miles (490 km) east of Anchorage, it is the northernmost all-year port in North America. Formerly known as Copper City, it was renamed in 1898 for its harbour (explored and ...
capital of Valdivia provincia, Los Lagos region, southern Chile. It lies at the confluence of the Callecalle and Cruces rivers, which there form the Valdivia River, 11 miles (18 km) from the Pacific Ocean. Although it was founded in 1552 ...
city, seat (1860) of Lowndes county, southern Georgia, U.S., about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Tallahassee, Florida. Troupville, the original town and county seat (1828, as Franklinville), was moved 4 miles (6 km) east in 1859 to the present ...
county, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an average elevation of about 200 feet (60 metres), that often ...
district, administrative county of Oxfordshire, historic county of Berkshire, England, lying southwest of Oxford. It encompasses the northern part of the historic county of Berkshire. Its principal feature is a rich clay valley that lies north of the chalk Berkshire ...
borough, administrative and historic county of Cheshire, England. It is named for a great Cistercian abbey built by Edward I near the present village of Whitegate. The borough is centred on the Cheshire salt field in the middle of the ...
town, capital of Drome departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeastern France. Valence lies on the left bank of the Rhone River. Built on a succession of terraces bordering the Rhone, the town is dominated by the ancient Cathedral of Saint-Apollinaire, which was ...
in chemistry, the property of an element that determines the number of other atoms with which an atom of the element can combine. Introduced in 1868, the term is used to express both the power of combination of an element ...
any of the fundamental negatively charged particles in the outermost region of atoms that enters into the formation of chemical bonds. Whatever the type of chemical bond (ionic, covalent, metallic) between atoms, changes in the atomic structure are restricted to ...
comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of eastern Spain. It encompasses the Spanish levantine provinces of Castellon, Valencia, and Alicante and was established by the statute of autonomy of July 1, 1982.
provincia, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Valencia, eastern Spain. It is situated along the Mediterranean Sea and has an area of 4,156 square miles (10,763 square km). The province centres on the coastal plain of the Gulf of ...
medieval kingdom of Spain, alternately Muslim and independent from 1010 to 1238 and thereafter held by the kings of Aragon. Though its territory varied, it generally comprised the modern provinces of Alicante, Castellon, and Valencia.
county, central New Mexico, U.S., in the Mexican Highland section of the Basin and Range Province. The Manzano Mountains lie at its eastern border, and mesas rise in the west. Between mountains and mesas are the southward-flowing Rio Puerco and ...
capital of Valencia province and the autonomous community (region) of Valencia, and of the former kingdom of Valencia, eastern Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the Rio Turia (Guadalaviar), it is surrounded by orchards in a ...
city, capital of Carabobo state, northwestern Venezuela, on the Rio Cabriales in the central highlands at 1,600 ft (490 m) above sea level, near the western shore of Lake Valencia. It was founded in 1555, eight years before the founding ...
lake in Carabobo and Aragua states, central Venezuela. Lying in a basin in the Cordillera de la Costa (Maritime Andes) of the central highlands at an elevation of 1,362 ft (415 m) above sea level, Lake Valencia measures approximately 18 ...
town, Nord departement, Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, northern France, on the Escaut (Scheldt) River. The origin of the name is obscure. Some believe that it stems from one of the three Roman emperors called Valentinian. Others attribute it to a corruption of ...
one of the most famous of bobbin laces, first made in the French city of Valenciennes, Nord departement, and later in Belgium (around Ypres and Ghent) and on the French-Belgian frontier at Bailleul. Lace produced in Valenciennes itself flourished from ...
Eastern Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was the younger brother of Valentinian I, who assumed the throne upon the death of the emperor Jovian (Feb. 17, 364). On March 28, 364, Valentinian appointed Valens to be co-emperor. Valens ...
American singer and songwriter and the first Latino rock and roller. His short career ended when he died at age 17 in the 1959 plane crash in which Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper also perished.
Spanish lyric poet and essayist who published translations and criticism in addition to more than 20 books of his own verse. The themes of his often philosophical poems are exile, death, and poverty in modern Spain. He is considered by ...
pope for about 40 days during August-September 827. He became archdeacon under Pope St. Paschal I. Beloved for his goodness and piety, he was elected pope in August but died a month later. Nothing is known of his pontificate.
day (February 14) when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day probably took its name from a priest who was martyred about AD 270 by the emperor Claudius II ...
name of two legendary martyrs whose lives seem to be historically based. One was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus and was buried on the Via Flaminia. ...
