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Prester John

(Encyclopedia) Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for…

Phaedrus

(Encyclopedia) PhaedrusPhaedrusfēˈdrəs [key], fl. 1st cent. a.d., Latin writer, a Thracian slave, possibly a freedman of Augustus. He wrote fables in verse based largely on those of Aesop. The prose…

menhir

(Encyclopedia) menhirmenhirmĕnˈhērˌ [key] [Breton,=long stone], in archaeology, name given to the single standing stones of Western Europe, and by extension to those of other lands. Their size varies…

catholic church

(Encyclopedia) catholic church [Gr.,=universal], the body of Christians, living and dead, considered as an organization. The word catholic was first used c.110 to describe the Church by St. Ignatius…

Lateran Council, First

(Encyclopedia) Lateran Council, First, 1123, 9th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, summoned by Pope Calixtus II to signal the end of the investiture controversy by confirming the…

cittern

(Encyclopedia) citterncitternsĭtˈərn [key], stringed musical instrument of the guitar family having an oval body, a flat back, and a fretted neck. Its strings, made of wire and varying in number,…

colophon

(Encyclopedia) colophoncolophonkŏlˈəfŏnˌ [key] [Gr.,=finishing stroke]. Before the use of printing in Western Europe a manuscript often ended with a statement about the author, the scribe, or the…

Wandering Jew, in legend

(Encyclopedia) Wandering Jew, in literary and popular legend, a Jew who mocked or mistreated Jesus while he was on his way to the cross and who was condemned therefore to a life of wandering on earth…

Mollet, Guy

(Encyclopedia) Mollet, GuyMollet, Guygē môlĕˈ [key], 1905–75, French politician. A former schoolteacher and a wartime resistance fighter, he rose to prominence in the Socialist party after World War…

Jones, Sir William

(Encyclopedia) Jones, Sir William, 1746–94, English philologist and jurist. Jones was celebrated for his understanding of jurisprudence and of Oriental languages. He published an Essay on the Law of…