Columbia Encyclopedia

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coronation

(Encyclopedia)coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

cryptography

(Encyclopedia)cryptography krĭptŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=hidden writing], science of secret writing. There are many devices by which a message can be concealed from the casual reader, e.g., invisible writing, but t...

Aachen

(Encyclopedia)Aachen bät äˈkhən [key], city, North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, near the Belgian and Dutch borders. One of the great historic cities of Europe, it is now chiefly i...

paleography

(Encyclopedia)paleography pālēŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=early writing], term generally meaning all study and interpretation of old ways of recording language. In a narrower sense, it excludes epigraphy (the study o...

chapel

(Encyclopedia)chapel, subsidiary place of worship. It is either an alcove or chamber within a church, a separate building, or a room set apart for the purpose of worship in a secular building. A movable shrine cont...

societies, learned and literary

(Encyclopedia)societies, learned and literary, associations of individuals with a common professional interest, intended to promote learning. Many societies publish the proceedings of their meetings as well as jour...

Clovis I

(Encyclopedia)Clovis I klōˈvĭs [key], c.466–511, Frankish king (481–511), son of Childeric I and founder of the Merovingian monarchy. Originally little more than a tribal chieftain, he became sole leader of ...

Saint Peter's Church

(Encyclopedia)Saint Peter's Church, Vatican City, principal and one of the largest churches of the Christian world. The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican c...

Regensburg

(Encyclopedia)Regensburg rāˈgənsbo͝orkh [key], city (1994 pop. 125,337), Bavaria, SE Germany, a port at the confluence of the Danube (Donau) and Regen rivers. In English it is known as Ratisbon. The city is a c...

Franks

(Encyclopedia)Franks, group of Germanic tribes. By the 3d cent. a.d., they were settled along the lower and middle Rhine. The two major divisions were the Salian Franks in the north and the Ripuarian Franks in the ...
 

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