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The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Phraates III
(lived 1st century BC) King of Parthia 70-57 BC, son and successor of Sinatruces. He made an alliance with the Roman military leader Pompey against Tigranes, King of Armenia. He was later deceived by Pompey and was...

Phraates IV
(lived 1st century BC) King of Parthia (modern northeastern Iran) 38-32 BC, son...

Phrygia
Former kingdom of western Asia covering the Anatolian plateau. It was inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-European people and achieved great prosperity in the 8th century BC under a line of...

Phryne
(lived 4th century BC) Greek courtesan, famed for her beauty. She is said to have been the model for the Aphrodite of Cnidos by the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. ...

Phrynichus
(lived late 6th-early 5th century BC) Athenian tragic poet, probably a disciple of Thespis, who produced his first play in 511 BC. He was the first to use female masks, that is, to...

Phryxes
In Greek mythology, son of Athamas, king of Thessaly, and brother of Helle. He and Helle fled from their stepmother Ino on a golden-fleeced ram, the gift of Hermes. On arriving in Colchis, Phryxes...

Phyfe, Duncan
(c. 1768-1854) Scottish-born US furnituremaker. Establishing his own workshop in New York City 1792, he gained a national reputation. Although derived from earlier English and Greco-Roman designs, the Phyfe...

phylacteries
In Judaism, another name for tefillin. ...

physical anthropology
Subdiscipline of anthropology that studies human biological or physical characteristics and how they evolved. ...

physiocrat
Member of a school of 18th-century French economists, including François Quesnay (1694-1774) and Mirabeau, who believed in the bounty of nature and the inherent goodness of man. They held that...

physiognomy
The features and expression of the face, and the art of judging character from it. As a theory, physiognomy is ancient but has no established scientific basis. In China, the art of reading character...

Pi&lsla;sudski, Józef (Klemens)
(1867-1935) Polish nationalist politician, dictator from 1926. Born in Russian Poland, he founded the Polish Socialist Party in 1892 and was twice imprisoned for anti-Russian activities. During World War I he...

Piacentini, Marcello
(1881-1960) Italian architect. He worked closely with the fascist regime, and was its most successful urban architect, carrying out numerous official commissions in a grandiose neoclassical style. Among them...

Piankhi
(died 716 BC) Ethiopian king of Napata. The expedition which led to his conquest of Egypt is described on a granite tablet, now in Cairo. ...

piano nobile
The main floor of a house (usually the first floor), containing the main reception room. ...

Piano, Renzo
(1937) Italian high-tech architect. With Richard Rogers, he designed the Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1970-77). Among his other buildings are Kansai Airport, Osaka, Japan (1988-94) and a sports...

Piave, Battles of the
Series of battles in World War I between Austrian and Italian troops. After the battle of Caporetto in October 1917 the Italian army retreated to a defensive line on the Piave, a river in northern...

Piazzetta, Giovanni Battista
(1683-1754) Italian painter. He was one of the most original Venetian artists of his day. His religious and genre scenes helped to prepare the way for the rococo style of Giovanni...

Picabia, Francis
(1879-1953) French painter and sculptor. By 1909 he was working in a cubist style, but by the outbreak of World War I had already become a leading member of the Dada movement, which he helped to take to the...

picaresque
Genre of novel that takes a rogue or villain for its central character, telling his or her story in episodic form. The genre originated in Spain and was popular in the 18th century in Britain....

Picasso, Pablo Ruiz y
(1881-1973) Spanish artist, chiefly active in France. Picasso was one of the most inventive and prolific talents in 20th-century art. His Blue Period 1901-04 and Rose Period 1904-06 preceded the...

Picenum
Ancient district of Italy, between the Appenines and the Adriatic. The chief town of Picenum was Asculum, where the Social War between Rome and its Italian allies started 91 BC. The emperor Augustus...

Pickens, Andrew
(1739-1817) US soldier. In the American Revolution, he helped defeat the Loyalist forces at Kettle Creek, Georgia, contributed to the decisive victory at Cowpens, South Carolina (1781), and commanded the forces...

picketing
Gathering of workers and their trade union representatives to try to persuade others to support them in an industrial dispute. They often carry signs attached to pickets, hence...

Pickett, George Edward
(1825-1875) US military leader. At the outbreak of the American Civil War 1861, he joined the Confederate army, rising to the rank of brigadier general 1862. Although he saw action in many battles, he is best...

Pickett, Joseph
(1848-1918) US painter. An untrained artist and owner of a general store in New Hope, Pennsylvania, he painted primitive landscapes using house paint and sand, as in his Manchester Valley (c. 1914-18). He was...

Pickup, Ronald (Alfred)
(1940) English actor. A distinguished member of the National Theatre Company 1965-73, he has since enjoyed leading roles in numerous television dramas, such as Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill (1974),...

Picquigny, Treaty of
Treaty between Edward IV of England and Louis XI of France, signed on 29 August 1475, in which Edward agreed to withdraw his troops in return for payment of a lump sum at the time and a regular...

Pict
Roman term for a member of the peoples of northern Scotland, possibly meaning `painted` (tattooed). Of pre-Celtic origin, and speaking a Celtic language which died out in about the 10th...

Picton, Thomas
(1758-1815) British soldier. He entered the army in 1771, became major in 1795, and took part in the capture of St Lucia in the following year. When Trinidad was taken from the Spanish in 1797 Picton was put in...

Picture of Dorian Gray, The
Novel (1891) by Oscar Wilde. An artist paints a portrait of Dorian Gray, a young man described as flawless in beauty and character. The picture has the uncanny quality of registering the signs of...

picturesque
In art, having those qualities that characterize a good picture, natural or artificial. In particular it refers to something pretty or attractive, especially in a quaint or charming way. ...

piece rate
Form of payment for work done where the amount received is calculated per item produced. For example, a worker may be paid 1p per skirt hemmed by machine. If a worker hems 2,000 skirts on Tuesday,...

piepowder courts
Medieval courts which regulated fairs, markets, or seaports. The name is most likely a reference to the dusty feet of travellers coming to these venues. ...

pier
Structure built out into the sea from the coastline for use as a landing place or promenade. The first British pier was built at Ryde, Isle of Wight, in 1814. Eugenius Birch (1818-1883) designed...

Pierce the Plowman's Crede
Medieval English alliterative poem written in about 1394, based on William Langland's poem Piers Plowman (c. 1367-86). It is notable for its attack upon the conduct of the clergy, and its...

Pierce, Franklin
(1804-1869) 14th president of the USA, 1853-57. He sat as a Democrat in the House of Representatives 1833-37 and the Senate 1837-42. Chosen as a compromise candidate of the Democratic Party, he was...

Pierce, William L
(1933-2002) US author and revolutionary. Viewed as an intellectual leader of the US far right, he authored The Turner Diaries (1978), which is regarded as the novel that influenced the Oklahoma City bomber,...

Piercy, Marge
(1937) US poet and novelist. Her fiction takes a passionate look at the fringes of US social life and the world of the liberated woman. Her novels include Small Changes (1972), the utopian Woman on the...

Pierlot, Hubert
(1883-1963) Belgian politician. A member of the Social Christian party, he was prime minister from 1939. After the capitulation of King Leopold in 1940, Pierlot became head of the Belgian government in exile in...

Piero della Francesca
(c. 1420-1492) Painter from Borgo San Sepulcro in Umbria. Active in Arezzo and Urbino, he was one of the major artists of the 15th century. His work has a solemn stillness and unusually solid figures, luminous...

Piero di Cosimo
(c. 1462-c. 1521) Florentine, idiosyncratic (if not mentally unstable) painter. As well as religious paintings, he produced inventive pictures of mythological subjects, often featuring fauns and centaurs, like the...

Pierre, D B C
(1961) Australian-born British writer. His debut novel Vernon God Little (2003), a satirical look at US culture in which a 15-year-old boy is accused of a massacre at his Texan high school, won the...

Pierrot
Male character in pantomime. Pierrot derives from Pedrolino of the Italian commedia dell'arte. In France he evolved into a pale-faced lover with a loose white suit and ruff, moping under a full...

Piers Plowman
Medieval English alliterative poem, written in about 1367-86 by William Langland. It tells of a wanderer who falls asleep in the Malvern Hills and dreams of the means to Christian salvation. Piers...

Pietilä, Reima Frans Ilmari
(1923-1993) Finnish architect. Influenced by Alvar Aalto, his buildings reflect the natural Finnish landscape of forests, lakes, and rocks in their free-flowing forms. The Embassy of Finland, New Delhi,...

Pietism
Religious movement within Lutheranism in the 17th century that emphasized spiritual and devotional faith rather than theology and dogma. It was founded by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), a...

pietra dura
Italian technique of inlaying furniture with semi-precious stones, such as agate or quartz, in a variety of colours, to create pictures or patterns. ...

Pietro da Cortona
(1596-1669) Italian painter and architect. He was a major influence in the development of the high baroque. His enormous fresco Allegory of Divine Providence (1633-39; Barberini Palace, Rome) glorifies his...

PIF
Abbreviation for Pacific Islands Forum. ...

Pigalle, Jean Baptiste
(1714-1785) French sculptor. In 1744 he carved the marble Mercury (Louvre, Paris), a lively, naturalistic work. His subjects range from the intimate to the formal, and includes portraits. Pigalle studied in...

Piggott, Stuart
(1910-1996) British archaeologist. He was an authority on antiquarianism and the history of archaeology. His publications include Prehistoric India 1950 (revised 1975), Ancient Europe 1965,...

pigment
In art and crafts, a colouring-matter used in paint or dye. In the past, pigments were powders made by grinding various minerals, plants, and even animal or insect parts. The most expensive...

Pigs, Bay of
Inlet on the south coast of Cuba about 145 km/90 mi southwest of Havana. It was the site of an unsuccessful invasion attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro by some 1,500 US-sponsored...

Pike, Albert
(1809-1891) US lawyer, journalist, and soldier. Leaving New England in 1831, he wrote for and later owned an Arkansas newspaper, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He took a break from the law to serve in the...

Pike, James Albert
(1913-1969) US Protestant church leader. In 1944 he joined the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. He was ordained in 1947. Pike was rector of Christ Church in Poughkeepsie, New York (1947-49), chairman...

Pike, Zebulon Montgomery
(1779-1813) US explorer and military leader. Pike discovered many new places in the west, including Pike's Peak, a mountain peak in Colorado that was later named after him. In 1806 he was sent to find the...

Pilate, Pontius
(died c.AD 36) Roman procurator of Judea AD 26-36. The New Testament Gospels describe his reluctant ordering of Jesus' crucifixion, but there has been considerable debate about his actual role in it. Pilate was...

Pilbeam, David R(oger)
(1940) English-born physical anthropologist. A paleoanthropologist and biometrician, he wrote extensively on human and nonhuman primate evolution, including primate dentition and mastication. Pilbeam was...

Pilcher, Rosamunde
(1924) English novelist and short-story writer, who won wide recognition with her best-selling romantic novel The Shell Seekers (1987). Her first novel writ ...

Pilgrim Fathers
Settlers who sailed from Plymouth, Devon, England, in the Mayflower on 16 September 1620 to found the first colony in New England, North America, at New Plymouth, Massachusetts. Of the 102...

pilgrim festivals
In Judaism, the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Succoth, which together commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the journey through the desert to Canaan, the Promised Land....

Pilgrim's Progress
Allegory by John Bunyan, published in 1678-84, that describes the journey through life to the Celestial City of a man called Christian. On his way through the Slough of Despond, the House...

pilgrimage
Journey to sacred places inspired by religious devotion. For Hindus, the holy places include Varanasi and the purifying River Ganges; for Buddhists, the places connected with the crises of Buddha's...

Pilgrimage of Grace
Rebellion against Henry VIII of England 1536-37, originating in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The uprising was directed against the policies of the monarch (such as the pilgrimage, medieval
In the Middle Ages, the great centres of Christian pilgrimage were Jerusalem, Rome, the tomb of St James of Compostela in Spain, and the shrine of St Thomas àBecket in Canterbury, England....

Pilgrims' Way
Track running from Winchester to Canterbury, England, which was the route taken by medieval pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas à Becket. It was some 195 km/120 mi long, and can still be traced...

pillory
Former instrument of punishment consisting of a wooden frame set on a post, with holes in which the prisoner's head and hands were secured, similar to the stocks. Bystanders threw whatever was...

Pillow Book, The
Vivid and influential Japanese memoirs and miscellany by Sei Shonagon (966/7-1013?), compiled 991-1000 while she was at court in the service of the empress Sadako. ...

Pillow, Gideon (Johnson)
(1806-1878) US soldier. A criminal lawyer, he was the law partner of James K Polk who, when president, appointed him to commands in the Mexican War, much to the annoyance of General Winfield Scott and other US...

Pillsbury, John Sargent
(1828-1901) US governor. Joining his nephew, Charles A Pillsbury, in founding Pillsbury Mill to grind wheat in 1872, he amassed a fortune. As Minnesota's governor (Republican, 1876-82), he streamlined...

Piltdown man
Fossil skull and jaw fragments `discovered` by Charles Dawson at Piltdown, East Sussex, England, between 1908 and 1912, and believed to be the earliest European human rema ...

Pima
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Gila and Salt river valleys in southern Arizona. They are related to the
pinching
In ceramics, a simple method used to make basic container shapes, or pinch pots, from a ball of clay. The clay is drawn out with the fingers by literally `pinching` the clay between the thumb...

Pinchot, Gifford
(1865-1946) US forester, conservationist, and public official. In 1896, as a member of the National Forest Commission, he helped prepare a conservation plan for government woodlands. Two years later he became...

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth
(1746-1825) American Federalist politician and soldier. In 1796 he was sent as US minister to France, but the French government refused to receive him, and he had to take refuge in Holland. Later President John...

Pinckney, Thomas
(1750-1828) US diplomat and soldier. He was governor of South Carolina (1787-89) and ambassador to Great Britain (1792-96). He negotiated the San Lorenzo, or Pinckney, Treaty with Spain, which established...

Pindar
(c. 518-c. 438 BC) Greek lyric poet. He is noted for his surviving choral songs, or odes, written in honour...

Pindar, Peter
Pseudonym of the English satirist John Wolcot. ...

Pindemonte, Ippolito
(1753-1828) Italian poet. His main works are the Poesie campestri 1788, filled with charming descriptions of British scenery;Arminio 1804, a tragedy;Epistole in versi 1805,...

Pindling, Lynden (Oscar)
(1930-2000) Bahamian politician, prime minister 1967-92. In the 1960s he became leader of the centrist Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), formed in 1953. Attracting support from the islands' demographically...

pindown
Punitive detention system used in some UK institutions for children and young people. Deprived of books, possessions, and most of their clothes, offenders are left in solitary confinement for up to...

Pinero, Arthur Wing
(1855-1934) English dramatist. A leading exponent of the `well-made` play, he enjoyed great contemporary success with his farces, beginning with The Magistrate (1885). More substantial social drama...

Pingree, Hazen (Stuart)
(1840-1901) US businessman, mayor, and governor. After serving in the Civil War, he went to Detroit where he became a successful shoe manufacturer. As reform Republican mayor of Detroit (1890-96), he made...

Pink Panther
Cartoon-film character created by David de Partie and Friz Freleng for the opening credits of Blake Edwards's film The Pink Panther (1964). It appeared again in Pink Phink (1964), for which its...

Pinkie, Battle of
Battle of 10 September 1547 near Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland, in which the Scots were defeated by the English under the Duke of Somerset. ...

Pinkney, William
(1764-1822) US lawyer, diplomat, representative, and senator. Forced to leave school because of his poverty, he read law on his own. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he gained a reputation as one of the most...

pinnacle
In Gothic architecture, a pyramidal or conical feature, often richly ornamented with crockets (small carved ornaments). It commonly crowns a buttress, and serves a structural purpose because its...

Pinocchio
Fantasy for children by Carlo Collodi, published in Italy in 1883 and in an English translation in 1892. It tells the story of a wooden puppet that comes to life and assumes the characteristics of a...

Pinochet (Ugarte), Augusto
(1915-2006) Chilean soldier and military dictator 1973-90. He came to power when a coup backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ousted and killed President Salvador Allende. He governed ruthlessly...

Pinter, Harold
(1930) English dramatist and poet. He specializes in the tragicomedy of the breakdown of communication, broadly in the tradition of the Theatre of the Absurd, for example The Birthday Party (1958; filmed...

Pinto, Fernao Mendez
(1509-1583) Portuguese adventurer, born at Montemor-o-Velho. In 1537 he set out eastwards and travelled for 21 years in southeast Asia; he fought and traded in China, Tartary, and the neighbouring...

Pinturicchio (or Pintoricchio)
(c. 1454-1513) Painter from Perugia. He produced fresco series for both the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican, painted in the 1490s, and in the Piccolomini Library of Siena Cathedral, 1503-08, illustrating the...

Pinwell, George John
(1842-1875) English watercolour painter and graphic artist. One of the most successful book illustrators of his day, he helped to bring about a revival of wood engraving. Among his best works are illustrations...

Pinzon, Martin Alonzo
(c. 1440-1493) Spanish navigator, companion of Christopher Columbus, on whose first expedition (1492) he commanded the Pinta, with his brother Francisco as pilot and his other brother Vicente in command of the...

Piozzi, Hester Lynch
(1741-1821) Welsh writer. She published Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. 1786 and their correspondence 1788. Johnson had been a constant visitor to her house in Streatham, London, when she was...

pipe rolls
Records of the Exchequer 1130-1832, which record the sheriff's annual accounts for each county. They form the longest series of public records in England. The term was also used by important...

Piper, John Egerton Christmas
(1903-1992) English painter, printmaker, and designer. A leading figure of the neo-Romantic movement (1935-55), which revived the spirit of 19th-century Romanticism...

Pippin, Horace
(1888-1946) US painter. A distinguished African-American folk artist, Pippin's work is characterized by simplified shapes and vivid blocks of colour. He depicted mainly African-American genre scenes from...

piracy
The taking of a ship, aircraft, or any of its contents, from lawful ownership, punishable under international law by the court of any country where the pirate may be found or taken. When the craft...