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

pyramid
Four-sided building with triangular sides. Pyramids were used in ancient Egypt to enclose a royal tomb, such as the Great Pyramid of Khufu/Cheops at El Gîza, near Cairo, which is 230 m/755 ft...

Pyramus and Thisbe
Legendary Babylonian lovers whose tragedy was retold by the Roman poet Ovid in `Metamorphoses`. Thwarted by their parents' opposition and forced to communicate through a chink in a wall, the...

Pyrrha
In Greek mythology, the wife of Deucalion, who was the equivalent of Noah in the Old Testament. ...

Pyrrhus
(319-272 BC) King of Epirus (an area of northwestern Greece and southern Albania) from 307 BC. In the early years of his reign he struggled to maintain his throne and retain independence from Macedonian control....

Pyrrhus
In Greek mythology, another name for Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. ...

Pytheas
(lived 4th century BC) Greek navigator from Marseille who explored the coast of Western Europe at least as far north as Denmark, sailed around Britain, and reached what he called Thule, the most northern place known...

Pythia
Priestess of the god Apollo at the oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece, and his medium. When consulted, her advice was interpreted by the priests of Apollo and shaped into enigmatic verses. ...

Pythian Games
Ancient Greek festival in honour of the sun god Apollo, celebrated near Delphi every four years. ...

Python
In Greek mythology, a female serpent killed by Apollo at Delphi. The legend probably refers to an earlier oracle at Delphi, superseded by that of Apollo. ...

pyx
In the Roman Catholic Church, the container used for the wafers of the sacrament. The Trial of the Pyx is the test of coinage by a goldsmith, at the hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, London, and is...

Qaboos bin Said
(1940) Sultan of Oman, the 14th descendant of the Albusaid family. Opposed to the conservative views of his father, he overthrew him in 1970 in a bloodless coup and assumed the sultanship. Since then he...

Qaddafi
Alternative form of Khaddhafi, Libyan leader. ...

Qadisiya, Battle of
Battle fought in southern Iraq in 637. A Muslim Arab force defeated a larger Zoroastrian Persian army and ended the Sassanian Empire. The defeat is still resented in Iran, where Muslim Arab...

qadr
In Islam, the concept of destiny or predestination; that God is in control of events. Although God alone knows what destiny has been chosen for each individual, people also have complete free will....

qasida
Verse form used by Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu poets, which differs from the ghazal mainly in subject matter and length. It may be a form of praise or satire, or express a philosophical,...

Qatar
Country in the Middle East, occupying Qatar peninsula in the Gulf, bounded southwest by Saudi Arabia and south by United Arab Emirates. Government A provisional constitution adopted 1970 confirmed...

QB
Abbreviation for Queen's Bench. ...

QC
Abbreviation for Queen's Counsel. ...

qiblah
Direction in which Muslims face to pray: the direction of Mecca. In every mosque this is marked by a niche (mihrab) in the wall. ...

Qin dynasty
China's first imperial dynasty 221-206 BC. It was established by Shi Huangdi, ruler of the Qin, the most powerful of the Zhou era warring states. The power of the feudal nobility was curbed and...

Qing
Last ruling dynasty in China from 1644; see Manchu. ...

Qiu Jin (or Ch'iu Chin)
(1875-1907) Chinese feminist and revolutionary. She left her family to study in Japan in 1904, where she became actively involved in radical Chinese student associations calling for the overthrow of the Manchu...

Qu'aiti
Member of a people of Yemen. In the middle of the 19th century the Qu'aitis fought with the Kathiris and formed a powerful sultanate. In 1881 they concluded a protectorate treaty with the British...

quadrivium
In medieval education, the four advanced liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music), which were studied after mastery of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic). ...

Quadros, Jânio da Silva
(1917-1992) Brazilian politician and president 1961. He was a political independent who gained a huge majority in the 1960 presidential elections. His implementation of economic reforms on taking office...

Quadruple Alliance
In European history, three military alliances of four nations: The Quadruple Alliance 1718 Austria, Britain, France, and the United Provinces (Netherlands) joined forces to prevent Spain from...

quaestor
Junior Roman magistrate whose primary role was to oversee the finances of individual provinces under the Republic. Quaestors originated as assistants to...

quaich
Scottish Highland drinking cup, made with a wide, shallow bowl and two or three handles projecting from the upper lip. It often has a circular foot. Medieval versions were in wood, engraved with a...

Quaker
Popular name, originally derogatory, for a member of the Society of Friends. ...

quality control
Steps taken to ensure that products are of a minimum acceptable standard for buyers of the product. In manufacturing, quality control should be achieved through inspection...

Quanah (or Parker Quanah)
(c. 1845-1911) Comanche leader. In 1867 was made war chief of the Comanche, and for the next eight years he led an alliance of various tribes in raids against frontier settlements in Texas. After finally...

quango
Any administrative body that is nominally independent but relies on government funding; for example, the British Council (1935), the Equal Opportunities Commission (1975) in the UK, and the...

quantification
In logic, specification of quantity or number. There are two main quantifiers: the universal quantifier (`For all x ...`) and the existential quantifier (`For at least one/some x ...`)....

quantity theory of money
Economic theory claiming that an increase in the amount of money in circulation causes a proportionate increase in prices. The theory dates from the 17th century and was elaborated by the US...

Quantrill, William Clarke
(1837-1865) US proslavery outlaw who became leader of an irregular unit on the Confederate side in the American Civil War. Frank and Jesse James were members of his gang (called Quantrill's Raiders). In 1863...

Quapaw
Member of an American Indian people who probably originated in the Ohio Valley, but had migrated to the Mississippi-Arkansas river confluence (northern Arkansas) by the mid-16th century. They...

Quarenghi, Giacomo Antonio
(1744-1817) Italian-born neoclassical architect and artist, active in Russia. He became one of the most important Russian architects of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, his many civic buildings helping...

Quarles, Francis
(1592-1644) English poet. His Emblemes 1635 is a collection of poems illustrating a series of symbolic engravings. Hieroglyphikes of the Life of Man 1638 was a similar work. Other works include Hadassa 1621,...

quarter day
In the financial year, any of the four dates on which such payments as ground rents become due: in England 25 March (Lady Day), 24 June (Midsummer Day), 29 September (Michaelmas), and 25 December...

quarter session
Former local criminal court in England, replaced in 1972 by crown courts (see also law courts). ...

Quartering Act
Legislation passed by the British Parliament in 1765 that required colonial authorities in America to provide food, housing, fuel, and transportation to British troops stationed in their areas. The...

quartermaster
In a military unit, usually a battalion, the officer in charge of its administration. In combat the quartermaster is responsible for supplying the unit with rations, fuel, and ammunition. ...

Quasimodo, Salvatore
(1901-1968) Italian poet. His early collections, such as Acque e terre/Waters and Land (1930), established his reputation as an exponent of `hermetic` poetry, spare, complex, and private. Later collections,...

Quatre Bras, Battle of
Battle fought on 16 June 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars, in which the British commander Wellington defeated French forces under Marshal Ney. It is named after a hamlet in Brabant, Belgium, 32 km/20...

quattrocento
Denoting the 1400s and used in relation to Italian culture of the 15th century. ...

Quayle, (James) Dan(forth)
(1947) US Republican politician, vice president 1989-93. A congressman for Indiana 1977-81, he became a senator in 1981. Born into a rich and powerful Indianapolis newspaper-owning family, Quayle was...

Quayle, (John) Anthony
(1913-1989) English actor and director. From 1948-56 he directed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, and appeared as Falstaff in Henry IV, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and played the title role in...

Quéant
French village in the département of Pas-de-Calais, about 14 km/9 mi from Bapaume. In World War I, it was the southern end of the German `Wotan` Line, often referred to in documents of the...

Québec Conference
Two conferences of Allied leaders in the city of Québec, Canada, during World War II. The first conference in 1943 approved British admiral Mountbatten as supreme Allied comm ...

Quechan
Alternative name of the American Indian Yuman people. ...

Quechua
The largest group of American Indians living in South America. The Quechua live in the Andean region. Their ancestors included the Inca, who established the Quechua language in the region, now the...

Queen Anne style
Decorative art style in England (1700-20), characterized by plain, simple lines, mainly in silver and furniture. ...

Queen Anne's Bounty
Fund established by Queen Anne in 1704 to support Church of England clergy whose annual income was less than £10. The Crown's income from first fruits and tenths was set aside to pay for the...

Queen Mary's Psalter
14th-century English illuminated manuscript (British Museum, London). It contains illustrations of biblical history from the Creation to the death of Solomon, the drawings being lightly treated...

Queen, Ellery
US writers of detective stories. They collaborated on numerous books featuring the fictitious detective Ellery Queen, including The Four of Hearts 1938, The Greek Coffin Mystery 1932, and The Player...

Queen's Counsel
In England, a barrister appointed to senior rank by the Lord Chancellor. When the monarch is a king the term is King's Counsel (KC). A QC wears a silk gown and takes precedence over a junior member...

Queen's Proctor
In England, the official representing the crown in matrimonial, probate, and admiralty cases. The Queen's Proctor's chief function is to intervene in divorce proceedings if it is discovered that...

Queiros, José Maria Eça de
(1845-1900) Portuguese novelist. His O Crime do Padre Amaro/The Sin of Father Amero 1876, a story of the sexual exploits of a priest, was condemned by the Catholic Church. O Primo Bazilio/Dragon's Teeth 1878, a...

Queneau, Raymond
(1903-1976) French surrealist poet and humorous novelist. His published works, which frequently make use of everyday slang, as well as mathematical and geometrical forms, include the novels Odile (1937);La...

Quennell, Peter (Courtney)
(1905-1993) English biographer and critic. He edited the journal History Today (1951-79), and wrote biographies of literary and social figures of England: the poet Lord Byron (1935-41), the art critic John...

Quercia, Jacopo della
(c. 1374-1438) Sienese sculptor. He was a contemporary of quern
Stone hand-mill for grinding corn, in use before the invention of the water mill and windmill. Grain introduced between two large flat stones is ground by movement of the upper stone. The...

Quesada, Elwood (Richard)
(1904-1993) US aviator. During World War II he commanded the Ninth Fighter Command in England (1943), and, as head of the Ninth Tactical Air Command, he directed thousands of sorties in preparation for the...

Quesnay, François
(1694-1774) French economic philosopher. He was the head of the Physiocratic School - the first systematic school of political economy. He held that land was the main source of wealth, and advocated...

Quesnel, Pasquier
(1634-1719) French Jansenist theologian. His edition of the works of Leo the Great, published in 1675, was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (the list of books forbidden to members of the Roman Catholic...

Quetzalcoatl
In pre-Columbian cultures of Central America, a feathered serpent god of air and water. In his human form, he was said to have been fair-skinned and bearded and to have reigned on Earth during a...

Queuille, Henri
(1884-1970) French statesman. He became a Radical-Socialist deputy in 1914. He held office several times from 1933 onwards, and in 1940 was minister of finance. After the collapse of France in World War II he...

Quia Emptores
English statute of July 1290 stipulating that purchasers of land owed feudal rights to services and payments to the lord who ultimately held the land, rather than to the subtenant from whom the land...

Quidde, Ludwig
(1858-1941) German politician and editor. Ludwig Quidde was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1927 with French politician Ferdinand Buisson for his `long and arduous service in the cause of peace`. His...

Quilla
Moon goddess of the Incas, represented by a disc of the moon with a human face. ...

Quiller-Couch, Arthur (Thomas)
(1863-1944) English scholar and writer, who wrote under the pseudonym Q. He edited several anthologies, including the original edition of The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900), and wrote a number of critical...

quilt
Padded bed cover or the method used to make padded covers or clothing. The padded effect is achieved by sewing a layer of down, cotton, wool, or other stuffing between two outer pieces of material;...

Quinault, Philippe
(1635-1688) French poet, librettist, and dramatist. He wrote libretti for many works by Jean-Baptiste Lully. ...

Quincy, Josiah
(1772-1864) US politician, a Federalist. He served in the US House of Representatives 1805-13, opposing the trade policies of the Thomas Jefferson administration and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. As an...

Quine, Willard (Van Orman)
(1908-2000) US philosopher and logician with a highly scientific view of the world. He is often described as a nominalist because he believes that universals do not have any real existence outside of thought...

Quinn, Edel
(1907-1944) Irish missionary. Intensely spiritual, Quinn had intended since early youth to join the enclosed order of the Poor Clares but was prevented by family finances and ill-health. In 1927 she joined...

Quinnipiac
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited south-central Connecticut. They speak an Algonquian dialect. The Quinnipiac were expert hunters, using a variety of weapons, traps, and other...

Quinquagesima
In the Christian church calendar, the Sunday before Lent and 50 days before Easter. ...

Quintero, José
(1924-1999) US theatrical director born in Panama. He compiled a long and distinguished list of credits, including many 20th-century US dramatic works, particularly those of Eugene O'Neill. He also directed...

Quintilian
(c.AD 35-c. 100) Roman rhetorician. Born at Calagurris, Spain, he was educated in Rome, but left early in Nero's reign. He returned to Rome in AD 68, where he quickly achieved fame and wealth as a teacher of...

Quintus, Smyrnaeus
(lived 3rd-4th century) Greek poet, a native of Smyrna. He was known also as Quintus Calaber because his epic, Paralipomena Homeri or Posthomerica (continuing the Trojan War from Hector's death to the return of the...

quipu
Device used by the Incas of ancient Peru to record numerical information, consisting of a set of knotted cords of one or several colours hanging from a top-band or crossbar. It was used to take...

Quirinal
One of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. Its summit is occupied by a palace built in 1574 as a summer residence for the pope and occupied 1870-1946 by the kings of Italy. The name...

Quirino, Elpidio
(1890-1956) Filipino politician, president 1948-53. After the liberation of the Philippines after World War II, Quirino was elected vice president of the independent Philippines in 1946. He became president...

Quiroga, Horacio
(1878-1937) Uruguayan writer of short stories. For his well-crafted fiction, Quiroga drew on his own attempts to live as a pioneer in the jungle province of Misiones, north Argentina, where he alternately...

Quit India Movement
Campaign against British rule in India, begun in August 1942 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In March 1942 Sir Stafford Cripps had tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Congress Party of the...

Quixote, Don
Novel by the Spanish writer Cervantes; see Don Quixote de la Mancha. ...

Qumran
Archaeological site in Jordan, excavated from 1951, in the foothills northwest of the Dead Sea. Originally an Iron Age fort (6th century BC), it was occupied in the late 2nd century BC by a monastic...

quo warranto
In England, writ issued by the Court of the King's Bench from mid-13th century demanding proof of liberty holders rights to enjoy such privileges. The measure was first used by Edward I to...

quota
In international trade, a limitation on the amount of a commodity that may be exported, imported, or produced. Restrictions may be imposed forcibly or voluntarily. The justification of quotas...

Quran
Alternative transliteration of Koran, the sacred book of Islam. ...

Qutb Minar
Tower of victory named after Sultan Qutb ud Din Aibak, 17 km/10 mi south of Delhi, India. It was built in about AD 1200 after the Muslim conquest of northwest India. It is 72 m/236 ft high and the...

Ra
In Egyptian mythology, the sun god, worshipped at Heliopolis, northeast of Cairo. He was believed to travel across the sky daily in a boat, returning nightly through the underworld to the east in...

RA
Abbreviation for Royal Academy of Art, London, founded 1768. ...

Raabe, Wilhelm
(1831-1910) German novelist. His pessimism is revealed in Abu Telfan 1868 and Der Schudderump 1870. His later works, among which were humorous novels and historical tales, include Horacker 1876, generally...

Rabassa, Gregory
(1922) US translator. His National Book Award for his first translation, Julio Cortázar's Hopscotch 1966, was the first of many honours for dozens of translations bringing contemporary Latin American...

Rabbani, Burhanuddin
(1940) Afghan academic and politician, president 1992-96. In 1991, Rabbani co-founded the National Liberation Front (NLF), which achieved victory over the Najibullah government in 1992. After the...

rabbi
In Judaism, the chief religious leader of a synagogue or the spiritual leader (not a hereditary high priest) of a Jewish congregation; also, a scholar of Judaic law and ritual from...

Rabelais, François
(c. 1495-1553) French satirist, monk, and physician. His name has become synonymous with bawdy humour. He was educated in the humanist tradition and was the author of satirical allegories, including a cycle known...

Rabin, Yitzhak
(1922-1995) Israeli Labour politician, prime minister 1974-77 and 1992-95. As a former soldier, he was a national hero in the Arab-Israeli Wars. His policy of favouring Palestinian self-government in...