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

Vincent Ferrer, St
(c.1350-1419) Spanish Dominican friar, who acted as adviser to the king of Aragon and the Avignon pope. His efforts at conciliation are largely credited with having brought the Great Schism to an end. His feast...

Vincent of Beauvais
(c. 1190-1264) French scholar, encyclopedist, and Dominican priest. A chaplain to the court of Louis IX, he is remembered for his Speculum majus/Great Mirror 1220-44, a reference work summarizing contemporary...

Vincent, Fay
(1938) US corporate lawyer and baseball commissioner. He became president and chief executive officer of Columbia Pictures Industries 1978-83 and head of Coca-Cola's entertainment division 1983-88....

Vincent, John Carter
(1900-1972) US diplomat. He headed the office of Far Eastern Affairs in in 1945 and was ambassador to Switzerland in 1947. In 1952-53 he was named as the `number two` State Department employee on Senator...

Vincent, Sténio (Joseph)
(1874-1959) Haitian politician, president 1930-41. During the US occupation of 1915-34, he was elected president by the national assembly, after Joseph Bornó stepped down. A shrewd, pragmatic political...

Vinegar Hill, Battle of
Battle fought in June 1798 near Enniscorthy in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland. British troops commanded by General Gerard Lake defeated the main body of the Wexford insurgents, led by Father...

Viner, Jacob
(1892-1970) Canadian-born US economist. A leading interwar price and trade theorist, he was also a historian of economic thought. He taught at the University of Chicago 1916-46 and Princeton University...

Vinland
Norse name for the area of North America, probably the coast of Nova Scotia or New England, which the Norse adventurer and explorer Leif Ericsson visited about 1000. It was named after the wild...

Vinogradoff, Paul Gavrilovich
(1854-1925) Russian-born British jurist. He became professor of history at Moscow University, but resigned because of conflict with the authorities in 1902, and was, from 1903, professor of jurisprudence at...

Vinson, Carl
(1883-1981) US Democrat representative. He served in the US House of Representatives 1914-65. As chair of the Committee on Naval Affairs 1933-47, he prepared the navy for World War II; he subsequently...

Vinson, Frederick Moore
(1890-1953) US jurist. He held office in the US House of Representatives 1924-28 and 1930-38 and was appointed chief justice of the US Supreme Court 1946-53 by President Truman. He defended federal...

Viola, Roberto Eduardo
(1924) Argentine military leader and de facto president March 1981-December 1981. Foreign debts, hyperinflation, and economic collapse as a result of heavy national spending were to render his governance...

Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène Emmanuel
(1814-1879) French architect. A leader of the ...

Vionville Mars-la-Tour, Battle of
During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian victory over the French 18 August 1870, in the area of the French villages of Vionville and Mars-la-Tour about 24 km/15 mi west of Metz. The battle is...

vipassana
In Buddhism, any method of meditation designed to give insight into the true nature of life, the reality beyond a person's `clinging` to normal everyday existence. One practice involves...

Virgil
(70-19 BC) Roman poet. He wrote the Eclogues (37 BC), a series of pastoral poems; the Georgics (30 BC), four books on the art of farming; and his epic masterpiece, the Aeneid (30-19 BC). He was patronized by...

Virgin Birth
Orthodox Christian belief in the virginal (or immaculate) conception of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Virgin Mary. Roman Catholic dogma also asserts the perpetual...

Virgin Mary
In Christianity, the title of Mary, the mother of Jesus. ...

Viriathus
Lusitanian (modern Portugal) shepherd and rebel against the Romans from 147-139 BC, defeating a series of Roman governors and armies. He was murdered in his bed. ...

Virton
Belgian town in the southwest of the country, close to the French border about 65 km/40 mi northwest of Metz; site of a French defeat by the Germans August 1914. The French thought the Germans only...

virtue
Originally, ability or efficiency, often involving moral worth. In classical Greek it is used especially to refer to manly qualities. Christian teaching distinguishes the cardinal virtues of...

Visby
Historic town and bishopric on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic that became the centre of the German Visconti
Dukes and rulers of Milan 1277-1447. They originated as north Italian feudal lords who attained dominance over the city as a result of alliance with the Holy Roman Emperors. Despite papal...

viscount
In the UK peerage, the fourth degree of nobility, between earl and baron. The title was first granted in England in 1440 to John, Lord Beaumont. Originally the title was given to the deputy sheriff,...

Visegrad Group
Association of the four neighbouring central European states of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic. Originally the `Visegrad Three`, the group was formed in 1991 when...

Vishap, the
In Armenian mythology, a dragon. The Armenians were particularly afraid of dragons and believed that a number of them lived on the volcanic Mount Massis (Ararat). ...

Vishnu
In Hinduism, the second in the triad of gods (with Brahma and Shiva) representing three aspects of Brahman, the supreme spirit. Vishnu is the Preserver, and is believed to have assumed human...

Visigoth
Member of the western branch of the Goths, an East Germanic people. ...

visitation
In the Christian church, a formal visit by a bishop or church official to examine the churches or abbeys within his jurisdiction. In medieval visitations, records were kept of the detecta, matters...

visitor
Officer or superior whose duty it is to visit an English corporation, civil or ecclesiastical, in order to see that its rules and regulations are being observed, and that there...

Vitellius, Aulus
(15-69) Roman emperor whose brief reign (April-December AD 69) marked the end of a year of civil war that saw no fewer than four emperors on the throne. Vitellius was the third of these; after his demise,...

Viti, Timoteo
(1467-1523) Italian painter. He settled in Urbino, where he was Raphael Sanzio's first master. Paintings by him include St Mary Magdalene (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna) and Annunciation (Brera, Milan). He...

Vitoria, Battle of
In the Peninsular War,...

vitrified fort
Prehistoric structure fired by intention or accident. Vitrification is caused by the stone and earth of ramparts, including any timber framework, fusing together through burning. Around 50 vitrified...

Vitruvius
(lived 1st century BC) Roman architect. His ten-volume study of Roman architecture, De architectura, first printed in Rome in 1486, provided an important impetus for the Renaissance. Although often obscure, his writings...

Vittorini, Elio
(1908-1966) Italian novelist, critic, and translator. He founded the review Il Politecnico 1945 and had considerable influence on the post-war Italian literary scene. His novels include Il garofano rosso/The...

Vittorio Veneto, Battle of
Official Italian name for the third battle of the Piave, the Italian victory over Austrian October-November 1918 which heralded Austria's final defeat. ...

Vitus, St
(lived early 4th century) Christian saint, perhaps Sicilian, who was martyred in Rome early in the 4th century. Feast day 15 June. ...

Vivarini
Family of Venetian painters. They were Antonio (1420-1476), his younger brother Bartolommeo (active 1450-1499), and Alvise (1447-1504), the son of Antonio. Antonio Vivarini collaborated with...

Vives, Juan Luis
(1492-1540) Spanish humanist writer and teacher. Educated in his hometown Valencia and in Paris, he settled in 1512 in Bruges, Flanders. He published in 1522 a commentary on St Augustine's De civitate Dei/City...

Vix
Iron Age burial site 5 km/3 mi northwest of Châtillon-sur-Seine, France. Rich grave goods discovered at the site include a large Greek bronze wine container and several other Greek and Etruscan...

Viz
Adult comic, founded by Chris Donald (1960) in 1979. It satirizes British press, politics, media, and stereotypes. Often described as Britain's rudest comic, it includes such controversial...

Vize, Vladimir Yul'evich
(1888-1954) Soviet scientist and explorer, a leading figure in Soviet Arctic studies. He participated in 14 Arctic expeditions between 1910 and 1937, and was closely connected with the organization of the...

Vizenor, Gerald
(1934) US Chippewa writer. His poetry and fiction reflect his childhood experiences of desertion and death. His books include Darkness in Saint Louis Bearheart (1978), Dead Voices (1992), and the...

Vizetelly, Frank Horace
(1864-1938) English lexicographer and editor. He moved to the USA in 1891, where he became the managing editor of the New Standard Dictionary in 1913. He wrote a weekly column...

VJ Day
Anniversary of the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, 15 August 1945....

Vladimir I
(956-1015) Russian saint, prince of Novgorod, and grand duke of Kiev. Converted to Christianity 988, he married Anna, Christian sister of the Byzantine emperor Basil II, and established the Byzantine rite of...

Vlah
Member of a South Slavonic people in the Balkans, mainly in Macedonia. Some 200,000 (1995 est) live in Greece, though not recognized as an ethnic minority. There were Vlah principalities in the...

Vlasov, Andrey Andreyevich
(1900-1946) Soviet general in World War II. He was captured by the Germans May 1942 and, feeling he had been badly treated by Stalin, began making anti-Soviet broadcasts for the Germans. In November 1944 he...

Vlastos, Gregory
(1907-1991) Turkish-born US classicist. His publications in the field of Greek philosophy include Platonic Studies (1973) and Plato's Universe (1975). He taught at the universities of Cornell 1948-55 and...

Vogel, Ezra F
(1930) US scholar and business analyst. He wrote on East Asian industry and repeatedly analysed Japanese business practices and policy to argue for a US industrial policy in such works as Japan as Number...

Vogel, Hans-Jochen
(1926) German socialist politician, chair of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1987-91. A former leader of the SPD in Bavaria and mayor of Munich, he served in the Brandt and Schmidt West German...

Vohor, Serge
(1955) Vanuatuan politician, prime minister 1996-98. He was elected to parliament in 1983, representing the Francophone Union of Moderate Parties (UMP). Vohor became UMP deputy leader in 1987, while his...

voiceprint
Graph produced by a sound spectograph showing frequency and intensity changes in the human voice when visually recorded. It enables individual speech characteristics to be determined. First used as...

Voiculescu, Vasile
(1884-1963) Romanian poet and novelist. His Poezii/Poems 1916 reflect the influence of George Cosbuc. Later volumes -Poeme cu ingeri/Poems with Angels 1927, Destin/Destiny 1933, and Urcus/Ascent 1937 -...

Voiture, Vincent
(1598-1648) French writer. A wit, conversationalist, and critic, he was a prominent figure in Madame de Rambouillet's salon. His literary works, published posthumously, consist of poems and letters, many of...

Volcker, Paul Adolph
(1927) US economist. As chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System 1979-87, he controlled the amount of money in circulation in the USA. He was succeeded by Alan Greenspan. ...

Volga Bulgarian
Member of a people who lived on the middle Volga and Kama rivers, eastern Europe, in the Middle Ages. They spoke a language related to Turkish. They came in...

volition
In philosophical psychology and the philosophy of mind, the act of willing. Philosophers who hold that mind and body are different substances (dualists) tend to hold that volitions cause actions,...

Volkssturm
German civilian home defence organization, established September 1944 to supplement the regular armed forces toward the end of World War II. All civilian males between 16 and 60 capable of bearing...

Vollmer, August
(1876-1955) US criminologist and law enforcement pioneer. He was chief of police in Berkeley, California, 1905-32, and reorganized the police department of San Diego in 1917 and Los Angeles 1923-24; he also...

Volner, Jill Wine
(1943) US lawyer. A trial attorney with the US Department of Justice pursuing organized crime 1969-73, she became assistant special prosecutor for the Watergate prosecution 1974-75. After serving as...

Volstead Act
US legislation passed in 1919 designed to enforce Prohibition under the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Officially the National Prohibition Act, it was popularly named after its...

Volstead, Andrew (John)
(1860-1947) US Republican representative. He served in the US House of Representatives 1903-23, guarding the interests of wheat farmers. In 1919 he persuaded Congress to override President Woodrow Wilson's...

Volsung
In Scandinavian mythology, the great-grandson of Odin and grandfather of Sigurd, the slayer of Fafnir; also the dynasty of fierce heroes descended from him. The 13th-century Icelandic Volsunga...

Voltaire
(1694-1778) French writer. He is the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. He wrote histories, books of political analysis and philosophy, essays on science and literature, plays, poetry, and the...

Volterra, Daniele da
(1509-1566) Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. He was a follower of Michelangelo, and such works as The Massacre of the Innocents (Uffizi, Florence) show the trend of Manner ...

Voluspá
Old Norse cosmological poem preserved in the Edda, and believed...

Von Hagen, Victor Wolfgang
(1908) US naturalist, explorer, and ethnographer. He discovered live quetzals in Honduras 1937-38, studied the fauna of the Galapagos Islands 1936-63, and led expeditions along the Inca Highway...

Von Mises, Ludwig
(1881-1973) Austrian economist. He left Austria in 1934 to escape Nazism, going first to Geneva, Switzerland, and in 1940 to the USA, where he taught at New York University 1945-69. A leader in the Austrian...

Von Wiegand, Karl Henry
(1874-1961) German-born US journalist. As foreign correspondent for United Press 1911-17 and the Hearst newspapers from 1917, he covered several wars and travelled the globe in search of scoops. His stories...

Vondel, Joost van den
(1587-1679) Dutch poet and dramatist. His religious dramas include Joseph in Dothan 1640, Lucifer 1654, Jeptha 1659, and Adam in Ballingschap 1664. He also translated a number of classical tragedies. His...

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr
(1922-2007) US writer. His early works, Player Piano (1952) and The Sirens of Titan (1959), used the science fiction genre to explore issues of technological and historical control. He turned to more...

voodoo
Set of magical beliefs and practices, followed in some parts of Africa, South America, and the West Indies, especially Haiti. It arose in the 17th century on slave plantations as a combination of...

Voorsanger, Jacob
(1852-1908) Dutch-born US rabbi and Semitic scholar. He moved to the USA in 1873 and served congregations in several major cities. From 1889 until his death, he was rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in San...

Vorenburg, James
(1928) US lawyer and educator. He received public recognition as assistant special prosecutor to the Watergate Special Prosecution Force 1973-75, which led to the resignation...

Voroshilov, Klement Efremovich
(1881-1969) Marshal of the USSR. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1903 and was arrested many times and exiled, but escaped. He became a Red Army commander in the civil war 1918-20, a member of the central...

Vorster, John
(1915-1983) South African National Party politician, prime minister 1966-78, and president 1978-79. During his term as prime minister some elements of apartheid were allowed...

Vorticism
Short-lived British literary and artistic movement (1912-15), influenced by cubism and Futurism and led by Wyndham Lewis. Lewis believed that painting should reflect the complexity and rapid...

Vortigern
English ruler, said by Bede to have invited the Saxons to Britain to repel the Picts and Scots, and to have married Rowena, daughter of Hengist. ...

Vos, Cornelis de
(1585-1651) Flemish painter. He is mainly known for portraiture, following Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck in style, his work having sometimes been confused with that of van Dyck. His brother Paul de Vos...

Vos, Marten de
(c. 1531-1603) Flemish painter. He spent some years in Italy, in Rome, Florence, and Venice, where he worked in the studio of Tintoretto). On his return to Antwerp in 1588 he was much in demand as a painter of...

Vose, Seth Morton
(1831-1910) US art dealer. He bought the Westminster Art Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, about 1850 and by 1852 was importing paintings by Corot, thus introducing the Barbizon School of painters to the...

vote
Expression of opinion by ballot, show of hands, or other means. In systems that use direct vote, the plebiscite and referendum are fundamental mechanisms. In parliamentary elections the results can...

Vote of No Address
In British history, decision of the Long Parliament 17 January 1648 to break off negotiations with the king. The vote was a response to news of Charles II's Engagement with the Scots. However, by...

Voting Rights Act 1965
Legislation embodying sweeping electoral reforms passed by the US Congress and signed into law by US president Lyndon B Johnson on 6 August 1965. The act prohibited literacy tests and poll taxes,...

Vouet, Simon
(1590-1649) French painter. Producing religious and historical works, he developed a classical style that foreshadowed that of Nicolas Poussin. He lived in Italy 1613-27, where he won the patronage of Pope...

Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley
(1857-1941) English architect and designer. His country houses are characteristically asymmetrical with massive buttresses, long sloping roofs, and roughcast walls, for example The Cottage, Bishop's Itchington,...

Voznesensky, Andrey Andreyevich
(1933) Russian poet. Coming to prominence in the early 1960s, he was (along with Yevgeny Yevtushenko) one of...

Vranckz, Sebastian
(1573-1647) Flemish painter. He produced battle scenes, popular life, and interiors, and provided figures for landscapes by Joos de Momper and `Velvet`Brueghel. Vranckz was a pupil of Adam van Noort, and...

Vranitzky, Franz
(1937) Austrian socialist politician, federal chancellor 1986-97. A banker, he entered the political arena through the moderate, left-of-centre Socialist Party...

Vreeland, Diana (Dalziel)
(c. 1901-c. 1989) French-born US fashion journalist. As fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar 1937-62, she became `the high priestess of style`, a trend-setter who coined the term `beautiful people`. She...

Vrindavan
In Hindu tradition, the village on the Ganges where the Hindu god Krishna is said to have been born. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus. ...

VSC
Abbreviation for the Video Standards Council. ...

Vuillard, (Jean) Edouard
(1868-1940) French painter and printmaker. He was a founding member of les Nabis, and is noted for...

Vulcan
In Roman mythology, the god of fire and destruction, later identified with the Greek god Hephaestus. His principal festival was the Vulcanalia held on 23 Aug, but his most ancient feast was the...

Vulgate
The Latin translation of the Bible produced by St Jerome in the 4th century. It became the most popular Latin version from the 7th century (hence its name), and in 1546 was adopted by the Council of...

Vyasa
Mystic author of Vedic literature such as the Mahabharata, Vedanta S?tra, and Bhagavat Purana. He is revered as the...

Vyazma-Bryansk Line
In World War II, defensive line held by the Soviet Army 1941 to block the German advance to Moscow. Vyazma is a Soviet town on the Moscow-Smolensk railway about 240 km/150 mi west of Moscow;...

Vyne, the
House in Hampshire, England, 6 km/4 mi north of Basingstoke. It was built by the Sandys family 1500-20, and a classic portico (large porch with a pediment) was...