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

concept
Idea; in philosophy, the term `concept` has superseded the more ambiguous `idea`. To have a concept of dog is to be able to distinguish dogs from other things, or to be able to think or...

Conchobar
In Celtic mythology, king of Ulster whose intended bride, Deirdre, eloped with Noísi. She died of sorrow when Conchobar killed her husband and his brothers. ...

conciliar movement
In the history of the Christian church, a 15th-century attempt to urge the supremacy of church councils over the popes, with regard to the Great Schism and the reformation of the church. Councils...

conciliarism
Theory of Catholic Church government developed in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, during and after the Great Schism (1378-1417, when rival popes had seats in Rome and Avignon), claiming...

conciliation
Process of helping the parties in a dispute to reach a mutually-acceptable agreement (one acceptable to both side). In industrial relations, it is where the two sides in a dispute seek to resolve...

conclave
Secret meeting, in particular the gathering of cardinals in Rome to elect a new pope. They are locked away in the Vatican Palace until they have reached a decision. The result of each ballot is...

Concord, Book of
A Lutheran statement of doctrine published in 1580. Widely adopted, it brings together the nine most important texts of Lutheran belief. These are:...

Concord, Formula of
A formulation of Lutheran belief drawn up by six Lutheran divines in March 1577. The Concord rejected the views on the Eucharist put forward by Melanchthon, and also the views on predestination...

concordance
Book containing an alphabetical list of the important words in a major work, with reference to the places in which they occur. The first concordance was one for the Latin Vulgate Bible compiled by a...

concordat
Agreement regulating relations between the papacy and a secular government, for example, that for France between Pius VII and the emperor Napoleon, which lasted from 1801 to 1905; Mussolini's...

Concordia
In Roman mythology, the goddess of civic harmony. She is represented as a matron, holding in her left hand the cornucopia or sceptre, and in her right an olive branch or patera. ...

concrete
Building material composed of cement, stone, sand, and water. It has been used since Roman times. Since the late 19th century, it has been increasingly employed as an economical alternative to...

concubinage
Cohabitation of a man with one or more women who do not have the full status of a wife. Concubines were permitted in ancient Greece and their children were legitimate if recognized by their fathers....

Condé, Louis II
(1621-1686) Prince of Condé and French commander who won brilliant victories during the Thirty Years' War at Rocroi (1643) and Lens (1648), but rebelled in 1651 and entered the Spanish service. Pardoned in...

Conder, Charles Edward
(1868-1909) Australian artist. He painted in watercolour and oil. In 1888 Conder joined Tom Roberts in Melbourne, forming the Australian Impressionist group which became known as the Conder, Claude Reignier
(1848-1910) British explorer. He was head of the survey party at Nablus in 1872, and in charge of the survey of Palestine, 1872-78 and 1881-82. In 1882 he was attached to the expedition under General Garnet...

Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de
(1715-1780) French philosopher. He mainly followed English philosopher John Locke, but his Traité de sensations (1754) claims that all mental activity stems from the transformation of sensations. He was a...

Condit, Carl W(ilbur)
(1914-1997) US architectural historian. He published important studies of 19th- and 20th-century American buildings and of the Chicago School of architecture (1964), and technological histories of Chicago,...

conditions of service
Regulations which set out the rights and obligations of the employee. They are issued by employers and have to be accepted by employees. Conditions of service, for example, may lay down the rate of...

Condocanqui, José Gabriel
Real name of Peruvian revolutionary Tupac Amaru II. ...

condominium
Joint rule of a territory by two or more states, for example, Kanton and Enderbury islands in the South Pacific Phoenix group (under the joint control of Britain and the USA for...

condottiere
Member or leader of a mercenary army employed by the Italian city-states from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Notable condottieri include Francesco Sforza, Francesco di Carmagnola (1390-1432),...

Cone
(1870-1949) US art collectors. Claribel Cone (1864-1929) and Etta Cone (1870-1949) were sisters who established an artistic salon and began collecting antiques, textiles, and modern paintings. The sisters...

Cone, James Hal
(1938) US Protestant theologian. He became a professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1976. His A Black Theology of Liberation (1970) contained an angry critique of the...

Confederacy
In US history, popular name for the Confederate States of America, the government established by 7 (later 11) Southern states in February 1861 when they seceded from the Union, precipitating the...

confederation
Form of union of individual states or societies. Confederation insists on the individual independence of each state or society in a common union, while federation insists on the supremacy of the...

Confederation of Kilkenny
In Irish history, title given to the series of assemblies of Old English and Gaelic Irish Catholics held 1642-48. The confederation was organized by the Catholic clergy after the Old English...

Confederation of the Rhine
Union of German states established under French protection after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. A French puppet confederation, it was designed to facilitate Napoleonic dominance...

Confederation, Articles of
In US history, the initial means by which the 13 former British colonies created a form of national government based on a loose confederation of states. Ratified in 1781, the articles established a...

conference system
Political system of international conferences in the 19th century promoted principally by the German chancellor Bismarck to ease the integration of a new powerful German state into...

confession
In law, a criminal's admission of guilt. Since false confessions may be elicited by intimidation or ill treatment of the accused, the validity of confession in a court of law varies from one legal...

confession
In religion, the confession of sins practised in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and most Far Eastern Christian churches, and since the early 19th century revived in Anglican and Lu ...

confessor, royal
Priest who heard the king's confession in medieval Christian countries. First evident among 8th-century Franks, when confessors were usually important bishops or abbots not resident at court, by...

confidence vote
In politics, a test of support for the government in the legislature. In political systems modelled on that of the UK, the survival of a government depends on assembly support. The opposition may...

configuration
In art, the arrangement of individual elements and shapes within the content of an artwork, and the overall meaning when these elements are brought together in their relative context. A flower in...

confirmation
Rite practised by a number of Christian denominations, including Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox, in which a person who has undergone infant baptism confirms the promises made on their...

Confucianism
Body of beliefs and practices based on the Chinese classics and supported by the authority of the philosopher Confucius. The origin of things is seen in the union of yin and yang, the passive and...

Confucius
(551-479 BC) Chinese sage whose name is given to the ethical system of Confucianism. He placed emphasis on moral order and observance of the established patriarchal family and social relationships of authority,...

Congo, Democratic Republic of
Country in central Africa, formerly Zaire (1971-97), bounded west by the Republic of the Congo, north by the Central African Republic and Sudan, east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania,...

Congo, Republic of
Country in west-central Africa, bounded north by Cameroon and the Central African Republic, east and south by the Democratic Republic of Congo, west by the Atlantic Ocean,...

Congregation, Lords of the
See Lords of the Congregation. ...

Congregationalism
Form of church government adopted by those Protestant Christians known as Congregationalists, who let each congregation manage its own affairs. The first Congregationalists established themselves in...

Congress
National legislature of the USA, consisting of the House of Representatives (435 members, apportioned to the states of the Union on the basis of population, and elected for two-year terms) and the...

Congress of Racial Equality
US nonviolent civil-rights organization, founded in Chicago in 1942 by James Farmer. CORE first concentrated on housing, then sponsored Freedom Rides into the South in 1961 and a lengthy campaign...

Congress Party
Indian political party, founded in 1885 as the Indian National Congress. It led the movement to end British rule and was the governing party from independence in 1947 until 1977, when Indira Gandhi...

congress system
Developed from the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), a series of international meetings in Aachen, Germany, in 1818, Troppau, Austria, in 1820, and Verona, Italy, in 1822. British opposition to the...

Congreve, William
(1670-1729) English dramatist and poet. His first success was the comedy The Old Bachelor (1693), followed by The Double Dealer (1694), Love for Love (1695), the tragedy The Mourning Bride (1697), and The Way...

Coningham, Arthur
(1895-1948) British air marshal. After service with the New Zealand Army in World War I, he joined the Royal Flying Corps 1916 then transferred to the Royal Air Force on its formation. In World War II, he...

Conington, John
(1825-1869) English classical scholar. He made effective verse translations of Homer, Virgil, and Horace, but his greatest work was his annotated edition of Virgil, one of the finest commentaries on the Roman...

Coninxloo, Gillis van
(1544-1607) Flemish landscape painter and engraver. The most prominent of a large family of painters, he settled in Amsterdam in 1595, becoming the leader of a group of landscape painters. His son, of the same...

Conisbrough
Town in South Yorkshire, England, 8 km/5 mi southwest of Doncaster; population (2001) 15,400. Conisbrough Castle, with a fine circular keep, is a Norman castle built by Hamelin, a half-brother of...

Conkling, Roscoe
(1829-1888) US politician, one of the founders of the Republican Party 1854. He served in the House of Representatives 1859-63 and 1865-67, and in the Senate 1867-81. A radical Republican, Conkling was an...

Connally, (Thomas Terry) Tom
(1877-1963) US Democratic representative and senator. He served in the US House of Representatives 1917-29, and the US Senate 1929-53. A conservative on domestic policy, he supported Southern business...

Connell, Evan S(helby), Jr
(1924) US writer. He wrote a wide range of verse, realistic fiction, and non-fiction. His many books include the novels Mrs. Bridge (1959) and Mr. Bridge (1969), and the best-selling historical work...

Connell, F Norreys
Pseudonym of Irish novelist and playwright Conal O'Riordan. ...

Connell, James
(1850-1929) Irish socialist who wrote the British Labour Party anthem `The Red Flag` during the 1889 London strike. ...

Conner, David
(1792-1856) US naval officer. He served with distinction in the War of 1812 against Britain. As commander of the Home Squadron 1843-47 he meticulously planned the amphibious landing of General Winfield...

Conner, Fox
(1874-1951) US soldier. He served in a series of staff positions in a long career, including assistant chief of staff for operations, American Expeditionary Force, in France in 1917. A writer on military...

Connerly, Ward(ell)
(1939) US civil servant and civil-rights campaigner. In 1996 Connerly served as chair of the California Civil Rights Initiative, which campaigned for the passage of Proposition 209 to eliminate racial...

connetable de France
Under the early kings of France, a dignitary at court; in the reign of Philip II (1180-1223) it became the title of the commander-in-chief of the army. Cardinal Richelieu removed the office in...

Connolly, Cyril (Vernon)
(1903-1974) English critic and writer. As a founder and editor of the literary magazine Horizon (1939-50), he had considerable critical influence. His works include The Rock Pool (1936), a novel of artists on...

Connolly, James
(1870-1916) Irish socialist and revolutionary. Born in Edinburgh of immigrant Irish parents, Connolly combined a Marx-inspired socialism with a Fenian-inspired republicanism. He helped found the Irish...

Connolly, Sybil
(1921-1998) Welsh-born fashion designer who through her innovative use of traditional Irish textiles brought Irish fashion to international attention in the 1950s and 1960s. After an apprenticeship in London,...

Connor, William Neil
(1909-1967) English journalist. He joined the Daily Mirror in 1935 and became known as a radical journalist under the pseudonym `Cassandra`. The Mirror's criticism of the British war effort in 1941 angered...

Conon
(c. 450-389 BC) Athenian admiral. When the Athenian fleet was destroyed by the Spartans at the Battle of Aegospotami 405 BC, Conon escaped with eight ships and took refuge with Evagor ...

Conover, Willis (Clark, Jr)
(1920) US broadcaster. In 1955, his jazz program, Music USA, began daily broadcast on the Voice of America. Little-known in the USA, he eventually attracted the largest audience of any continuing...

conquistador
Any of the early Spanish conquerors in the Americas. The title is applied in particular to those leaders who overthrew the indigenous empires of Peru and Mexico, and other parts of Central and South...

Conrad I
(died 918) King of the Germans from 911, when he succeeded Louis the Child, the last of the German Carolingians. During his reign the realm was harassed by Magyar invaders. ...

Conrad II
(c. 990-1039) King of the Germans from 1024, Holy Roman Emperor from 1027. He ceded the Sleswick (Schleswig) borderland, south of the Jutland peninsula, to King Canute, but extended his rule...

Conrad III
(1093-1152) King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor from 1138, the first king of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Throughout his reign there was a fierce struggle between his followers, the Ghibellines, and the...

Conrad IV
(1228-1254) Elected king of the Germans in 1237. Son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, he had to defend his right of succession against Henry Raspe of Thuringia (died 1247) and...

Conrad V
(1252-1268) Son of Conrad IV, recognized as king of the Germans, Sicily, and Jerusalem by German supporters of the Hohenstaufens in 1254. He led Ghibelline forces against Charles of Anjou at the Battle of...

Conrad, Franz Xaver Josef
(1852-1925) Austrian general, field marshal from 1916. Appointed chief of staff in 1906, he was largely responsible for modernizing and reorganizing the Austro-Hungarian army. Believing in an aggressive...

Conrad, Michael Georg
(1846-1927) German writer. His Impressionist work in the naturalist manner owed much to the French novelist Emile Zola. Among his novels are Was die Isar rauscht (1889-93), Fantasio (1889), and Majestät...

Conradi, Hermann
(1862-1890) German writer. A leader of the Sturm und Drang movement, he was a zealous supporter of the naturalistic tendencies of his time. His Adam Mensch (1889) led to a lawsuit for offending public morality....

Conran, Shirley Ida
(1932) English author, designer, and fashion editor. Initially involved with Conran Design as a fabric designer and director, from 1964 she turned to women's and life-style journalism, working with the...

Conran, Terence Orby
(1931) English designer, restaurateur, and retailer of furnishings, fashion, and household goods. He founded the Habitat chain, which pioneered contemporary design for post-war lifestyles. He has also...

Conroy, Jack (Jack Wesley)
(1899-1990) US editor and writer. In 1933 he published the semi-autobiographical book, The Disinherited (1933), which remains a classic working-class novel. He was founding editor of the leftist journals,...

Conroy, Stephen
(1964) Scottish painter. His enigmatic figure compositions owe something to those of Steven Campbell, but they are more studied and inward-looking. He achieved recognition while still a student at...

Consalvi, Ercole
(1757-1824) Italian cardinal and secretary of state from 1880, under Pope Pius VII. He negotiated the concordat with France in 1801, regulating relations between the papacy and the secular government of...

consanguinity
Relationship by blood, whether lineal (for example by direct descent) or collateral (by virtue of a common ancestor). The degree of consanguinity is significant in laws relating to the inheritance...

conscience
Inner sense of what is morally right and wrong. Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud held that conscience is the superego. English theologian Joseph Butler, the leading conscience theorist in...

Conscience, Hendrik
(1812-1883) Flemish novelist. Associated with the linguistic and political significance of the Flemish movement, he became one of the most popular Flemish writers, whose influence on the literary revival of...

conscientious objector
Person refusing compulsory service, usually military, on moral, religious, or political grounds. During World War I, such objections were considered by tribunals, and some objectors were given total...

conscription
Legislation for all able-bodied male citizens (and female in some countries, such as Israel) to serve with the armed forces. It originated in France in 1792, and in the 19th and 20th centuries...

consecration
Practice of investing buildings, objects, or people with special religious significance. It aims to establish in the visible world a concrete means of communion with the divine. The consecrated...

consensus politics
Phrase used to describe the practice of government in Britain between 1945 and 1979. The phenomenon was observed by political scientists and media commentators; Britain's two major political...

consent, age of
Age at which consent may legally be given to sexual intercourse by a girl or boy. In the UK the age of consent is 16 for both heterosexuals (since 1885) and homosexuals (since 2000). History The...

conservation, architectural
Attempts to maintain the character of buildings and historical areas. In Britain this is subject to a growing body of legislation which has designated around a million listed buildings, the largest...

conservatism
Approach to government favouring the preservation of existing institutions and identified with a number of Western political parties, such as the British Conservative, US Republican, German...

Conservative Party
UK political party, one of the two historic British parties; the name replaced Tory in general use from 1830 onwards. Traditionally the party of landed interests (those owning substantial land or...

conspicuous consumption
Selection and purchase of goods for their social rather than their inherent value. These might include items with an obviously expensive brand-name tag. The term was coined by US economist...

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross
British military award, second only to the Victoria Cross in honour, instituted in October 1993. It is awarded regardless of rank. It replaced the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the Distinguished...

conspiracy
In law, an agreement between two or more people to do something unlawful. In the UK it is a complex offence and may be prosecuted under either the Criminal Law Act 1977 or common law. The...

constable
Low-ranking British police officer. In medieval Europe, a constable was an officer of the king, originally responsible for army stores and stabling, and later responsible for the army in the...

Constable, Archibald
(1774-1827) Scottish bookseller and publisher. He bought the copyright of the Scots Magazine in 1801, published the Edinburgh Review from 1802, and purchased the copyright and stock of the Encyclopaedia...

Constable, Henry
(1562-1613) English poet. His Diana (1592) is a series of 23 sonnets, praised by Ben Jonson and others. He also wrote 16 Sprituall Sonnettes to the Honour of God and hys Sayntes and The Shepheard's Song of...

Constable, John
(1776-1837) English artist; one of the greatest landscape painters of the 19th century. He painted scenes of his native Suffolk, including The Haywain (1821; National Gallery, London), as well as castles,...

constable, parish
In England, an officer formerly appointed to keep the peace in manors, villages, and tithings when the increase of population made the duty too onerous for high constables alone. Parish constables...

Constance, Council of
General Council of the Church held in Constance, Germany, 1414-18 that ended the Great Schism. Brought about by the diplomacy and cajoling of the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, it deposed the...