Copy of `The History Channel - Encyclopedia`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

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

Empson, Richard
(died 1510) English lawyer and politician. With Edmund Dudley he was an unpopular agent of Henry VII, employed in exacting taxes and penalties due to the Crown. Both men had a reputation for harshness and...

Empson, William
(1906-1984) English poet and critic. His critical work examined the potential variety of meaning in poetry, as in Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930) (introducing the concept of `ambiguity` to critical...

emptiness
In Buddhism, a central concept which may be interpreted in a variety of ways. Emptiness needs to be found for a proper state of meditation to be achieved: when a person is empty of all emotion,...

empyrean
In medieval and Renaissance Christian thought, the outermost celestial sphere of pure fire, the highest heaven, and the home of God and the angels. ...

EMS
Abbreviation for European Monetary System. ...

EMU
Abbreviation for Economic and Monetary Union, the proposed European Union (EU) policy for a single currency and common economic policies. ...

enabling act
Legislative enactment enabling or empowering a person or corporation to take certain actions. Perhaps the best known example of an enabling law was that passed in Germany in March 1933 by the...

Enahoro, Anthony Eronsele
(1923) Nigerian politician, journalist, and company director. A founder member of the Action Group in 1951, he became an active supporter of self-rule. After independence he was the chief opposition...

enamel
Vitrified (glasslike) coating of various colours used for decorative purposes on a metallic or porcelain surface. In encaustic painting
Ancient technique of painting, commonly used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, in which coloured pigments were mixed with molten wax and painted on panels. In the 20th century the technique was...

enclave
Portion of a state within the boundaries of another. To the proprietor state the enclave is known as its exclave. Examples of enclaves are: the former Cabinda enclave of Angola; East Pakistan (now...

enclosure
In Britain, seizure of common land and change to private property, or the changing of open-field systems (farming in strips apportioned over two or three large fields) to enclosed fields owned by...

encomienda
In colonial Spanish America, the granting of Indian people as slaves to individual conquistadors (settlers) by the Spanish crown. The system was based on the assignment of Moorish villages to...

encumbrance
In law, a right or interest in land, for example a mortgage, lease, restrictive covenant, or right of way, which benefits someone other than the owner of the land. ...

encyclical
Letter addressed by the pope to Roman Catholic bishops for the benefit of the people. The first was issued by Benedict XIV in 1740, but encyclicals...

Encyclopédie
Encyclopedia in 35 volumes written 1751-77 by a group of French scholars (Encyclopédistes) including D'Alembert and Diderot, inspired by the English encyclopedia produced by Ephraim Chambers in...

Encyclopédiste
Member of a group of 18th-century French intellectuals who contributed to the Encyclopédie 1751-77. Diderot and d'Alembert were the co-editors of the Encyclopédie until d'Alembert withdrew...

Endecott, John
(1589-1665) English-born American colonial administrator. From 1641 to 1644 he held successively the positions of deputy governor and governor of Massachusetts, serving as governor again...

endogamy
The custom of marrying within one's own group - tribe, caste, or clan. The opposite is exogamy. ...

endorsement
In law, the procedure by which a court notes the particulars of a driving offence on an offender's driving licence. Endorsements are given on conviction for most traffic...

endowment insurance
A type of life insurance that may produce profits. An endowment policy will run for a fixed number of years during which it accumulates a cash value; it can provide a savings plan...

Endymion
In Greek mythology, a beautiful young shepherd or hunter visited each night by Selene, the Moon goddess. She kissed him as he slept in a cave on Mount Latmos in Caria, sending him into an eternal...

Energy, Department of
US government department created by Congress in 1977 to oversee the Federal Energy Administration, Federal Power Commission, Energy Research and Development Administration, and various other...

Enfantin, Barthelemy Prosper
(1796-1864) French journalist and socialist. One of the chief founders of the Saint-Simon school. From 1826-30 he was associated with Saint-Amand Bazard in carrying on Claude Saint-Simon's work, but...

Engagement
Treaty between Charles I and an alliance of Scottish royalists and moderate Presbyterians 26 December 1647 by which he agreed to abolish Episcopacy and restore Presbyterianism in return for their...

Engel v. Vitale
US Supreme Court decision of 1962 dealing with the constitutionality of prayer in public schools. The case was brought against the New York Board of Regents for...

Engel, (Johann) Carl Ludwig
(1778-1840) German architect. From 1815 he worked in Finland. His great neoclassical achievement is the Senate Square in Helsinki, which is defined by his Senate House (1818-22) and University Building...

Engels, Friedrich
(1820-1895) German social and political philosopher, a friend of, and collaborator with, Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto (1848) and other key works. His later interpretations of Marxism, and his own...

England and France, medieval
The conquest of England in 1066 by William of Normandy involved England in the affairs of France, and there were few times in the Middle Ages when England and France were at peace. Under the England and Ireland, medieval
During the Middle Ages, the English crown tried but failed to extend their control over Ireland, a country that had been divided into a number of kingdoms, with the most powerful king being...

England and Scotland, medieval
During the Middle Ages, there were continual wars between England and Scotland, as the smaller northern kingdom tried to free itself from domination by the English kings. Scotland put pressure on...

England and Wales, medieval
During the Middle Ages, the English crown conquered and subdued Wales, a country that had been divided into many small principalities before the Norman Conquest. After William (I) the Conqueror...

England, John
(1786-1842) Irish-born US Catholic prelate. As bishop of the missionary diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, he was known as a progressive who sought to counter anti-Catholic prejudice and champion the...

Engle, Robert
(1942) US economist and academic. Engle shared with British economist Clive Granger the 2003 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their discoveries in the analysis of time series...

Englebright, Harry Lane
(1884-1943) US representative. A mining engineer with the California Conservation Commission, he served in the US House of Representatives as a Republican for California (1926-43), and...

English
The natives and inhabitants of England, part of Britain, as well as their descendants, culture, and language. The English have a mixed cultural heritage combining Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and...

English architecture
The main styles in English architecture are Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Early English (of which Westminster Abbey is an example), Decorated, Perpendicular (15th century), Tudor (a name chiefly applied to...

English architecture, medieval
During the Middle Ages (11th-mid-16th centuries), two styles dominated English architecture:English art
Painting and sculpture in England from the 10th century. (For English art before the 10th century, see Celtic art and Anglo-Saxon art.) The strong tradition of manuscript illumination was...

English art, medieval
In the Middle Ages (10th-15th centuries), Romanesque, (or Norman) medieval art (10th-12th centuries) and Gothic art (late 12th-15th centuries) were the main styles...

English law
One of the major European legal systems, Roman law being the other. English law has spread to many other countries, including former English colonies such as the USA, Canada,...

English literature
Prose and poetry fiction and non-fiction writing written in the English language in the UK. The development of English literature from Old English literature to the present day can be traced...

English literature, medieval
In medieval England (12th-15th century), the ascendancy of Norman-French culture in the post-Conquest era, followed by the re-emergence of native English works - by such authors as...

English Renaissance
Term describing English architecture of the 17th and early 18th centuries. For details of English architecture of earlier periods, see Gothic architecture: England and English Stage Company
British theatre company formed in 1956 for the presentation of contemporary drama. It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London, its permanent home, under the direction of George Devine. Among...

English-Speaking Union
Society for promoting the fellowship of the English-speaking peoples of the world, founded 1918 by Evelyn Wrench. ...

Englishry
Legal term used to denote those not of Norman stock after the Norman conquest of England 1066. A person's ethnic status would determine, for example, how they were treated by courts: murder cases in...

engraving
Art of creating a design by means of inscribing blocks of metal, wood, or some other hard material with a point. With intaglio printing the design is cut into the surface of a plate, usually metal....

enhanced radiation weapon
Another name for the neutron bomb. ...

Enigma
German enciphering machine of World War II and, by extension, the codes generated by it. The code was cracked by the British in spring 1940 and the Allies gained much useful intelligence as the...

Enkidu
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the wild man created by the goddess Aruru who becomes a companion to Gilgamesh. After Gilgamesh has provoked the anger of the goddess Ishtar, Enkidu sickens and dies. ...

enlightenment
In Buddhism, the term used to translate the Sanskrit bodhi`awakening`: the transcendence of worldy values to perceive the true nature of the world and the unreality of the self, and the...

Enlightenment
European intellectual movement that reached its high point in the 18th century. Enlightenment thinkers were believers in social progress and in the liberating possibilities of rational and...

Enlil
In Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, the head of the heavenly court, and the god of storms and the air (later also the land). He sprang from the union of the god An (Heaven) and goddess Ki (Earth)....

Ennals, David Hedley
(1922-1995) British Labour politician. After entering Parliament as MP for Dover in 1964, he held several posts in Harold Wilson's government. He lost his seat in 1970 and from 1970 to 1973 was campaign...

Ennis Friary
Franciscan friary at Ennis, County Clare, Republic of Ireland. Traditionally founded about 1241 by Donough Cairbreach O'Brien, the earliest of the surviving buildings probably date from...

Enniskillen Castle
Castle on the River Erne at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Until the 18th century it stood on a small island separated from the town by a drawbridge. Little now remains of the...

Ennius, Quintus
(c. 239-169 BC) Early Roman poet who wrote tragedies based on the Greek pattern. His epic poem Annales (600 lines of which survive) deals with Roman history, and...

Enoch of Ascoli
(c. 1400-c. 1457) Italian humanist teacher and searcher for classical texts. He became tutor to the sons of Cosimo de'Medici. Pope Nicholas V entrusted to Enoch investigations for classical manuscripts, first in the...

enosis
Movement, developed from 1930, for the union of Cyprus with Greece. The campaign (led by EOKA and supported by Archbishop Makarios) intensified from the 1950s. In 1960 independence from Britain,...

Enright, D(enis) J(oseph)
(1920-2002) English poet, novelist, and editor. His style is characterized by a clarity of language and form; by a witty, ironic, and almost conversational tone; and by a concern with moral and social issues,...

Ensor, James Sidney, Baron Ensor
(1860-1949) Belgian painter and printmaker. In a bold style employing vivid colours, he created a surreal and macabre world inhabited by masked figures and skeletons. Such works as his famous Entry of Christ...

entablature
In classical architecture, the upper part of an order, situated above the column and principally composed of the architrave, frieze, and cornice. ...

entail
In law, the settlement of land or other property on a successive line of people, usually succeeding generations of the original owner's family. An entail can be either general, in which case it...

Entente Cordiale
Agreement reached by Britain and France in 1904 recognizing British interests in Egypt and French interests in Morocco. It was expressly designed to check the colonial ambitions of the German Second...

enterprise zone
Former special zone introduced in the UK in 1980 and designated by government to encourage industrial and commercial activity, usually in economically-depressed areas such as the Isle of Dogs in...

Enthoven, Alain
(1930) US economist, systems analyst, and health care reformer. He pioneered the discipline of systems analysis, firstly in the field of defence and then in healthcare. His methods were adopted by several...

Enver Pasha
(1881-1922) Turkish politician and soldier. He led the military revolt of 1908 that resulted in the Young Turks' revolution (see Turkey). He was killed fight ...

Environment Agency
Government agency that from April 1996 took over the responsibilities of the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, and local waste regulation authorities for Engl ...

environment art
Large sculptural or spatial works that create environments which the spectator may enter and become absorbed in. Environments frequently incorporate sensory stimuli, such as sound or movement, to...

environmental archaeology
Subfield of archaeology aimed at identifying processes, factors, and conditions of past biological and physical environmental systems and how they relate to cultural systems. It is a field where...

environmental art
Alternative term for Land art. ...

environmental audit
Another name for green audit, the inspection of a company to assess its environmental impact. ...

Environmental Protection Agency
US agency set up in 1970 to control water and air quality, industrial and commercial wastes, pesticides, noise, and radiation. In its own words, it aims to protect `the country from being...

environmentalism
Theory emphasizing the primary influence of the environment on the development of groups or individuals. It stresses the importance of the physical, biological, psychological, or cultural...

Environmentally Sensitive Area
Scheme introduced by the UK Ministry of Agriculture in 1984, as a result of European Community (EC) legislation, to protect some of the most beautiful areas of the UK countryside from the loss and...

envoy extraordinary
Alternative term for plenipotentiary. ...

Enzinas, Francisco de
(c. 1520-1570) Spanish scholar, translator, and religious reformer. He produced the first translation of the New Testament into Spanish, which was published at Antwerp in 1543. His sympathy for ...

EOKA
Acronym for Ethnikí Organósis Kipriakóu Agónos (National Organization of Cypriot Struggle), an underground organization formed by General George Grivas in 1955 to fight for the independence of...

eolith
Naturally shaped or fractured stone found in Lower Pleistocene deposits and once believed by some scholars to be the oldest known artefact type, dating to the pre-Palaeolithic era. They are now...

Eos
In Greek mythology, the goddess of the dawn (Roman Aurora); daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia; herald of Helios's chariot bearing the sun. She was cursed to fall in love with many youths by...

Epaminondas
(c. 420-362 BC) Theban general and politician who together with Pelopidas won a decisive victory over the Spartans at Leuctra 371. He brought independence to Messenia and Arcadia, and consolidated Theban supremacy...

Epée, Charles Michel
(1712-1789) French Jansenist and educator. He was one of the founders of the system for instructing deaf-mutes largely by means of the manual alphabet and signs. He founded a school for the purpose in 1755....

Epéhy, Battle of
In World War I, successful British assault 12-25 September 1918 on outposts and advanced positions of the Hindenburg Line. By 25 September the entire area was in Allied hands; 11,750 prisoners and...

Ephesians
Epistle in the New Testament attributed to Paul but possibly written after his death; the earliest versions are not addressed specifically to the church at Ephesus. ...

Ephesus
Ancient Greek seaport in Asia Minor, a centre of the Ionian Greeks, with a temple of Artemis destroyed by the Goths in AD 262. Now in Turkey, it is one of the world's largest archaeological sites....

ephor
One of the five annually elected magistrates in ancient Sparta and other Dorian cities. The office was instituted about 700 BC and continued into the 2nd century AD. The ephors exercised...

Ephraem Syrus, St
(c. 306-373) Religious leader. He wrote in Syriac several theological treatises, epistles, addresses to monks, apophthegms, homilies on Scripture and Old Testament characters, and hymns. They were highly...

Ephron, Nora
(1941) US writer and film director. Her semi-autobiographical novel Heartburn (1983) was adapted for film in 1986. Her films include Silkwood (1983; co-writer), based on the life of Karen Silkwood...

epic
Genre of narrative poem or cycle of poems dealing with some great deed - often the founding of a nation or the forging of national unity - and often using religious or cosmological themes. The...

epic theatre
Genre of drama, developed in Germany between World War I and II, and used almost exclusively to express left-wing political views. German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and German theatre director Erwin...

Epicharmus
(c. 530-c. 440 BC) Greek comic poet, reputedly one of the founders of comedy. He was also regarded as a philosopher because of a philosophical poem, probably by somebody else, written under his name. Born on the...

Epictetus
(c.AD 55-135) Greek Stoic philosopher who encouraged people to refrain from self-interest and to promote the common good of humanity. He believed that people were in the hands of an all-wise providence and...

Epicureanism
System of moral philosophy named after the Greek philosopher Epicurus. He argued that pleasure is the basis of the ethical life, and that the most satisfying form of pleasure is achieved by avoiding...

Epidamnus
Dorian colony on the coast of modern Albania. It later became the Roman and Byzantine Dyrrachium, and is the modern city of Durrës. ...

Epidaurus
Ancient Greek city and port on the east coast of Argolis, in the northeastern Peloponnese. The site contains a well-preserved theatre of the 4th century BC; nearby are the ruins of the temple of...

epigram
Short, witty, and pithy saying or short poem. The poem form was common among writers of ancient Rome, including Catullus and Martial. The epigram has been used by English poets Ben Jonson, John...

epigraphy
Art of writing with a sharp instrument on hard, durable materials such as stone; also the scientific study of epigraphical writings or inscriptions. ...

epilogue
Postscript to a book; a short speech or poem at the end of a play, addressed directly to the audience. ...

Epimenides
(lived 6th century BC) Cretan poet and prophet, born at Phaestus. Although his life story includes a wealth of legend, he is known to have visited Athens at the invitation of Solon in about 596 BC in order to purify the...