POLYDORE VIRGIL
\pˌɒlɪdˈɔː vˈɜːd͡ʒɪl], \pˌɒlɪdˈɔː vˈɜːdʒɪl], \p_ˌɒ_l_ɪ_d_ˈɔː v_ˈɜː_dʒ_ɪ_l]\
Sort: Oldest first
-
A celebrated writer and ecclesiastic; born in Urbino, Italy, about 1470; died about 1550. He was sent about 1502 to England by Pope Alexander VI. to collect the tax called "Peter's Pence", and continued to reside there for the greater part of his life. He was successively created archdeacon of Wells; prebendary in the Cathedral of Hereford, Lincoln, and St. Paul's. His principal works are his "History of Inventions"; "Historia Anglica", a history of England brought down to the end of the reign of Henry VII.; and a treatise against divination, entitled "De Prodigiis".
By Charles Dudley Warner
Word of the day
SQ10,643
- A serotonin antagonist with limited antihistaminic, anticholinergic, and immunosuppressive activity.