[Lennox], an ancient district of Scotland that included Dumbartonshire and part of Stirlingshire.
[Lenore], the heroine of a celebrated ballad by Bürger, the German lyric poet, a maiden whose lover dies and whose spectre appears to her on horseback and carries her off mounted behind him.
[Lenormant, François], a distinguished archæologist, born at Paris, a man of genius and of vast learning; his chief works "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne de l'Orient," "Lettres Assyriologues," "Les Premières Civilisations," and "Les Sciences Occultes en Asie" (1837-1883).
[Lens], a piece of glass adapted as convex or concave so as to change the direction of the rays of light passing through it and magnify or diminish the apparent size of an object.
[Lent], a period of fasting previous to Easter, at first lasting only 40 hours, was gradually extended to three, four, or six days, then different Churches extended it to three and six: weeks; in the 6th century Gregory the Great fixed it for the West at 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, excluding Sundays; in the Eastern Church it begins on the Monday after quinquagesima and excludes both Saturdays and Sundays; in the Anglican Church the season is marked by special services, but the fast is not rigidly kept.
[Lenthall, William], Speaker of the Long Parliament; is famous for his answer to the demand of Charles to point out to him five members he had come to arrest, "May it please your Majesty," said he, failing on his knees, "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak but as the House directs me" (1591-1662).
[Leo], the fifth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters on July 22.
[Leo], the name of six emperors of the East, of which the chief was Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, born in Isauria; raised to the imperial throne by the army, defeated by sea and land the Saracens who threatened Constantinople; ruled peacefully for nine years, when he headed the [iconoclast movement] (q. v.), which provoked hostility and led to the revolt of Italy from the Greek empire; d. 741.
[Leo], the names of 13 Popes: L. I., St., Pope from 410 to 461; L. II., St., Pope from 682 to 683; L. III., Pope from 795 to 816; L. IV., Pope from 847 to 855; L. V., Pope in 903; L. VI., Pope from 928 to 929; L. VII., Pope from 936 to 939; L. VIII., Pope from 963 to 965; L. IX., St., Pope from 1049 to 1054; L. X., Pope from 1513 to 1521; L. XI., Pope in 1605; L. XII., Pope from 1823 to 1829; L. XIII., Pope since 1878. Of these only the following deserve mention:—
[Leo I.], saint, surnamed the Great; was distinguished for his zeal against heretics, presided at two councils, and persuaded Attila to retire from Rome on his invasion of Italy, as he persuaded Genseric four years later to moderate the outrages of his troops in the city; his letters are in evidence of the jurisdiction of the Roman over the universal Church. Festival, Nov. 10.