Lateran Council Any of five ecumenical councils of the Roman Catho¬ lic church held in the Lateran Palace in Rome. The First Lateran Council (1123), held during the papacy of Calixtus II, reiterated decrees of earlier ecumenical councils (condemning simony, forbidding clergymen to marry, etc.). The Second Lateran Council (1139) was called by Innocent II to end the schism created by the election of a rival pope. The Third Lateran Council (1179), held during the papacy of Alexander III, established a two- thirds majority of the College of Cardinals as a requirement for papal elec¬ tion and condemned the heresies of the Cathari. Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) in an effort to reform the church; its decrees obliged Catholics to make a yearly confession, sanctioned the doc¬ trine of transubstantiation, and made preparations for a new Crusade. The Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17), convoked by Julius II, affirmed the immortality of the soul and restored peace among warring Christian rulers.
Lateran Treaty or Lateran Pact (1929) Pact of mutual recognition between Italy and the Vatican, signed in the Lateran Palace, Rome. The Vatican agreed to recognize the state of Italy, with Rome as its capital, in exchange for formal establishment of Roman Catholicism as the state reli¬ gion of Italy, institution of religious instruction in the public schools, the banning of divorce, and recognition of papal sovereignty over Vatican City and the complete independence of the pope. A second concordat in 1985 ended Catholicism’s status as the state religion and discontinued compulsory religious education.
laterite Vla-to-.rfiA Soil layer rich in iron oxide and sometimes aluminum, derived from a wide variety of rocks by leaching. It forms in tropical and subtropical regions where the climate is humid. Laterite is blackish brown to reddish and has been used as an iron ore and, in Cuba, as a source of nickel.
latex Any of several natural or synthetic colloidal suspensions (see col¬ loid). Some latexes occur naturally in the cells of plants such as chicle and rubber trees. They are complex mixtures of organic compounds, including various gum resins, fats, or waxes and, in some instances, poisonous com¬ pounds, suspended in a watery medium with dissolved salts, sugars, tan¬ nins, alkaloids, enzymes, and other substances from which the latex (or natural rubber, the only available rubber until 1926) can be concentrated, coagulated, and vulcanized. Synthetic latexes (e.g., neoprene), made by emulsion polymerization from styrene-butadiene copolymer, acrylate resins, polyvinyl acetate, or other materials, are used as paints and coatings; the plastic, dispersed in the water, forms films by fusion as the water evapo¬ rates.
lathe Vlath\ Machine tool that performs turning operations in which unwanted material is removed from a workpiece rotated against a cutting tool. Lathes are among the oldest and most important machine tools, used in France from 1569 and important in the Industrial Revolution in England, when they were adapted for metal cutting (see Henry Maudslay). Lathes (usually called engine lathes) today have a power-driven, variable-speed horizontal spindle to which the workholding device is attached. Opera¬ tions include turning straight or tapered cylindrical shapes, grooves, shoulders, and screw threads and facing flat surfaces on the ends of cylin¬ drical parts. Internal cylindrical operations include most of the common hole-machining operations, such as drilling, boring, reaming, counterbor¬ ing, countersinking, and threading with a single-point tool or tap. See also BORING MACHINE.
Latimer, Hugh (b. c. 1485, Thurcaston, Leicestershire, Eng.—d. Oct. 16, 1555, Oxford) English Protestant martyr. The son of a prosperous yeoman farmer, he was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he came into contact with the doctrines of Martin Luther and converted to Protestantism. He supported Henry VIII’s attempt to obtain a marriage annulment but was later excommunicated for refusing to accept the exist¬ ence of purgatory or the need to venerate saints. He made a complete sub¬ mission and briefly served as bishop of Worcester (1535-39). Again imprisoned on suspicion of heresy, he was freed with the accession of Edward VI, during whose brief reign he preached extensively. On Mary I’s accession and the subsequent reversion to Catholicism, he was arrested for treason and burned at the stake.
Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet Most widely used alphabet, the standard script of most languages that originated in Europe. It devel¬ oped before 600 bc from the Etruscan alphabet (in turn derived from the North Semitic alphabet by way of the Phoenician and Greek alphabets). The earliest known Latin inscriptions date from the 7th-6th cent. bc. The classical Latin alphabet had 23 letters, 21 derived from the Etruscan. In
L_
M
N
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1080 I Latin America ► Latrobe
L_
N
medieval times the letter J became differentiated from I, and U and W became differentiated from V, producing the 26-letter alphabet of mod¬ ern English. In ancient Roman times there were two types of Latin script, capital letters and cursive. Uncial script, mixing both types, developed in the 3rd century ad.
Latin America Countries of South America and North America (includ¬ ing Central America and the islands of the Caribbean Sea) south of the U.S.; the term is often restricted to countries where either Spanish or Portu¬ guese is spoken. The colonial era in Latin America began in the 15th- 16th centuries when explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci made voyages of discovery to the New World. The conquistado- Res who followed, including Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, brought Spanish rule to much of the region. In 1532 the first Portuguese settle¬ ment was made in Brazil. The Roman Catholic church soon established many missions in Latin America. Roman Catholicism is still the chief reli¬ gion in most Latin American countries, though the number of Protestants and Evangelicals has grown. Spanish and Portuguese colonists arrived in increasing numbers; they enslaved the native Indian population, which was soon decimated by ill treatment and disease, and then imported Afri¬ can slaves to replace them. A series of movements for independence, led by Jose de San Martin, Simon Bolivar, and others, swept Latin America in the early 19th century. Federal republics were promulgated across the region, but many of the new countries collapsed into political chaos and were taken over by dictators or military juntas, a situation that persisted into the 20th century. In the 1990s a trend toward democratic rule reemerged; in socialist-run countries many state-owned industries were privatized, and efforts toward regional economic integration were accel¬ erated.
Latin American arts Visual, performing, and literary arts that devel¬ oped in Mesoamerica, Central America, South America, and the Carib¬ bean after contact with the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in 1492 and 1500, respectively. When Europeans arrived, they came with artistic traditions dating back to antiquity. For centuries, indigenous American peoples had similarly formed civilizations with their own unique artistic practices (see Native American arts). The importation of African slaves led to the presence of long-standing African arts in the region as well (see African arts). At the time of colonization, the architecture of many native centres was destroyed and replaced with European-style churches and buildings. During this period, a combination of European and indigenous imagery led to unique religious sculptural and decorative art forms. As more European artists immigrated to the new land, Iberian artists brought with them elements of the styles that were current in Europe—such as the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo—to art and architecture. The most notable regional style of the 18th century was known as Churrigueresque, an elaborately decorative style used in architecture, sculpture, and deco¬ rative arts. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Latin American art¬ ists and architects continued to experiment with a variety of Western styles—including Romanticism, Neoclassicism, Modernism, and postmod¬ ernism —but increasingly adapted them to reflect Latin American themes and, often, political concerns. Indigenous music was varied before colo¬ nization. The main instruments seem to have been rattles or shakers (e.g., maracas) and flutes of numerous kinds, including panpipes. Under Euro¬ pean influence, harps, violins, and guitars were adopted (see mariachi). Indigenous scales were three- or five-tone, and choral singing in parallel lines was common in some areas. Spanish and Portuguese music contrib¬ uted verse forms and self-accompanied solo singing. African influences on rhythm have included the use of repetitive patterns to accompany extended improvisation and the prevalence of two- and four-beat patterns, particularly in Caribbean music; the African tradition can also be seen in the use of drums and of syncopation. Iberian dance rhythms and features, such as hand clapping and the use of scarves and handkerchiefs, carried over into many hybrid forms of music and dance. Especially in the 20th century, forms of popular music and dance—such as salsa, tango, samba, and bossa nova—represented a blending of native and Western traditions. During the colonial period, Latin American literature reflected trends in Spanish and Portuguese literature, and it consisted mostly of chronicles of conquest. As the colonies developed their own character and moved towards independence, patriotic writings became prominent. In the mid- 19th century, the cuadro de costumbres, or sketch of contemporary cus¬ toms, developed into a realistic novel of manners. Beginning in the late 19th century, authors in the Modernismo movement focused on “art for art’s sake.” Latin American literature came into its own in the 20th cen¬ tury, with movements such as magic realism gaining international promi¬