Leo (Latin: “Lion”) In astronomy, the constellation lying between Can¬ cer and Virgo; in astrology, the fifth sign of the zodiac, governing approxi¬ mately the period July 23-August 22. Its symbol, a lion, has been associated with the Nemean lion slain by Heracles. The Nemean lion was considered invulnerable because its skin was impervious to arrows, but Heracles battered it to death with a club. Zeus put the lion in the sky as a constellation.
Leo I, Saint known as Leo the Great (b. 4th century, Tuscany?—d. Nov. 10, 461, Rome; Western feast day November 10, Eastern feast day February 18) Pope (440-461). He was a champion of orthodoxy and a Doc¬ tor of the Church. When the monk Eutyches of Constantinople asserted that Jesus Christ had only a single divine nature, Leo wrote the Tome, which established the coexistence of Christ’s human and divine natures. Leo’s teachings were embraced by the Council of Chalcedon (451), which also accepted his teaching as the “voice of Peter.” Leo dealt capably with the invasions of barbaric tribes, persuading the Huns not to attack Rome (452)
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Leo III ► Leoncavallo I 1097
and the Vandals not to sack the city (455). Leo was also an exponent of the precept of papal primacy, and his personal example and letters and sermons contributed greatly to the growth of papal authority.
Leo III known as Leo the I saurian \I-'sor-e-3n\ (b. c. 675, Germanicia, Commagene, Syria—d. June 18, 742, Constantinople) Byzantine emperor (717-41), founder of the Isaurian dynasty. A high-ranking military com¬ mander, he seized the throne with the help of Arab armies who hoped to subjugate the Byzantine Empire. He then successfully defended Constan¬ tinople against the Arabs (717-718). Having crowned his son Constantine V coemperor (720), Leo used his son’s marriage to cement an alliance with the Khazars. Victory over the Arabs at Akroi'nos (740) was crucial in pre¬ venting their conquest of Asia Minor. Leo issued an important legal code, the Ecloga (726). His policy of iconoclasm (730), which banned the use of sacred images in churches, engendered a century of conflict within the empire and further strained relations with the pope in Rome.
Leo IX, Saint orig. Bruno, count von Egisheim und Dags- burg (b. 1002, Egisheim, Alsace, Upper Lorraine—d. April 19, 1054, Rome; feast day April 19) Pope (1049-54). He was consecrated bishop of Toul in 1027. He was named pope by Emperor Henry III but insisted on election by the clergy and people of Rome. His efforts to strengthen the papacy and eradicate clerical marriage and simony laid the foundation for the Gregorian reform movement. His assertion of papal primacy and his military campaign against the Normans in Sicily (1053) alienated the Eastern church. His representatives excommunicated the patriarch of Con¬ stantinople. Though Leo had already died, their act triggered the Schism of 1054.
Leo X orig. Giovanni de' Medici (b. Dec. 1, 1475, Florence—d. Dec. 1, 1521, Rome) Pope (1513-21), one of the most extravagant of the Renaissance pontiffs. The second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, he was edu¬ cated at his father’s court in Florence and at the University of Pisa. He was named a cardinal in 1492, and in 1494 he was exiled from Florence by the revolt of Girolamo Savonarola. He returned in 1500 and soon con¬ solidated Medici control of the city. As pope, he became a patron of the arts, accelerating construction of St. Peter's Basilica. He strengthened the papacy’s political power in Europe, but his lavish spending depleted his treasury. He discouraged reforms at the fifth Lateran Council, and he responded inadequately to the Reformation, excommunicating Martin Luther in 1521 and failing to address the need for change, a lapse that signaled the end of the unified Western church.
Leo XIII orig. Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci (b. March 2, 1810, Carpineto Romano, Papal States—d.
July 20, 1903, Rome) Pope (1878—
1903). Bom into the Italian nobility, he was ordained a priest in 1837 and entered the diplomatic service of the Papal States. He was appointed bishop of Perugia in 1846 and was named a cardinal in 1853. He was elected pope in 1878, and, despite his advanced age and frail health, he directed the church for a quarter of a century. Like his predecessor, Pius IX, he opposed Freemasonry and secular liberalism, but he brought a new spirit to the papacy by adopting a conciliatory attitude toward civil governments and taking a more posi¬ tive view of scientific progress.
Leochares \le-'a-k9-,rez\ (fl. 4th century bc, Greece) Greek sculptor to whom the Apollo Belvedere is often attributed. He worked for Philip II of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great, and was commissioned to produce gold and ivory statues of the royal family. He is said to have worked with Scopas on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, c. 350 bc.
Leon \la-'on\ City (pop., 2001: 130,916), northwestern Spain. The city began as the camp of a Roman legion; its name is derived from the Latin legio. Held by the Goths during the 6th and 7th centuries, it then fell to the Moors, who ruled it until 850. In the 10th century, it became the capi¬ tal of the kingdom of Leon. An industrial as well as a tourist centre, its site includes medieval churches.
Leon City (pop., 1995: 123,865), western Nicaragua. The second largest city in Nicaragua, it is the country’s political and intellectual centre. It was founded by the Spanish on the edge of Lake Managua in 1524; it was later destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 1610 near the Pacific coast, northwest of Managua. Leon was the capital of Nicaragua until 1855. It has had a long political and commercial rivalry with the city of Granada. It is the burial place of poet and diplomat Ruben Dario and the seat of the University of Leon.
Leon Medieval kingdom, northwestern Spain. Leon proper included the cities of Leon, Salamanca, and Zamora—the adjacent areas of Vallodolid and Palencia being disputed with Castile, originally its eastern frontier. It began as a Christian kingdom in the early 10th century when Garcia I established his court on a former Roman legion campsite. Its rulers lost ground to the Moors during the 10th century but reconquered much ter¬ ritory in the 11th century. From 1037 to 1157 it was united with the king¬ dom of Castile, but it then regained its independence and was ruled by its own kings. It was permanently reunited with Castile in 1230. The modern autonomous community of Castile-Leon covers roughly the same area.
Leon, Arthur Saint- See Arthur Saint-Leon
Leonard, Buck orig. Walter Fenner Leonard (b. Sept. 8, 1907, Rocky Mount, N.C., U.S.—d. Nov. 27, 1997, Rocky Mount) U.S. base¬ ball player. Leonard began his professional baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1933. With his teammate Josh Gibson, he led the Homestead Grays to nine consecutive championships from 1937 through 1945. Known as a formidable home-run hitter and an outstanding first baseman, he was selected to the Negro leagues’ East-West All-Star game a record 11 times.
Leonard, Sugar Ray orig. Ray Charles Leonard (b. May 17,
1956, Rocky Mount, N.C., U.S.) U.S. welterweight and middleweight boxer. Leonard was an outstanding amateur, winning 145 of 150 bouts, including a 1976 Olympic championship. He turned professional in 1977 and gained the world welterweight title in 1979 by defeating Wilfred Benitez. He lost the title to Roberto Duran in 1980 but recaptured it from him later that year. He retired in the early 1980s with a detached retina but made a comeback in 1984. In 1987 he went into the ring as a middle¬ weight to defeat Marvin Hagler in one of boxing’s great matches. He retired again in 1991. He was resoundingly defeated in a final comeback attempt in 1997. Known for his agility and finesse, he won 36 of his 39 professional matches. He later became a television commentator.