manorialism or seignorialism Vsan-'yor-e-ol-i-zomV Political, eco¬ nomic, and social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were tied to their land and their lord through serfdom. The basic unit was the manor, a self-sufficient landed estate, or fief, under the control of a lord. Free tenants paid rent or provided military service in exchange for the use of the land. Peasants farmed small plots of land and owed rent and labor to their lord, and most were not free to leave the estate. The manorial system was flourishing in Western Europe by the 8th century and had begun to decline by the 13th century, while in Eastern Europe it achieved its greatest strength after the 15th century.
Mansa Musa See Musa
Mansfield, Katherine orig.
Kathleen Mansfield Beau¬ champ (b. Oct. 4, 1888, Welling¬ ton, N.Z.—d. Jan. 9, 1923, Gurdjiefif Institute, near Fontainebleau,
France) New Zealand-born British writer. After moving to England at age 19, she secured her reputation with the story collection Bliss (1920). She reached the height of her powers in the collection The Garden Party (1922). Her delicate stories, which focus on psychological con¬ flicts, are written in a distinctive prose style with poetic overtones that shows the influence of Anton Chek¬ hov. Her last five years were shad¬ owed by tuberculosis, of which she died at age 34.
Mansfield, Michael (Joseph) known as Mike Mansfield (b.
March 16, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 5, 2001, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician who was the longest-serving majority leader (1961— 77) in the U.S. Senate. He worked in Montana copper mines and later taught history at Montana State University. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943 to 1953 and in the Senate from 1953 to 1977. An outspoken critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, he sponsored a 1971 bill calling for a cease-fire and phased withdrawal. He was a per¬ sistent critic of Pres. Richard Nixon, especially during the Watergate scan¬ dal. After retiring, he served as U.S. ambassador to Japan (1977-88).
Mansfield, William Murray, 1st earl of (b. March 2, 1705, Scone, Perthshire, Scot.—d. March 20, 1793, London, Eng.) British jurist. Called to the bar in 1730, he gained a wide reputation in 1737 when he eloquently supported before the House of Commons a merchants’ peti¬ tion to stop Spanish assaults on their ships. As chief justice of the King’s Bench (1756-88), he conducted several scrupulously fair trials of persons accused of treason and seditious libel. He reduced an unwieldy mass of outmoded commercial law to a coherent body of rules, refined the law of contracts, and made major contributions to maritime law. He was a mem¬ ber of the cabinet three times, entrusting the great seal of his office to a committee so that he could retain the chief justiceship and still exert political power. In 1783 he declined cabinet office, preferring to serve as speaker of the House of Lords. Thomas B. Macaulay called him the father of modem Toryism.
Mansi See Siberian peoples
manslaughter See homicide
Manson, Charles (b. Nov. 12, 1934, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. cult leader and mass murderer. From age 9 he spent a great deal of his life in the care of the state, first in juvenile reformatories and later in prison. By 1968, he had become the leader of the “Family,” a communal religious cult in Los Angeles dedicated to studying and implementing his eccen¬ tric religious teachings. In 1969 he sent Family members to a house rented by the actress Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski; there they murdered Tate and five friends, and elsewhere they killed three others. The trials of Manson and four of his followers in 1971 attracted national attention. Their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment when California abolished the death penalty in 1972. Manson’s crimes were the subject of the best-selling book Helter Skelter (1974), by the prosecutor in the case, Vincent Bugliosi.
manta ray or devil ray or devilfish Any of several genera of warm-water marine rays, constituting the family Mobulidae, that are wider than they are long. Extensions of the pectoral fins project from the front of the head, looking like devils’ horns; these sweep plankton and small fishes into their mouths. The long, whiplike tail may have one or more stinging spines. Mantas swim near the surface by flapping their pectoral fins. The largest species, the powerful but inoffensive Atlantic manta, or giant devil, ray ( Manta birostris ), may grow to over 23 ft (7 m) wide; contrary to old tales, it does not envelop and eat divers.
Mantegna Vman-'tan-yoV Andrea (b. 1431?, near Vicenza, Republic of Venice—d. Sept. 13, 1506, Mantua, March of Mantua) Italian painter. The son of a woodworker, he was adopted by Francesco Squarcione, a tailor-turned-painter; Mantegna was one of several pupils who later sued him for exploitation. At about 17 he established his own workshop and received an important commission for an altarpiece, now lost. His fres¬ coes in Padua’s Eremitani Church (1448-57), with their monumental fig¬ ures and detailed treatment of Classical architecture, show that he had fully mastered perspective and foreshortening and was successfully experimenting with illusionistic effects, best seen in his frescoes of the Gonzaga family (completed 1474) in the Palazzo Ducale’s Camera degli Sposi (Bridal Chamber) in Mantua, which transform the small interior room into an open-air pavilion. He was the first artist in northern Italy to work fully in the Renaissance style. He married a daughter of the Bellini family in 1453 but did not join the Bellini studio. He later became court painter to Ludovico Gonzaga. His humanistic approach to antiquity and his spatial illusionism were to have far-reaching influence.
Mantineia V.man-to-'m-oX or Mantinea Ancient Greek city of Arca¬ dia, situated north of modern Tripolis. At the first Battle of Mantineia in 418 bc, Sparta defeated the coalition of Mantineia, Elis, Argos, and Ath¬ ens. In 362 the Theban army defeated Spartan troops in an encounter nearby. In 207 Philopoemen, the Greek general of the Achaean League,
M
N
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1188 I mantis ► Manzanar Relocation Center
L_
N
defeated the Spartans at Mantineia. In the later Roman Empire, Mantineia dwindled to a mere village, and it finally disappeared under Ottoman rule.
mantis or praying mantis Any of more than 1,500 species of the insect suborder Mantodea (order Orthoptera). The long-bodied, slow- moving mantis (or mantid) eats only living insects, using its large fore¬ limbs to capture and hold its struggling prey. The female is likely to eat the male after mating. The European Mantis religiosa and the Chinese mantis ( Tenodera aridifolia sinensis ) have been introduced to North America. The latter grows to 3-8 in. (8-20 cm) long. The name mantis (“diviner”) reflects an ancient Greek belief in its supernatural powers.
mantle That part of the Earth that lies beneath the crust and above the central core. On average, the mantle begins about 22 mi (35 km) below the surface and ends at a depth of about 1,800 mi (2,900 km). Predomi¬ nant in the rock material are olivines, pyroxenes, and the silicate perovs- kite, a dense form of enstatite.
Mantle, Mickey in full Mickey Charles Mantle (b. Oct. 20,1931, Spavinaw, Okla., U.S.—d. Aug. 13, 1995, Dallas, Texas) U.S. baseball player. Mantle joined the New York Yankees in 1951 and became a pow¬ erful switch-hitting outfielder and first baseman. Between 1954 and 1961 “the Mick” led the American League four times in home runs, six times in runs, and once in RBIs, the latter occurring in the year (1956) that he won the triple crown for home runs, RBI, and batting average (.353). In 1961 he hit 54 home runs, finishing second in the home-run race behind his teammate Roger Maris, who broke Babe Ruth’s season record that same year. Mantle had to play with his legs heavily taped for much of his career because of injuries to his ankles and knees. He retired in 1968 with a lifetime total of 536 home runs.