Cather Vka-thorV Willa orig. Wilella Sibert Cather (b. Dec. 7, 1873, near Winchester, Va., U.S.—d. April 24, 1947, New York, N.Y.) U.S. novelist. Cather moved with her family to Nebraska at age 9; she returned east 12 years later, eventually settling in New York. The Troll Garden (1905), her first short-story collection, contains some of her best- known work. The novels O Pioneers! (1913) and My Antonia (1918), often judged her finest achievement, celebrate frontier spirit and courage. Song of the Lark (1915), Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920), and other works reflect the struggle of a talent to emerge from small-town provin¬ cialism. One of Ours (1922, Pulitzer Prize) and A Lost Lady (1923) mourn the loss of the pioneer spirit. Pioneers of earlier eras also inspired Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) and Shadows on the Rock (1931).
Catherine I Russian Yekaterina Alekseyevna orig. Marta Skowronska (b. April 15, 1684—d. May 17, 1727, St. Petersburg, Russia) Second wife of Peter I and empress of Russia (1725-27). A peas¬ ant woman of Baltic origin, she became Peter’s mistress in 1702. In 1703, after the birth of their first child, she was received into the Russian Ortho¬ dox church and rechristened. She married Peter in 1712 and in 1724 was crowned empress-consort. After Peter’s death (1725), she served two years as empress of Russia.
Catherine II Russian Yekaterina Alekseyevna orig. Sophie Friederike Auguste, princess von Anhalt-Zerbst known as Catherine the Great (b. May 2, 1729, Stettin, Prussia—d. Nov. 17, 1796, Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia) German-born empress of Russia (1762-96). The daughter of an obscure German prince, she was chosen at age 14 to be the wife of the future Peter III. The marriage was a complete failure. Because her neurotic husband was incapable of rul¬ ing, the ambitious Catherine saw the possibility of eliminating him and governing Russia herself. After Peter became emperor in 1762, she con-
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352 I Catherine de Medicis ► Catiline
spired with her lover, Grigory G., Count Orlov, to force Peter to abdi¬ cate (he was murdered soon after) and have herself proclaimed empress. In her 34-year reign she led Russia into full participation in European political and cultural life. With her ministers she reorganized the admin¬ istration and law of the Russian Empire and extended Russian territory, adding the Crimea and much of Poland. Though she had once intended to emancipate the serfs, she instead strengthened the system she had once condemned as inhuman. She had great energy and wide interests, and her personal life was notable for her many lovers, including Grigory Potemkin.
Catherine de Medicis \ka-tren-d3-ma-de-'ses\ orig. Caterina de' Medici (b. April 13, 1519, Florence—d. Jan. 5, 1589, Blois, France) Queen consort of Henry II (1547-59), mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, and regent of France (1560-74). A member of the Medici fam¬ ily, she married Henry in 1533 and bore him 10 children. She became queen when Henry inherited the crown in 1547, and she greatly mourned his accidental death in 1559. After their son Francis became king, she began a long struggle with members of the Guise family, extremists who sought to dominate the crown. After Francis’s premature death in 1560, she became regent for Charles IX until 1563 and dominated the rest of his reign until 1574. She attempted to settle the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. She has traditionally been blamed for the Mas¬ sacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day, but, though she authorized the assas¬ sination of Gaspard II de Coligny and his principal followers, it appears that she did not authorize the massacre that followed.
Catherine Howard (b. c. 1520—d. Feb. 13, 1542, London, Eng.) Fifth wife of Henry VIII of England. The granddaughter of the 2nd duke of Norfolk, she became a maid of honour to Anne of Cleves, Henry’s fourth wife. After Henry had his marriage to Anne annulled, he married Catherine (1540). In 1541 he learned that Catherine had had several affairs before their marriage and that she also had probably committed adultery. Incensed, he had Parliament pass a bill in 1542 declaring it treason for an unchaste woman to marry the king. Catherine was beheaded two days later in the Tower of London.
Catherine of Alexandria, Saint (d. c. early 4th century, Alexan¬ dria, Egypt; feast day November 25) Early Christian martyr. According to tradition, she was a learned girl of noble birth who protested the per¬ secution of Christians during the reign of the Roman emperor Maxentius. She converted the emperor’s wife and defeated in debate the best schol¬ ars he sent to oppose her. She was sentenced to be killed with a spiked wheel (the Catherine wheel), but, when it broke, she was beheaded instead. Her body was transported by angels to the top of Mount Sinai. One of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, she was patron of philosophers and scholars. Her historicity is doubtful.
Catherine of Aragon (b. Dec. 16, 1485, Alcala de Henares, Spain—d. Jan. 7, 1536, Kimbolton,
Huntingdon, Eng.) First wife of Henry VIII. The daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella I, she married Henry in 1509. She gave birth to six children, but only one daughter (later Mary I) survived infancy. Henry’s desire for a legitimate male heir prompted him in 1527 to appeal to Rome for an annulment, but Pope Clement VII refused, triggering the break between Henry and Rome and leading to the English Reformation. In 1533 Henry had his own archbishop of Canter¬ bury, Thomas Cranmer, annul the marriage, and Catherine spent her last years isolated from public life.
Catherine of Braganza (b.
Nov. 25,1638, Vila Vigosa, Port.—d.
Dec. 31, 1705, Lisbon) Portuguese wife of Charles II of England. She was married to Charles in 1662 as part of an alliance between England and Portugal, bringing England trad¬ ing privileges and the port cities of Tangier and Bombay (now Mumbai). She produced no heir. Though not a faithful husband, Charles defended her against accusations of scheming
to poison him. She helped convert him to Catholicism shortly before his death. In 1692 she returned to Portugal, and in 1704 she governed the country as regent for her ailing brother, Pedro II.
Catherine of Siena, Saint orig. Caterina Benincasa (b. March 25, 1347, Siena, Tuscany—d. April 29, 1389, Rome; canonized 1461; feast day April 29) Dominican mystic and patron saint of Italy. She joined the Dominican third order in Siena in 1363 and soon became known for her holiness and severe asceticism. Catherine called for a Crusade against the Muslims as a means of calming domestic conflict in Italy. She also played a major role in returning the papacy from Avignon to Rome (see Avignon papacy). Her writings include four treatises on religious mysti¬ cism known as The Dialogue of St. Catherine.
Catherine Parr (b. 1512—d. Sept. 7, 1548) Sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII of England. The daughter of an official in the royal household, she had been widowed twice by the time she married Henry in 1543. She exerted a beneficial influence on the increasingly paranoid king and devel¬ oped close friendships with his children by previous marriages. After Henry’s death in 1547, she married Baron Thomas Seymour but died shortly after giving birth to a daughter.
catheterization V.ka-tho-ts-ro-'za-shonV Threading of a flexible tube (catheter) through a channel in the body to inject drugs or a contrast medium, measure and record flow and pressures, inspect structures, take samples, diagnose disorders, or clear blockages. A cardiac catheter, passed into the heart through an artery or vein (the incision is often in the groin), can also carry pacemaker electrodes. A bladder catheter goes through the urethra into the bladder.
cathode Terminal or electrode at which electrons enter a system, such as an electrolytic cell or an electron tube. In a battery or other source of direct current, the cathode is the positive terminal. In a passive load it is the negative terminal. In an electron tube, such as a cathode-ray tube, elec¬ trons stream off the cathode and travel through the tube toward the anode.