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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Pocahontas
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(c.1595–1617) American Indian princess, daughter of the chief Powhatan, who was seized in 1613 and taken to Jamestown, the first successful English colony in *America. She was baptized a Christian and in 1614 she married one of the colonists, John Rolfe. In 1616 the couple and their infant son were brought to London. They were entertained in the royal palace at Whitehall and Pocahontas delighted London society.
It was at this point that John *Smith first told the story of how he had been captured in 1608 by Powhatan's tribe and was about to be put to death, with his head already on the sacrificial stone, when Pocahontas intervened and saved his life. His timing has always cast some doubt on the incident, for he had four years earlier published an account of the colony in Virginia without mentioning this dramatic event. Pocahontas died just before returning to America.
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