Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/321

This page needs to be proofread.

ALFONSO ALFORD 297 exception of the body of a dead saint, Louis, formerly bishop of Toulouse. Alfonso passed about eight years in Spain, and then again turned his attention to Italy. ' Here the Span- iards, pressed by the queen, the pope, the dukes of Anjou and Milan, and the Genoese, had been almost overwhelmed. Alfonso ar- rived in 1432, and, seeing the desperate state of affairs, sailed to the island of Jerba on the coast of Africa, which he conquered, after gaining a victory over the bey of Tunis, to whom the island belonged. After this exploit he returned to Italy, where he engaged in ne- gotiations to bring about a reconciliation with Queen Joanna, and in intrigues to obtain ad- herents. In 1435 the queen died, bequeathing her crown to Ren6 of Anjou, count of Pro- vence, brother and successor of Louis III., who had died some time before ; and Alfonso, think- ing the occasion a favorable one for asserting his claims, renewed the war, and besieged the city of Gaeta by sea and land. But in a naval battle near the island of Ponza, he was totally defeated by the Genoese and the duke of Milan, and was taken prisoner with a great number of his followers ; and shortly afterward his land forces were routed and dispersed under the walls of Gaeta. Having by his nobleness of disposition and gallant bearing gained the affec- tion of his captor, the duke of Milan, the latter set him at liberty and became his ally, and Al- fonso was thus enabled to resume his opera- tions under better auspices. After a contest of several years without effecting much, he succeeded, by the treachery of one of the ad- herents of Rene, in making himself master of Naples in 1442, and compelled Ren6 to seek refuge in Provence. Alfonso was soon after recognized as king of Naples by the assembled states of the kingdom, and by Pope Eugenius IV., who also issued a bull legitimatizing Ferdi- nand, the bastard son of the king. From this time Alfonso resided in Naples, exerting him- self to improve the condition of that kingdom, the affairs of which, during the reign of Jo- anna II. and the disturbances which followed, had fallen into much disorder; and, though taking part in some Italian wars of little im- portance, he passed the remainder of his life in comparative quiet. At his death his brother John inherited the crowns of Aragon, Sardinia, and Sicily, while his son Ferdinand received that of Naples. ALFONSO I., the first king of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy, count of Portugal, died in 1185. He was several times at war with the kingdom of Castile ; but on the establish- ment of peace he turned his arms against the common enemy, the Moors, and fought a battle in 1139, on the plains of Ourique, against the Moorish king of Badajoz and his allies, which completely broke the Moslem power in Portu- gal. After this victory he assumed the royal title. In 1146 he took the town of Santarem after an obstinate defence, and put to the sword every living soul ; and the following year Portugal was free. He instituted a code of laws, still known as the laws of Alfonso. He was succeeded by his son Sancho I, ALFONSO V., king of Portugal, surnamed the African, born in 1432, succeeded his father Duarte in 1438, died at Cintra, Aug. 28, 1481. During his minority the regency was held first by his mother and afterward by his uncle Dom Pedro, whose daughter the young king married on coming of age. A few years later Dom Pe- dro was declared a rebel and killed in battle, but Alfonso soon became convinced of his loy- alty, paid great honors to his memory, and punished those who had traduced him. Dur- ing his reign the Portuguese discovered and colonized Guinea. In answer to the call of Pope Calixtus III. for a general crusade against the Moslems, he equipped a fleet of 250 vessels for an expedition to Africa, and in 1458 landed near Tangier with 20,000 men. It was not until 13 years later that he found himself, after severe campaigns, master of Tangier and seve- ral other cities, his conquests surpassing in im- portance those of any other Portuguese mon- arch in Africa. Having been affianced to Joanna of Castile (his wife being dead), he pro- claimed himself king of Castile and Leon, but was defeated at Toro in 1476 by Ferdinand the Catholic, and driven to seek assistance in France. There Louis XL treacherously held him prisoner till 1479, when he made peace with Ferdinand, and renounced his Spanish pretensions. Joanna took the veil in 1480, and Alfonso was about to enter a monastery when he died of the plague. He founded at Coim- bra the first library in Portugal. For his zeal in ransoming Christian slaves he was called "the redeemer of captives." ALFORD, Henry, an English author and cler- gyman, born in London in 1810, died Jan. 12, 1871. He was educated at Ilminster, and at Trinity college, Cambridge. In 1833 he was ap- pointed curate of Amp ton, Suffolk, and soon af- terward vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire, where he spent 18 years. He was a fellow of his college, and from 1841 to 1857 was examiner of logic and moral philosophy in the university of London. During the years 1841 and 1842 he was also Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge. On leaving Leicestershire he became minister of Quebec street chapel (1853), where he was distinguished as an eloquent preacher. In 1857, upon the death of Dean Lyall, Lord Pal- merston appointed him dean of Canterbury. He wrote poetry in the early part of his life, publishing among other volumes "The School of the Heart and other Poems " (Cambridge, 1835), of which several editions have since appeared. Didactic and defective in form, many of his poems are nevertheless regarded as gems of exquisite thought and religious feel- ing. Among his other works are his " Plea for the. Queen's English " (1866), and " How to Study the New Testament " (1867). But he will be best remembered by his edition of the Greek Testament with English notes, referen-