Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/341

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ALBERONI.
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ALBERT.

received a command to quit Madrid within eight days and the Ivingdom within three weeks. Exposed to the vengeance of every power whoso hatred he had drawn upon himself, he knew no land where he could remain. Not even to Rome could he venture, for Clement XT. was more bit- terly inimical to him. than was any secular poten- tate. He wandered about in disguise and under fictitious names. At length he was imprisoned in the Genoese territory, through the solicitation of the Pope and the Spanish monarch; but he speedily recoered his liberty, and two years after the death of Clement, was reinstated by Innocent XIII. in all the rights and dignities of a car- dinal. In 1740 he retired to Piacenza, where he died twelve years after, at the age of eighty- eight. He bequeathed his possessions in Lom- bardy to Philip V., while his cousin and heir, Cesare Alberoni, became possessor of 1,000,000 ducats. Consult: Eoiisset, tfistoire iln Cardinal Alheroni (The Hague. 1710, English translation, London, 1710) ; Bersani, Storia del cardinale Giulio Alheroni (Piacenza. 1862).


ALBERS, al'bers, Johann Friedrich Hermann (1805-67). A German physician, professor of pathology at Bonn. He established there an asylum for the treatment of insanity and nervous diseases, and was director of the pharmacological cabinet. His atlas of pathological anatomy (Bonn, 18.32-02, 287 plates) and books on various branches of medical science were regarded as standard works, and are still useful and interesting.


ALBERT, rilOjert: Ger. pron. iil'bert. In Goethe's Sorroics of Werther (q.v. ), the husband of Lotte, with whom Werther is in love. The character is said to be taken from that of Goethe's friend Kestner. ALBERT, al'bert. A character in Sheridan Knowles's comedy, The Beggar of Beflinul Green (q.v) ; the beggar, who is Lord Wilfrid in disguise.


ALBERT, Ger. ALBRECHT. Ul'breKt. The name borne by five dukes of Austria, of whom two (I. and V.) were also emperors of Ger- many. Albert L, Archduke of Austria and Em- peror of Germany, was the eldest son of Rudolph of Hapsburg. and was born in 1248. Rudolph, before his death, endeavored to have Albert ap- pointed as his successor in the Empire; but the Electors, already aware of the t^-ranny of Albert, refused to comply. After the old king's death Austiia and Styria revolted: but AUicrt. having vigorously crushed the rebellion, turned liis at- tention toward the Empire. The Archbishop of JIainz. an instrtiment of the Pope, secured the privilege of appointing the imperial candidate, and named his cousin, Adolphus of Nassau, in 1292. Albert took the oath of allegiance and quietly awaited developments. In 1298, Adol- phus. who had disgusted his subjects, was de- posed and Allicrt was elected. He was obliged to fight for the new honor, and met his rival in a battle near Worms, in which Adolphus was de- fe.ited and slain. Albert was crowned at Aix-la- Chapelle in August, 1298; but Pope Boniface VIll. declared that he alone was emperor, and denied the right of the princes to elect .Albert or to recognize him. Albert, however, made an alli- ance with Philip the Fair of France, and secur- ing the neutrality of Saxony and Brandenburg, invaded the Electorate of ^Alainz and forced the Archbishop to make an alliance with him, thus securing a former ally of the Pope. Boniface was alarmed by h.is success and entered into negotiations with him. As a result, Albert broke his alliance with Philip, recognized the suprem- acy of the Pope, and promised to defend the rights of the Roman court whenever called upon. Boniface then excommunicated Philip, and offered the throne to Albert in 1303 ; but Philip soon retaliated by getting the Papacy tinder the power of the French crown. After this Albert fought unsuccessfully against Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Hungary, Bohemia, and Thuringia. In January, 1308, news arrived of a rebellion among the Swiss in Unterwaldcn, Schwyz, and L'ri, and the Emperor seized this pretext to sub- jugate the country. An act of injustice, how- ever, occasioned a crime which put an end to his life. His nephew. Duke John, claimed Swabia as his rightful inheritance, but had urged his claims in vain. When Albert was departing for Switzerland, .John renewed his demands, but was refused, and so he resolved to be revenged. He conspired against his iincle's life and assas- sinated him on the road to Rheinfelden, while separated from his followers by the River Reuss. The Emperor expired May 1, 130S, in the arms of a beggar woman. His daighter, Agnes, Queen of Hungary, revenged her father's death. (See John. THE Parricipe.) Albert left six sons and five daughters, the children of his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of the Count of Tyrol. The story of William Tell is connected with Albert I.

Albert V. (as German king, Albert II.) was born in 1397 and inherited the duchy of Austria while still a child. After rcii^ivins wliat was for the times an excellent education, he assumed direct control of the government in 1411. In 1422 he married the daughter of the Emperor Sigismund, and on the death of the latter, in 1437, succeeded, by election, to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. In March, 1438, he was elected King of Germany. Wars with the Turks and disorders in Bohemia and Hungary disturbed his short reign. He died October 27, 1439.


ALBERT (?-1412). Duke of Mecklenburg and King of Sweden, a son of Duke Albert I. of Jlecklenburg. Within a year after he was proclaimed King of Sweden (1304) he was com- pelled to fight against his uncle, Magnus II., whom he defeated and captured at the battle of Enkoping. Hakon of Norway, a son of the lat- ter, who had also disputed the right of succes- sion, fled after the battle, but was compelled to sign a treaty of peace in which he renounced all claims to the throne. The victory, however, was bought at the price of great concessions to the Royal Council, and Albert could find no sup- port among the people, who were heavily bur- dened with taxes. Consequently, an attempt to restore his power failed, and Margaret, widow of King Hakon of Norway, was invited to the throne. Albert was defeated and captured at the battle of Falkoping (February 24, 1389), and was not liberated until 1395, when he for- mally resigned all rights to the crown, and re- tired to Mecklenburg, which, as Duke Albert II., he ruled until his death. The accession of Margaret to the throne of Sweden led, in l.'?97, to the formation of the celebrated Union of Kal- mar, by which Norway, Sweden, and Denmark were formed into one kingdom.


ALBERT (1490-1568). The last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and first Duke of Prus-