Lives and Adventures (London, 1857); Howells, Life of and Essays on Alfieri (Boston, 1877); Antonini and Cognetti, Vittorio Alfieri (Turin, 1898); G. Carducci, Primi Saggi (Bologna, 1889); and E. Panzacchi, Vita ilaliana nel settecento (Milan, 1896).
ALFILARIA, al-fil'a-re'ji. See Geranium.
ALFINGER, iil'flng-er, Ambrosiode (?-1532).
A German soldier of fortune, who in 1528 became the agent of the Welser family of Augsburg, to finish for them the conquest of Venezuela; this being the condition under which they held title to the country from Castile. He led out a company of Germans, but his expedition to the neighborhood of Lake Maracaibo and to New Granada was notorious for its cruelties, and he was killed by an Indian.
AL'FIO'NA (Mex. Sp.). The largest of the California surf fishes. See Surf Fish.
ALFONSINE, al-fcin'sin, or ALPHONSINE TA'BLES. Certain astronomical calculations made by the ablest men of the period for Alfonso X. of Castile. A room in the palace at Segovia is still shown as Alfonso's observatory. The tables were completed in 1252, the year when Alfonso came to the throne, and first published in 1483.
ALFON'SO I. of Castile and VI. of Leon, "the Valiant" (1030-1109). He was the son of Ferdinand the Great, King of Castile and Leon. Leon was given to him by his father; Sancho, the eldest son, received Castile; Garcia, youngest of the three, a part of Galicia and Portugal. Alfonso came to the throne in 1065. War soon broke out between the brothers, and in 1068 Sancho defeated Alfonso in a bloody battle on the Pisuerga. Three years later Alfonso defeated Sancho on the Carrión; but Sancho, reëforced, it is said, by the renowned Cid, Roderigo Diaz de Bivar, nearly annihilated the Leonese army, took Alfonso prisoner, compelled him to abdicate, and shut him up in a monastery. Alfonso escaped and sought shelter with the Moorish King of Toledo. Sancho took possession of Leon and immediately attacked Garcia, defeating and capturing him at Santarem. In 1072 Sancho was assassinated by a Castilian knight, and Alfonso, upon solemnly declaring himself innocent of the murder, was reinstated in his kingdom of Leon, to which was added Castile. His brother Garcia, who was preparing to recover the throne of Galicia, was treacherously invited to his court, made a prisoner, and died in confinement ten years later. Alfonso now ruled over nearly all of his father's kingdom, and went to the assistance of the Moorish King, who had befriended him and whose kingdom was being invaded by Cordovans. Alfonso's gratitude ended with the death of the old king; he did not scruple to attack his son, and soon captured the city of Toledo, thus adding New Castile to his dominions. Alfonso was monarch of most of Christian Spain, when a powerful Almoravide army from Africa, with the assistance of the King of Seville, inflicted upon him a terrible defeat, in 1086, near Zalaca. He gradually regained strength, but in 1108 the Moors destroyed his army and killed his only son. The next year Alfonso died and was succeeded by his daughter, Urraea, who became the wife of Alfonso I. of Aragon. His illegitimate daughter, Theresa, married Henry of Burgundy, and gave birth to the first King of Portugal.
ALFONSO III., surnamed "the Great" (848-
912). King of Leon, Asturias, and Galicia. He
succeeded his father, Ordoño I., in 866, but had
to maintain his rights by force of arms against
Count Fruela, who had usurped the throne. Hav-
ing caused the latter to be executed, by the or-
der of the Senate of Oviedo, he proceeded sternly
to reduce to obedience the powerful nobility of
the kingdom, who did not wish the monarchy to
remain in one family. From 870 to 901 he was
constantly at war with the Moors, and gained
many victories. Crossing the Douro, he hum-
bled Coimbra, penetrated to the Tagus and Es-
tremadura, enlarged his territories by a portion
of Portugal and Old Castile, and repeopled the
conquered and desolate Burgos, making of it the
first town in Castile. These wars entailed great
expense and misery upon the nation. As a con-
sequence, in 888, Garcia, the son of Alfonso,
raised the standard of revolt. Alfonso collected
his forces, conquered his son, and threw him into
prison. But Garcia's mother, with the help of
several of the grandees, excited a new conspiracy,
which resulted in the abdication of the monarch
in favor of his imprisoned son, in 910. In order,
however, to be still useful to his country, Al-
fonso became commander of Garcia's forces in
an expedition against the Moors. After return-
ing in triumph, he died at Zamora, December 20, 912.
ALFONSO VI. of Leon. See Alfonso I. of Castile.
ALFONSO X. (1221-84). King of Leon and Castile, surnamed "the Astronomer," "the Philosopher," or "the Wise" (El Sabio). He succeeded his father, Ferdinand III., in 1252. As early as the storming of Seville, in 1248, he had given indications of his courageous spirit. But instead of wisely confining his efforts to the conquest of the Moors and the repression of the nobility, he lavished the resources of his kingdom in efforts to secure the imperial throne of Germany, to which he was elected in 1257. Richard of Cornwall was chosen in opposition to him. Neither could succeed in securing recognition, and ultimately the imperial crown was placed upon the head of Rudolph of Hapsburg (1273). While Alfonso was striving for the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, his throne was threatened by the turbulence of the nobility, and at the same time he had to contend with the Moors. The latter, however, he defeated, in 1262, in a bloody battle. In 1270 an insurrection broke out in his dominions, at the head of which was his brother Philip. Later his son Sancho also rebelled, and in 1282 deprived him of his throne. He now sought the help of the Moors, but after fruitless efforts to recover his power, he died at Seville, April 4, 1284. He was the most learned prince of his time, and has acquired lasting fame through the completion of the code of laws called the Siete Partidas, which 200 years later became the universal law of the land. There are still extant several long poems of his, a work on chemistry, El libro del tesoro, translated later by Brunetto Latini (q.v.), and various translations of Arabic works. He labored much to revive knowledge, increasing both the privileges and professorships of the University of Salamanca. He sought to improve the Ptolemaic planetary tables, whose anomalies had struck observers even at that early time. For this purpose, in 1240, he assembled at Toledo upward
