ALMEIDA,!il-ma'e-da. One of the strong- est fortified places in Portugal, situated on the River C'oa. on the Spanish frontier, in the prov- ince of Beira (Map: Portugal, B 2). In 17()2 it was captured by the Spaniards, who soon after- ward surrendered it. In their retreat from Portnga!, 1811, the French, under General llrenier, destroyed a great portion of the fortifi- cations of Almeida, which, however, were speed- ily repaired by the English. Pop., about 3000.
ALMEIDA. A town situated on the east coast i)f Brazil, in the State of Espirito Santo, near the mouth of the Reis JIagos River, 20 miles nortli of Victoria. It was founded in 1580. Pop., 4000.
ALMEIDA, Francisco de (I4.50?-1.510). A Portuf^nese warrior and empire builder. He was born in the middle of the fifteenth century. For his services against the Moors he was made, in 1505, viceroy of the Portuguese possessions in the East Indies. At Cannanore, Cochin, and Quilon, and in Ceylon and Sumatra he either built fortresses to protect the Portuguese factories or founded new trading posts. His attempt to establish the supremacy of Portugal in the Indian seas brought him into conflict with the Venetians and the Egyptians. In a great battle fought between Lorenzo de Almeida, son of Fran- cisco, and a combined Venetian and Egyptian fleet, in the harbor of Chaul, in 1507, j'oung Lorenzo fell. To avenge his death, Francisco sacked the ports of Goa and Dabul, and refusing to acknowledge Albuquerque, who had been sent out to supersede him, destroyed the Egyptian fleet at Din in 1508. Then he resigned his com- mand and sailed for home, but perished in a skirmish with African savages near the Cape of Good Hope.
ALMEIDA-GARRETT, al-ma'e-da-gar-ret', Jo.to Baptista de Silva Leitao, Viscount d' (1709-1854). A distinguished Portuguese states- man and author, leader of the romantic move- ment in his country, and its most important poet of the nineteenth century. He was born at Oporto and died at Lisbon. After a boyhood spent in the Azores, under the tutelage of a highly gifted uncle, Rishop of Angra. he attended the University of t'oimbra, and there imbibed the revolutionary ideas which led him to partici- pate in the revolt of 1820, and three v'ears later resulted in his expatriation. Hitherto, his writ- ings, such as the dramas Mcro/ie and Catao, and the didactic poem on painting, Retrato de ^'enlls, reflected the spirit of French classicism and the native "Arcadian" school. In Engl.and and France, however, he came under the influ- ence of Scott and the French romanticists, and this influence is reflected in his epic, Camocs 1 1825) , the burden of which is the poet's longing for his home; and in his equally well known Dona Branca (1820), a long poem, half epic, half lyric, and aimed especially against monastic life. He returned to Portugal in 1826, and suf- fered a brief imprisonment owing to some politi- cal articles. Two years later he was again forced to seek safety in exile: bnt when, in 1832, Dom Pedro returned from Brazil for the purpose of contesting the throne with his brother, Dom Mi- guel, Almeida-Garrett joined his forces, and after the victory of 1833 was rewarded with a place in the cabinet as minister of the interior. His life henceforth was one of remarkable activity. As a member of the national Cortes, he showed himself an uncompromising supporter of democratic principles, and instituted many reforms. He interested himself especially in the founding of a national theatre and a conservatory of dramatic art, and wrote a long series of prose dramas, the central figure in each case being some typical national character, such as Auto de Oil Vicento (1838), D. Filippa de Vilhcna (fiiO), and Frei Liiiz de Sousa (1844). One of his most impor- tant contributions to literature is his lioman- ceiro (1851-53), a collection of thirty-two early Portuguese ballads and romances, the text of hich he freely restored and emended. His last work is a poem, Folhas cahidas ("Fallen Leaves"), a dramatic record of a love that came in the autumn of life, which for pathos and emo- tional power is hardly equaled in Portuguese literature. An edition of his collected works appeared after his death (Lisbon, 1854-77). The best biography is that of Gomes de Amorim, Garrett. Jlemorias biographieas, 3 volumes (Lis- bon, 1881-88).
ALMELO, arma-lo'. A town in the Nether- lands, 19 miles by rail northeast of Deventer (Map: Xetherlands. E 2) . The town possesses a church with the family vault of the Von Recht- eren, whose fine castle is also here, and manu- factures linen and cotton goods. Pop., 1889, 8354; 1900, 10,018.
ALMERIA, iil'm.a-re'a (Ar. The Conspicu- ous). The capital of the province of Almeria in Spain, GO miles southeast of Granada. Alme- ria is the seat of a bishop (Jlap: Spain, D 4). It stands at the head of Almeria Bay, at the mouth of the river of the same name ; behind it rises a lofty mountain ridge, on which is an ancient Moorish castle. The flat-roofed houses are Oriental in character, and the appearance of the place evidences its antiquity. The Gothic cathedral, begun in 1524, is essentially Spanish in its fortress-like outline and battlemented walls. The church of San Pedro occupies the site of a mosque. There are a normal school, several monasteries, and some ruined castles in the town, but no signs of much intellectual interest or activity. There are manufactures of sugar, white lead, macaroni, etc., but the most important commercial interest in Almeria is its exportation of fruit, grapes, oranges, almonds, pomegranates, etc.. and of iron ore. It is a win- ter resort for invalids, as its climate rivals that of Nice. Population, 1900. 47,202. Almeria is one of the most ancient cities of Spain, and was founded by the Phoenicians. The Romans called it Unci, and Magnus Pontus, the gi'eat harbor. It flourished under the Moors, when, as the prov- erb says, "Granada was no more than its farm." When it passed into Christian hands (1489) its prosperity languished, and only within recent years have railway facilities brought back some- thing of its former activity.
ALMERIA. In Congi-eve's Mouniinr/ Bride (q.v. ), the heroine, bride of Prince Al[)honso, whom slie mourns until his unexpected return. Her role is famous for the lines, "Music hath charms," etc.
AL'MERI'CIANS. The followers of Amalric of Bene (q.v. ) .
ALMIQUI, al-me'ke (native name). A Cuban insectivore. See AgoCta; and plate of Cavies accompanying article Cavt.
