ALBERT THE GREAT ALHIi, I N M- s 



him, and released them from their oath of allegi 

 aiice. Tin- archbishop of Menu from a friend 

 became tin- enemy of A., and joined tin- party ot 

 the pope. On the oihcr hand, .\. formed an alli- 

 ance with Philip Ir Hel of France, secured the 

 neutrality of Saxony and Brandenburg, and. liy a 

 sudden irruption into tin- electorate of SlcnU, forced 

 the archbishop not only to renounce his alliance 

 with the IMIJIC, lint to form one wilh him for the live 

 ensuing years. Dismayed by this rapid success, 

 Boniface entered into negotiations with A., in which 

 the latter a^ain showed the duplicity of his charac- 

 ter. He broke his alliance with Philip, acknow- 

 ledged that the western empire was a grant from 

 the popes to the emperors, that the electors derived 

 their right of choosing from the see of Rome, and 

 prouiNi <1 to defend with arms the rights of the pope, 

 \vheiie\cr he should demand it, against anyone. As 

 a reward, Boniface excommunicated Philip, pro- 

 claimed him to have forfeited his crown, and gave 

 the kingdom of France to A. Philip, however, 

 chastised the pope. A. was engaged in unsuccess- 

 ful wars with Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Hungary, 

 Bohemia, and Thuringia. While preparing to re- 

 venge a defeat which lie had suffered in Thuringia, 

 he received the news of the revolt of the Swiss, and 

 saw himself obliged to direct his forces thither. The 

 revolt of Underwalden, Schweitz, and I'ri had 

 broken out Jan. 1, 1308. A. liad not only foreseen 

 this consequence of his oppression, but desired it, in 

 onler to have a pretence tor subjecting Switzerland 

 entirely to himself. A new act of injustice, how- 

 c\ir, put an end to his ambition and life. Suabia 

 was the inheritance of John, the son of his younger 

 brother, Rodolph. John had repeatedly asserted 

 his right to it, but in vain. When A. set out for 

 Switzerland, John renewed his demand, which was 

 contemptuously rejected by A., who scoffingly offer- 

 ed him a garland of flowers, saying, " This becomes 

 your age ; leave the cares of government to me." 

 John, in revenge, conspired with his governor, 

 Walter of Eschenbach, and three friends, against 

 the life of A. The conspirators improved the mo- 

 ment when the emperor, on his way to Rheinfelden, 

 was separated from his train by the river Reuss, 

 and assassinated him. A. breathed his last, May, 1, 

 1308, in the arms of a poor woman, who was sitting 

 on the road. He was a prince regardless of right 

 and equity, tyrannical, avaricious, ambitious, and 

 able. How cruelly Agnes, queen of Hungary, re- 

 venged her father's death, will be related under 

 John the Parricide. 



ALBERT THE GREAT, or ALBERTUS MAGNUS, 

 bishop of Ratisbon ; a distinguished scholar of the 

 1 3th century. Besides his theological learning, he 

 was well versed, for his time, in mechanics, natural 

 history, and natural philosophy. He was born in 

 1193 (according to some accounts, in 1205), at 

 Lauingen in Suabia, of the noble family of Boll- 

 stadt ; studied at Padua ; became a monk of the 

 Dominican order; in 1254, was made provincial of 

 his order; and in 126O received from pope Alex- 

 ander IV. the bishopric of Ratisbon. Two years 

 later, he returned to his convent, devoted himself to 

 science, and produced many learned works on arith- 

 m< tic, geometry, optics, music, astrology, and astro- 

 nomy. He died in 1280. 



ALBERTI. There were two painters of this name, 

 ' heruhino and Giovanni, brothers, natives of the 

 Florentine territory, who flourished about the close 

 of the 16th century. Cherubino, who was also an 

 engraver, died in 1615, surviving his brother about 

 fourteen years. 



ALBERTI, Leon Baptista, an eminent Italian 

 architect, was born at Venice in the beginning of 



the loth century; died about 1475. His principal 

 erections are at Florence, Mantua, and Rimini, lie 

 \\as ;mtlior of various works, particularly one, " De 

 He .Kdilicatoria," which was published in Italian 

 and Knglish, London, i;vii, 3 vols. folio. The 

 invent ioh of the Camera Obscuni has been attri- 

 buted to Albcrti. 



AUIKKTIM, Francis, an ecclesiastic of Florence, 

 and an able antiquary, flourished in the beginning of 

 the l(ilh century. Some of his works are still 

 esteemed. 



ALBIGKNSES (Alhigeois) ; a name common to 

 several heretical sects, particularly the < athari and 

 Waldenses, who agreed in opposing the dominion 

 of the Romish hierarchy, and endeavouring to n- 

 store the* simplicity of primitive Christianity. They 

 had increased very much towards the close of the 

 12th century, in the south of France, about Toulouse 

 and Albi, and were denominated by the crusnh rs 

 A., from the district Albigeois (territory of Albi), 

 where the army of Uie cross, called togethi 

 pope Innocent III., attacked them in 1 :;()!). The 

 assassination of the papal legate and inquisitor, Peter 

 of Castelnau, while occupied in extirpating th< - 

 heretics in the territory of the count Raymond of 

 Toulouse, occasioned this war, which is important as 

 the first which the Romish church waged against 

 heretics within her own dominions. It was carried 

 on with a degree of cruelty which cast a deep shade 

 over the Romish clergy, as their real object appear- 

 ed to be to deprive the count of Toulouse of his 

 possessions, on account of his tolerating the heretics. 

 It was in vain that this powerful prince, had suffered 

 a disgraceful penance and flagellation from the 

 legate Milo, and obtained the papal absolution by 

 great sacrifices. The legates, Arnold, abbot of 

 Citeaux, and Milo, took Beziers, the capital of his 

 nephew Roger, by storm, and put all the inhabitants 

 (about 60,000), without any distinction of creed, to 

 the sword. Simeon de Montfort, the military leader 

 of the crusade under the legates, was equally 

 severe towards other places in the territory of Ray- 

 mond and his allies, of whom Roger di< d in t. 

 prison, and Peter I., king of Arragon, in battle. 

 The lands taken were presented by the church, as a 

 reward for his services, to. the count of Montfort, 

 who, however, on account of the changing fortune 

 of war, never obtained the quiet possession of them ; 

 he was killed by a stone, at the siege of Toulouse, 

 in 1218. The legates prevailed on his son, 

 Amalric, to cede his claims to the king of France. 

 The papal indulgences attracted from all provinces 

 of France new crusaders, who continued the war. 

 and, even after the death of Raymond VI., in 1222, 

 under excommunication, his son, Raymond VII., 

 was obliged, notwithstanding his readiness to do 

 penance, to defend his inheritance, till 1229, against 

 the legates, and Louis VIII. of France, who fell, 

 in 1226, in a campaign against the heretics. After 

 hundreds of thousands had fallen on both sides, and 

 the most beautiful parts of Provence and Upper 

 Languedoc had been laid waste, a peace was made, 

 by the terms of which Raymond was obliged to pur- 

 chase his absolution with a large sum of money, to 

 cede Narbonne, with several estates, to Louis IX., 

 and make his son-in-law, a brother of Louis, heir 

 of his other lands. The pope suffered these pro- 

 vinces to come into the possession of the king of 

 France, in order to bind him more firmly to his in- 

 terests, and force him to receive his inquisitors. 

 The heretics were now delivered up to the prosely- 

 tizing zeal of the Dominicans, and to the courts of the 

 inquisition ; and these new auxiliaries, which priest- 

 craft had acquired during the war (see Dominic de 

 Guzman, and Jnyuisili&n), employed their whole 



