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ALEXANDER VI. ALEXANDER T, PAULOWITSCH. 



ALEXANDER VI., :i pope notorious for liis profli- 

 gacy, was boni t Valencia, in Spain, in 1 I.M), and 

 ascended the papal throne in lift-.'. His name 

 was Rodrigo Lenmoli; Imt he took tin- ancient and 

 renowned name of his mother's family, Borgiu. In 

 his youth he was noted for dissipation, though not 

 destitute of talent. He had five children, by a 

 woman famous for her beauty, Rosa Vanozia. 

 Caesar Borgia and Lucretia aiv the most known ; 

 the latter was four times married, and was suspected 

 of incestuous intercourse with her father and brothers. 

 A. was made a cardinal by pope Calixtus III., his 

 uncle. By bribing the cardinals Sforza, Riario, and 

 Cibo, he prepared his way to the papal throne, after 

 the death of Innocent VIII. The long residence of 

 the popes in Avignon, at a distance from their domi- 

 nions in Italy, had diminished both their authority 

 and revenues. To make up for this loss, A. VI. en- 

 deavoured to impair the power of the Italian princes, 

 and seize upon their possessions, for the bent-fit of 

 his own family. To effect this end, he employed 

 the most execrable means. His policy, foreign as 

 well as domestic, was faithless and base, particularly 

 in the case of France, whose king, Charles VIII., 

 was his enemy. He understood how to extract im- 

 mense sums of money from all Christian countries. 

 He decided the dispute between the kings of Por- 

 tugal and Castile concerning America, dividing their 

 conquests, in 1492, by a fine running from pole to 

 pole, 370 miles west of the Azores. A. died, 74 years 

 old, in 1503. Machiavelli abhorred this detestable 

 miscreant, and says of him, 



Mal6 ralenza, e per aver riposo 



Fortato fu fra i'anime beate 

 Lo ipirito d' Alessandro glorioso ; 



Del qual wguiro le sante pedate 

 Tre iue familiari e care ancelle, 



LuMuria, simonia e crude! tade. 



ALEXANDER. Three kings of Scotland were so 

 named. A. I., son of Malcolm III., succeeded his 

 brother Edgar in 11O7. He was called the Fierce, 

 from his vigour and impetuosity. A conspiracy was 

 formed against his life, and the traitors obtained ad- 

 mission into his bed-chamber at night. A., having 

 killed six of them, made his escape. He died in the 

 17th year of his reign. A. II. succeeded his father, 

 William the Lion, 1214, in his 16th year, and died 

 in his 51st year. His son, A. III., succeeded him 

 in 1249. He married Margaret, daughter of Henry 

 III. of England. In 1263, he defeated, at Largs, 

 Haquin, or Haco, king of "Norway, who had landed 

 an army in his kingdom. He was killed by his horse 

 falling down a precipice between Bruntisland and 

 Kinghorn. He was a prince of an excellent char- 

 acter, introduced many good regulations of govern- 

 ment, and greatly contributed to diminish the burdens 

 of the feudal system, and to restrain the license and 

 oppressions of the nobility. His death makes an era 

 in Scottish history. 



ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, a Neapolitan lawyer 

 of the sixteenth century, who distinguished himself 

 in polite literature. An edition of his principal work, 

 " Dies Geniales," was published in 1587, with notes 

 by his commentator Tiraqueau. 



ALEXANDER, John, a Scottish painter of some 

 eminence during the earlier half of the eighteenth 

 century. He studied his art chiefly at Florence, and 

 on returning to his native country he resided at 

 Gordon castle, and painted several subjects, consist- 

 ing chiefly of poetical, allegorical, and ornamental 

 pieces. He also painted portraits and historical 

 landscapes. Many of the portraits of Queen Mary 

 are by him. 



ALEXANDER NEWSKOI, a Russian hero and saint, 

 the son of the grand-duke Jaroslav, was born in 



I'.M!>. hi onler to defend the empire, which was 

 attacked on all sides, |>ut especially l>y the Mongols. 

 Jaroslav quitted No\orod, and left the charge nt 

 the government to liis sons, l-'edor and Alexander, 

 tlie former of whom soon afterwards died. A. re- 

 pulsed the assailants. Russia, nevertheless, came 

 under the Mongolian dominion, in 1238. A., when 

 prince of Novgorod, defended the western frontier 

 against the Danes, Swedes, and knights of the 

 'leutonic order. He gained, in 1240, a splendid 

 victory, on the Neva, over the Swedes, and thence 

 received his surname. He overcame, in l~24^, the 

 knights of the sword, on the ice of bake Feijms. 

 Aftei- the death of his father, in 1245, A. became 

 grand-duke of Wladimir. He died in 12G3. The 

 gratitude of his countrymen has commemorated the 

 hero in popular songs, and raised him to the dignity 

 of a saint. Peter the Great honoured liis memory 

 by the erection of a splendid monastery in l'eier> 

 burg, on the spot where A. gained his victory, and 

 by establishing the order of Alexander Ne\vskoi. 



ALEXANDER, Noel, a French dominican of the 

 17th century, who died in 1724. He wrote various 

 works, the most important of which is an Ecclesias- 

 tical History of the Bible, in Latin, 8 vols. folio. 



ALEXANDER I., PAULOWITSCH (that is, the son of 

 Paul), emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, and 

 king of Poland, was born Dec. 23, 1777 ; ascended 

 the throne March 24, 1801 ; was crowned 27Ui 

 Sept. of the same year, in Moscow ; married, 9th 

 Oct., 1793, Elizabeth (previously called Lvuisu 

 Maria Augusta), third daughter of Charles Louis, 

 hereditary prince of Baden ; and died 1st Dec., 

 1825. A. was one of the most important men ot 

 modern times. He was a great benefactor of his 

 own country, and did some good and a great deal of 

 evil to Europe. Nature had endowed him with 

 great talents, which were judiciously cultivated by 

 his mother and his instructors. He recognised the 

 spirit of the age ; frequently acted in accordance 

 with liberal principles ; had sense enough to know 

 that a monarch, to play an important part, must 

 have respect to the wishes of the people, whatever 

 his ultimate object may be ; loved justice, if it did 

 not militate with his love of power, which was indeed 

 of a higher order than that of a common tyrant ; 

 and sought to make himself, like Napoleon, master 

 of Europe, though with different means. In many 

 respects he resembled the great pope Gregory VII. 

 He was, whether from policy or conviction of its 

 necessity, in a religious point of view, the principal 

 contriver and the chief support of the " Holy Alli- 

 ance" (q. v.), a league which history will denounce 

 as the origin of infinite evil. His father did not 

 take any part in his education, which was directed 

 by the empress Catharine II. and colonel Laharpe, 

 (q. v.) His mother, Maria, the daughter of the 

 duke Eugene of Wirtemberg, always possessed his 

 love and confidence, and retained a great influence 

 over him throughout his reign. She died in the 

 year 1828. Laharpe educated him in the principles 

 of an enlightened age. His first governor, count 

 Nich. Soltikoff, received orders from Catharine not 

 to give the young prince any instructions in poetry 

 and music, as requiring too much time for the attain- 

 ment of proficiency. Professor Kraft instructed 

 him in natural philosophy, and Pallas, a short time, 

 in botany. He took part, it is probable, in the con- 

 spiracy against his father, though it is not likely that 

 he had the most distant thought against his life. He 

 wished to save himself and many nobles of the em- 

 pire from the mad persecution of the emperor, and 

 nothing short of dethroning him could afford them 

 safety. He is often said, therefore, to have acted in 

 self-defence. The history of his government may 



