ALVAAMADEUS. 



131 



had but little military talent ; and Charles V. him- 

 self, whom he advised, in Hungary, to build a 

 bridge of gold for the Turks, rather than risk a 

 decisive battle, deemed him unqualified for high 

 commands, and intrusted him with important offices 

 rather from personal favour than respect for his 

 ability. His pride was offended at the low estima- 

 tion in which lie was held, and his genius roused to 

 the performance of exploits deserving of a perma- 

 nent remembrance. His able generalship gained, in 

 1517, the battle of Muhlberg, against John Fre- 

 deric, elector of Saxony. The elector was taken 

 prisoner, and the duke, who presided in the council 

 of war, adjudged him to death, and strongly urged 

 the emperor to execute the sentence. In 1555, he 

 >,was commissioned to attack the French in Italy, and 

 pope Paul IV., the irreconcilable enemy of the 

 emperor. He gained several victories, relieved 

 Milan, advanced^ to Naples, where the intrigues 

 of the pope had stirred up a rebellion, and confirmed 

 there the Spanish influence. When Charles V. 

 resigned the government to his son, Philip II., A. 

 received the supreme command of the army. He 

 conquered the States of the Church, and frustrated 

 the efforts of the French. Philip, however, com- 

 pelled him to contract an honourable peace with the 

 pope, whom A. wished to humble. Recalled from 

 Italy, he appeared, in 1559, at the French court, in 

 order to marry Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry II., 

 by proxy, for his sovereign ; she was, at first, de- 

 stined for the crown-prince, don Carlos. About this 

 time, the Netherlands revolted, and A. advised the 

 king to suppress the insurrection by severity and 

 force. The king intrusted him with a considerable 

 anny and unlimited power, to reduce the rebellious 

 provinces. Scarcely had A. reached Flanders, 

 when he established the council of blood, at the head 

 of which stood his confidant, Jiian de Vargas. This 

 tribunal condemned, without discrimination, all whose 

 opinions were suspected, and whose riches excited 

 their avarice. . The present and absent, the living 

 and the dead, were subjected to trial, and their 

 property confiscated. Many merchants and mechan- 

 ics emigrated to England ; more than 100,000 men 

 abandoned their country ; others resorted to the 

 standard of the proscribed prince of Orange. The 

 cruelty of A. was increased by the defeat of his 

 lieutenant, the duke of Aremberg, and he caused 

 the counts of Egmont and Horn to be executed on 

 the scaffold. He afterwards defeated the count of 

 Nassau, on the plains of Gemmingen. Soon after, 

 the prince of Orange advanced with a powerful 

 army. The young Frederic of Toledo sent to his 

 father, asking permission to attack the prince. The 

 duke, who demanded blind obedience from his in- 

 feriors, answered, that he pardoned him on account 

 of his inexperience, but bade him beware of pressing 

 Him further, for it would cost the life of any one who 

 should venture on a similar message. The prince 

 of Orange was forced to withdraw to Germany. The 

 duke stained his reputation, as a general, by new 

 cruelties ; lu's executioners shed more blood than 

 his soldiers; The pope presented him with a con- 

 secrated hat and sword, a distinction previously 

 conferred only on princes. Holland ana Zealand, 

 however, resisted his arms. A fleet, which was 

 fitted out at his command, was annihilated ; and he 

 was every where met with insuperable courage. 

 This, and perhaps the fear of losing the favour of 

 the king, induced him to request his recall. Philip 

 willingly granted it, as he perceived that the resis- 

 tance of the Netherlands was rendered more obsti- 

 n;iif by these cruelties, and was desirous of trying 

 milder measures. In Dec. 1573, A. proclaimed an 

 amnesty, resigned the" command of the troops to 



Louis de Requesens, and left the land, In which he 

 had executed 18,000 men, as he*himself boasted, 

 and kindled a war, that burned for sixty-eight years, 

 cost Spain 800 millions of dollars, its finest troops, 

 and seven of its richest provinces in the Low 

 Countries. Duke A. was received with distinction 

 in Madrid, but did not long enjoy his former credit. 

 One of his sons had seduced one of the queen's 

 Indies of honour, under a promise of marriage, and 

 was, for that reason, arrested; his father assisted 

 him to escape, and married him to one of his rela- 

 tions, contrary to the will of the king. A. was 

 banished, in consequence, from the court, to his 

 castle Uzeda. Here he lived two years, when the 

 troubles stirred up by don Antonio, prior of Crato, 

 who had been crowned king of Portugal, forced 

 Philip to have recourse to A., as one in whose 

 talents and fidelity he placed great reliance. A. led 

 an -army to Portugal, gained two battles in three 

 weeks, drove out don Antonio, and reduced all 

 Portugal, in 1581, to subjection to his sovereign. 

 He made himself master of the treasures of the 

 capital, and permitted his soldiers to plunder the 

 suburbs and surrounding country, with their usual 

 rapacity and cruelty. Philip was displeased at this, 

 and desirous of instituting an investigation into the 

 conduct of his general, who was, moreover, charged 

 with having applied the wealth of the conquered to 

 his own purposes. But a liaughty answer from the 

 duke, and the fear of rebellion, caused him to desist. 

 The duke died, January 21, 1582, aged seventy- 

 four years. A. had a proud mien, a noble aspect, 

 and a strong frame ; he slept little, laboured, and 

 wrote much. It is said of him, that, during sixty 

 years of warfare against different enemies, he nevt-r 

 lost a battle, and was never taken by surprise. 

 But pride, severity, and cruelty tarnished his re- 

 nown. 



ALVES, Robert, a Scottish minor poet, born at 

 Elgin, in 1745, studied at Aberdeen under L'r 

 Beattie, became schoolmaster first at Deskford, 

 afterwards at Banff, whence he migrated to Edin- 

 burgh, where he subsisted himself by private teach- 

 ing. In 1782, he published a volume of poems, and 

 in 1789 another, with the title of " Edinburgh, a 

 poem, in two parts, and the Weeping Bard, in six- 

 teen cantos." These are said to contain striking 

 traits of genius, but have been little attended to. 

 He died in 1794, leaving a laborious work in the 

 press, entitled, " Sketches of a History of Liters, 

 ture," which was afterwards published. 



AMADEISTS. See Franciscans. 



AMADEUS ; the name of several counts of Savoy. 

 A. V., surnamed the Great, succeeded to the 

 sovereignty in 1282. He gained distinguished 

 honour in defending Rhodes against the Turks. He 

 died, after a reign of thirty-eight years, in 1323, at 

 Avignon, where he was soliciting pope John II. to 

 publish a crusade in favour of Andronicus, emperor 

 of the East, who had married his daughter. He 

 was much loved and honoured by all the sovereigns 

 of Europe, and was frequently the mediator in their 

 differences. A. VIII. succeeded his father, A. VII., 

 in 1391, and acquired the titles of -the Pacific, and 

 the Solomon of his age. In 1416, Savoy was made 

 a duchy ; but, after this elevation, A. retired from 

 his throne and family, into a religious house, at a 

 place called Ripaille. In this retreat, he devoted 

 himself to pleasure, so that faire ripailles became 

 proverbial to signify a life of indulgence and exquisite 

 gratification. Here he aspired to the papacy, and 

 employed large sums of money, at the council of 

 Basil, to secure his election. Accordingly, this 

 council, in 1439, having deposed Eugenius IV., 

 chose A. in liis place, under the name of Felix V., 



