ALB 



Albert, confirmetl his tleftion, invited liim to Rome to receive 

 the Iiiipeiiiil ci'own, ar.d exhorted him to declare war againfl 

 Philip, whom lie had cxcomimiuicatcd. Tlie conditions, 

 howevtr, were humiliating ; but the en'penir aecjuiefccd, 

 and agreed to take the oath of allegiance to the pope, after 

 acknoulcdgin;:^ that kings and emperors received the pou-er 

 of the temporal fword from tile holy fee, and confentinjr 

 to perform all the promlfes made by llodolpluis and his pre- 

 deeelTors, and to defend the right.; of the iioly fee againll 

 all its enemies. Before this reconciliation between the pope 

 and tlie emperor took place, Albert had engaged in an un- 

 fuccefsful war with John d'Aveiies, next heir to John count 

 of Holland, who had lately died, under a claim of his do- 

 minions, as fiefs reverfible to the empire. The war termi- 

 nated with a ftipulated condition that John d'Avenea 

 {liould enjoy the countries of Holland, Wei): Friefland, 

 and Zealand, in confideration of doing liomage to the em- 

 peror, from whom he accordingly received the inveftiturc 

 of thefe dominions. Albert, likewife, in 1302, invaded 

 Bohemia, but was obhged to retreat with lofs. But upon 

 the death of Wincenflaus the younger, who was affaffinated 

 by his fubjefts, and who died without idue, the emperor 

 feized Bohemia, and placed his fon Rodolpluis on the 

 throne ; but Rodolphus dying fuddcnly, Albert could not 

 fccure the crown for his next fon, Frederic. His next ob- 

 joft was to fupport Philip of Naffau, brother of A dolphus, 

 the late emperor, in an unjuft attempt to recover Milnia 

 and Thuringia from the rightful poflelTors ; but this exploit 

 terminated in a difgracefui defeat. In another mllance he 

 was no lefs mortiiied, but the event proved fingularlv im- 

 portant. The three cantons of Urv, Switz, and Undervald, 

 tlioiigh they do not feem to have been in any refpeft de- 

 pendent upon the lioufe of Auftria, h.ad voluntarily fought 

 the protection of Rndolphas ; and he treated them with 

 f;reat indulgence, and defended their rights and priviltrges, 

 without ever confideving them as fiefs of the honfe of 

 Auftria. But the conduit of his fon Albert was direftly the 

 reverfe : he v.ifhed to govern them as an ablohite fovercign, 

 and had formed a fcheme for converting Switzerland into a 

 principality for one of his fons. By Ills own infolence and 

 opprtffion, and the fimllar conduit of the governor whom 

 he appointed, they were fo aggrieved and ineenfed, that the 

 tliree cantons above-mentioned formed- a confederacy for the 

 purpofe of emancipating themfelves from the Anilrian yoke. 

 Tliev fnceeeded in their efforts, and retrieved that liberty 

 which they have fmce enjoyed. The other cantons foon 

 engaged in the confederacy, and thus was laid the founda- 

 tion of the Helvetian republic. Albert was uniformly in- 

 fluenced by a fpirit of rapacity and an unwarrantable defirc 

 of aggrandizing his own family ; and he at length fell a 

 facrihce to Ills ambition and avarice. Having refufed to put 

 his nephew John, duke of Suabia, in polTeffion of his pa- 

 ternal eilates, which, it was thought, he dcligncd for one 

 of his own fons, th.e nephev/ fcirr.icd a confpiracy againft 

 him. With this view, he engaged three confederates, who 

 contrived to meet Albert on his progrefsfrom Bafil to Rhin- 

 ielden, after he had croffed the river Rhees, near Schaff- 

 haufen ; and John, having ftabbcd him in the throat, his 

 accomplices completed the murder in the figlit of his fon 

 and their attendants, who were incapable of affoidlng him 

 any fuccour. In the place where the emperor was (lain, 

 A. D. 1308, a cloifier was built, and called Koningsfelt, 

 from whence his body, after having been depolited there for 

 fome time, was carried to Spire, and kept among his 

 predecelTors. His character has been differently appretiatcd 

 by different writers. Some repreftnt him as a prince of a 

 brutal dllpolltion and uianuers, and of the moll fordid ava- 



VOL.I. 



ALB 



rice : whilft others deforihe him at a prince of fingular cou- 

 rage and addrcfs, and diftinguifhed by an excellent under- 

 Handing, and an inviolable attachment to tnith. All agree, 

 however, in chargin^j him with an infatiable degree of ava, 

 rice. It is faid, that he equally abhorred flattery and (lan- 

 der ; and that thtrc were three forts of perfoni for whom he 

 had a particular regard, viz. woriicn of honour, men of ecu- 

 rage, and pious eecletiallics. He was cplled " /ht Triiimph- 

 onl," on account of his gencrnfity and valour, and the 

 many victories he obtained over his enemies ; and the " one- 

 eyed," becaufc he had loft one eye by the operation of poi- 

 fon, which was given to him at his own palace in Vienna, 

 about three years before he was elefted emperor. Albert, 

 by his wife Ell/.abeth, daughter of the duke of Carlnthia 

 and (Jorecia, hail fix fons and five daughters. By his 

 youngelt fon Albert, furnamed the " Counterfeit," the 

 male iffue of the family is derived. Mod. Un. Hill. vol. xxvi. 

 p. 130, 142. 



Alhf.rt II. duke of Auftria, and emperor, furnamed the 

 " Grave" and " Magnanimous," was the fon of Albert of 

 Auftria, called the " Wonder of the World," and married 

 Elizabeth, daughter of the emperor Sigifmund. By his 

 wife condutf he re-ellabll(hed the fecurity of his Auftrian 

 iubjetfs, which had been for a long time interrupted by in- 

 teftlne wars and rapine ; and if his life had been prolonged, 

 lie would probably have been the greateft prince that ever i"at 

 ii)ion the Imperial throne. In one year, he was honoured 

 with three crowns. To tlie Hungarian throne he was ail- 

 vanccd in confequence of the will of Slgifmimd, ivhoi'c 

 daughter and licirefs he had married ; and he was elected 

 king of Bohemia, in confequence of a convention between 

 the t\*o families, which ftipulated, that when the lawful 

 heir male of the houie of Bohemia {hould chance to fail, 

 the crown fliould devolve ypon a prince of the houfe of 

 Auftria. The throne, however, was dli'puted by Cafiniir; but 

 after a fuccefsful ftruggle fecured by Albert, who wai 

 crowned at Prague. During his conflift with Caiimir, he 

 was elefted emperor at Frankfort. After his election and 

 coronation at Aix-la-chapelle, it was his chief care to refonn 

 the adminiftratlon of julllce, and to abolifh the tribu- 

 nal, called the fecrct or Weftphalla indgment, which co:i- 

 demncd williout trial, or even public aceutation. Ke 

 alio confirmed the neutrality which liad been adopled-by the 

 German electors and princes, with rcfpeft to pope Eugenins 

 and the council of Bafil, and by the mediation of the pope 

 and council he concluded a peace between Hungary and 

 Poland. When Bulgaria was invaded by Amurath, the 

 Turkilh Sultan, Albert took arras in its defence, and marched 

 to Buda ; but being there feized with a violent dyfentcry, 

 he was under a neceffity of returning to Vienna ; and in 

 his way thither the diforder proved fatal, A. D. 1439; and 

 he was interred at WeilTenburg. He left a pollhuuious fon 

 and two daughters. In one of the diets which were held at 

 Nuremberg during the (hort reign of this prince, Germany 

 was divided into four circles, viz. Bavaria and Franconia, the 

 countries about the Rhine together with Almenii, Wellpha- 

 lia, and the I<<)w Countrit-s, and Saxony. In another diet, 

 it was propofed to divide the empire into fix circles, and thin 

 divlfion was eilablifhed by the emperor Maximilian I. Al- 

 bert was of tall ftature and great ftrtngth, liberal and juft 

 in his difpofition, and of a virtuous charafter ; he cherifhed 

 a warm affeftion for his people, a great zeal for religion, 

 and an uncommon cfteem for learned men. Mod. Un. Hift. 

 vol. xxvi. p. 273 — 27S. 



Albert the Gnat, fo called on account of his 



great erudition, in Bingrnphy, was born at Lawingen in 



Suabia, about the year 1 193, or, aa fome fay, 1205. He 



3 X was 



