ALB 



Gepid*. A. n. ?'66. The fkiiU of CuiiJmund, wlio Ml 

 in tattle, was faniioncd into a drinking cup, cithiT to laf late 

 the hatred of the conqueror, or to comply with the favage 

 cuKoro of tht counirj- ; a cnftom which was common, as 

 we are informed by Strabo, Pliny, and Ammianus Mar- 

 CclKnns, among the Scythian tribes. In confequencc of 

 tins event, the nation of tlie Gcpid;c was diflblved, the 

 Avars took pofll-flion of their country, comprchjndir.g 

 Walachia, Moldavia, and Tranfylvania, and the parts of 

 Huiigar>- beyond the Danube ; and Alboin, bciides his 

 moiety of the fpoil, pcrfuided or compelled the fair Rofa- 

 niond' to acknowledjcc the rights of iier victorious lover. 

 The fame of Alboin being thus eftabliflitd, he extended his 

 views to the conquell of Italy, and he contrived by various 

 artifices to gain an acceflion of llrength from the adventurous 

 youth of Gemiany and Scythia. The Lombards retained 

 only that portion of their wealth, which was portable, and 

 which would fcrve the occafions of their expedition ; but 

 they relinquilhed tl-.eir lands to the Avars, who promifed Co 

 reftore them if they failed in the conqued of Italy. Narfes, 

 who had been offended by the liy/antine court, which had 

 recalled him from Italy, contributed to excite and encourage 

 the Lombards in their prefent undertaking ; but he did not 

 live to witnefs its termination. In 56S Alboin eroded the 

 Alps, and without a battle or a fiege, the inland regions of 

 Italy, from the hills of Trent to the gates of Ravenna and 

 Rome, became the lafting patrimony of the Romans. Be- 

 fore Pavia, however, t'-.e royal camp was ftationed for three 

 ycai-s ; famine at length compelled the befieged to furrender ; 

 and the conqueror, more influenced by fuperilition than by 

 humanity and honour, was prt vented from fulfilling his vow 

 of maflfacring the inhabitants without diftinftion of age, 

 fex or dignity, by a regard to the omen of his horfe's fall 

 as he entered the gates. This circumftance induced Alboin 

 to paufe and relent ; and to proclaim to the trembling mul- 

 titude, that they fhould live and obey. In this city he fixed 

 his feat of empire, and Pavia, during fome ages, was re- 

 fpefted as the capital of the kingdom of Italy. " The 

 reign of the founder," fays an elegant hiftorian, " was 

 fplendidandtranfient ; and before he could regulate his new 

 conquefts, Alboin fell a facrifice to domeftic treafon and 

 female revenge. " In a fcail prepared at Verona for his 

 companions in arms, the cup formed of the ikull of Cuni- 

 mund was introduced, and it was fent by the brutal favage to 

 Rofaraond. She touched it \vith her lips, and at the iame 

 time fonncd the folemn purpofe, that the infult (liould be 

 waflied away in the blood of Alboin. With a view to the 

 accomplilhnient of her purpole (he engaged Helmichris, the 

 king's armour-bearer, with whom (he had a criminal corref- 

 pondence, to be the minitler of her vengeance. But Hel- 

 michris trembled in the profpedl of perpetrating fuch a deed ; 

 and Rofamond was under the neceffity of procuring the 

 alfiftance of a lefs timid and more daring accomplice. Pere- 

 deus, one of the braved champions of the Lombards, was 

 fclefted ; but he had fcruples, which it required fome art to 

 remove. The licentious and revengeful queen fecured Pere- 

 deus by a (Iratagem. Supplying the place of one of her 

 female attendants to whom he was attached, and contriving 

 fome excufe for darkncfs and filence till her intention was 

 accompliflied, (he then told her deluded companion, that, 

 as he had indulged in criminal intercourfe with the queen of 

 the Lombards, his own death, or the death of Alboin, 

 mud be the confequcnce of fuch treafonable adultery. In 

 this alternative he chofe rather to be the accomplice than 

 the victim of Rofamond, who, avaihng herfelf of Alboin's 

 afternoon flumbers, when he retired from tlie table for 



ALB 



repofe, introduced the confpirators, and urged th^rn to the 

 execution of the deed. Upon the firft alarm Alb' in darted 

 from his couch and attempted to draw his (word, but Roi'a- 

 mond had taken care previoufiy to faften it to the icabbard. 

 He for fome time defended hirr.felf with a dool, the only 

 inilrument of hodility or of defence to which he had accefs ; 

 he was fooii, however, overpowered and dilpatched by the 

 fpeavs of the afTaflins. " The daughter of Cuniniund fmiled 

 in his fall ; his body was buried under the dair-cafe of the 

 palace ; and the grateful pollerity of the Lombards revered 

 the tomb and the memory of their viftorious leader." The 

 ambitious Rofamond, having procured th.e death of the king, 

 A. D. 57s, afpired to fucceed him ; but neither file nor her 

 daughter occupied the throne, which was filled by Clepho, 

 one of the nobled chiefs, in confequence of the free fufFrage 

 of the nation. Having poifoned Helmichris by a cup of 

 liquor which die prefented to him, (lie was compelled to 

 drink of the fame cup by her dilcarded lover, as foon as he 

 perceived its fatal operation on himfelf ; and the death of 

 the one was in a few minutes fucceLded by that of the other. 

 In the charafter and exploits of Alboin \> e fee favage valour 

 combined with militai-y talents, and a coniiderable degree of 

 proficiency in the art of government. He is faid to have 

 been the inventor of feveral inltruments of war, that were 

 in ufe long after his time. Un. Hid. vol. xvii. p. 337— 

 342. Gibbon's Hid. vol. viii. p. 117 — 132. 



ALBOLODUY, m Geography, a fnuill town of Murcia, 

 in Spain, iituate at the confluence of two rivers, which flow 

 from the mountains called Los Alpuxarras, between Al- 

 meria and Guadix. N. lat. 35° 5 s'. W. long. 2° 16'. 



ALBON, James D', in Biography, Marquis of Fronfac, 

 was one of the greated generals of the i6th centuiy,' and 

 rofe to high mifitary eminence, in the reigns of Henry II. 

 and Charles IX. of France. By the fomier he wasinade 

 Marflval of France in 1547, and he was chofen to carry 

 the collar of his order to Henry VIII. of England, who 

 decorated him with that of the garter. He acquired great 

 repntation in the wars of 1552 and 1554, and in 1557 he 

 was made prifoner at the battle of St. Quintin. After 

 the death of Heniy II. he was one of the tnumvirate who 

 governed the kingdom four or five years in fpitc of Catha- 

 rine of Medicis. He was killed in 1562, at the battle of 

 Dreux, by a perfon whofe confifcated edate he pofTelTed. 

 The Huguenots, who did not love him, ufed to call him 

 " the Harquebufeer of the wed." He had the qualities of 

 a foldier and a courtiei ; was addifted to eveiy kind of plea- 

 fure and luxury, excelled in politenefs and the amiable ac- 

 complifhments, and on the day of battle was didniguiihed 

 by his prudence and his courage. His daughter and heirefa 

 is faid to have been poifoned by her own mother for her pro- 

 perty. Gen. Biog. 



ALBONA, in Geegraphy, a town of Iftria, belonging 

 to Venice, fituate at the foot of a mountain, near the gulph 

 of Caruero ; 16 miles eaft of Rovigno. 



Albona is alfo a river of Italy, which runs into the Po, 

 nine miles taft-fouth-ead of Lumello. 



ALBONNAL, a town of Spain, in the province of 

 Grenada, fix leagues ead-north-ead of Motril. 



ALBOR, or.AbvoR, a mountain of Portugal, in the 

 province of Algarva, one league well of Lagos. In a 

 cadle on this mountain, John II., king of Portugal, died 

 in 1495. 



ALBORAK, in the Mahometan Theology, the bead on 

 which the prophet is faid to have rode in his extraordinary 

 aerial journies. It is reprefented as of an intermediate 

 fhape and fize between an afs and a mule ; and many 



fabulous 



