ALE 



authority. Hovever, in 1263, Hr.quin, kin^ of Norway, 

 appeaixj on the coafl with a iK'tt of 1 60 i'aips, to make 

 good his pvcteiifions to the Wcllcru Iflaiid;; ; and, difcm- 

 barkiiig- histroups, made himf«lf malUr of the callle of Ayr, 

 and advanced into the country. Alexander, having affein- 

 bled an army, met him at a place called Largs ; and, after a 

 long and douhthil contelt, the Scots army wai vidorions. 

 Of the Norwegians, 1 6,000 are faid to have periflied in the 

 field, and the Sects loH 50CO. The flilps of Hacjuin were 

 fo much wrecked the day after the bailie, that he could 

 loarcely procure a vefftl to carry him and a few friends to tiic 

 Orkneys, where he foon after died of grief. His fon and 

 fucceffor, Magnus, concluded a treaty with Alexander; and, 

 in conlideration of his receiving icco marks of hlver in two 

 years, and an annual payment of 100 marks for ever after, 

 renounced all claim to thofe illands. As a further cement of 

 friendlhip, Margaret, Alt3:ander*s daughter, was betrothed 

 to Eric, the fon and heir of Magnus, in 1256, Alexander 

 and his queen repaired to the Englilh court, where they \>'erc 

 lumptuoully entertained ; and when the queen was delivered, 

 they both returned to their own kingdom. During the war 

 between Henry and his baronj, Alexander affilled him with 

 5000 men, and preferved the northern fortretTts againft; all 

 their attempts. Upon the acccflion of Edward I. to the 

 throne of England, Alexander, with his family, was prefent 

 at his coronation,and loon after paid him homage for hisEng- 

 hfh eftates. In the parliament, held at Weftminllerin 1282, 

 Alexander attended as the firil peer of England. In 1283 

 he loil his fon Alexander, in the 20th year of his age ; and 

 his death was foon followed by that of hisiiiler, the queen of 

 Norway, who left an only daughter. 



Alexandcrjhavingnofurvivingiffuebefulesthisinfantpvinccfr., 

 was urged by the nubility and the Hates of the kingdom to 

 marry ; and in compliance with this requeft, he was married 

 to loletta, daughter to the Count of Dreux in France. This 

 excellent prince was foon after killed, whilll he was hunting, 

 by his horle's rulhing down a high precipice, A. D. 1285, 

 in the 45th year of his age, and the 37th of his reign. He 

 was fucceeded by Margaret, his grand-daughter, and heir of 

 his crown, who did not long furvive him. Scotland was now 

 in a very critical ftate. Edward I. was acquiring an influ- 

 ence in the kingdom, which no other Englifli monarch ever 

 poffefled, and revived the claim of iovereignty, to which his 

 father Henr)- had never pretended. The death of Alexan- 

 der was, tlierefore, much regretted ; and the fervices he had 

 performed to the kingdom demanded a tribute of refpeCt to 

 his memor)-. He had introduced many excellent regulations 

 of government ; he had divided the kingdom into p-arts, in 

 each of which he occafionaHy refided, with a view of pre- 

 ferving the pubhc peace, and for the purpofe of more ealuy 

 adminiilering julliee to all ranks of people ; and he had 

 greatly contributed to diminifh the burdens of the feudal 

 lyftem, and to reftrain the licence and oppreffions of the no- 

 bility. The death of Alexander III. forms a remarkable 

 jera in the Scotliflt hiftory. Mod. Un. Hift. vol. xli. 

 p. 79, &c. 



Alexander, king of Poland, was a younger fon of Cafi- 

 mlr, and as duke of Lithuania, elefted frorxi motives of po- 

 licy to fucceed Albert in 1501. The archbifhop of Gnefna 

 hefitnted for fome time in affilling at his coronation ; and 

 abfolutely refufed to concur in the ceremony for his queen, 

 the princefs of Mufcovy, becaufe (he adhered to the doc- 

 trines of the Greek church. This indignity was refenttd by 

 her father, who, in confequence of it, laid fiege to Smo- 

 lendio, but, upon the amval of Alexander, relinquifhed the 

 enterprile, and concluded a truce for fix years. The fatigue 

 of this expedition fo much affected Alexander, that he fell 



ALE 



into a chronic diforder, which only terminated with his life. 

 During his ilinefs, the Moldavians and Tartars made an ir- 

 ruption into Lithuania ; and Alexander was carried in a lit- 

 ter, at the head of his army, to oppofe tliem. The two ar- 

 mies met near Wilna, and aft^r a f.vere contell, in wliich 

 20,000 Tartars fell, the Poles were viflorious. Alexander 

 received the news of this victory whilil he was dving ; and, 

 making figns to exprefs his gratitude, he exi)ircd in 1506, at 

 the age of 45, after a reign of live years in Poland, and 14 

 in Lithuania. In his itature he was (hort and robull ; his 

 vifage was long, his eyes fparkling, and his carriage majeflic. 

 His genius was heavy, his taciturnity very remarkable, but 

 his fentiments were generous and humane. He was a great 

 patron of the liberal arts, and jjrofufe in his grants under this 

 character, a!id particularly to muficians ; fo tliat his donations 

 were revoked, and a law was palfed, called Statutuni Alex- 

 andrinuni, which prohibited the king from difpoling uf the 

 revenue without the eonfent of the fcnate or diet. Mod. 

 Un. Hilt. vol. XXX. p. 410. 



Alexander Netskoi, orNicFSKY, grand duke of Ruf- 

 Ca, both a faint and hero of that country, was born in 1218, 

 and dillinguiflied by his ftrength and courage, and by the 

 vigour of his characlcr. He was betimes infpircd with a 

 palllon for conqueil by the inceflant wars in which his father 

 Varoflauf was engaged with tlie Tartars and Mongulls. 

 Upon the death of Feodor, his elder brother, he became fole 

 viceroy of Novogorod. He married a princefs of the pro- 

 vince of Polotzk ; and for the purpofe of defending his go- 

 vernment againit the attacks of tlie Tfchudes or Eithonians, 

 he drew a line of forts along the river Shelonia, which falls 

 into the Ilmen lake. While Yaroflauf was engaged with the 

 Tartars in 1239, a combined army of Swedes, Danes, and 

 knights of the Teutonic Order, formed an expedition againft 

 Novogorod, and landed from their lliips on the banks of the 

 NeiBl. Alexander, after receiving a haught) embafTy, de- 

 termined to riHi the event of a battle. Having implored the 

 affiftance of heaven in the prefcnce of his people, he prepared 

 for an engagement. The attack was begun at fix in the 

 morning, and the two armies were elofely engaged during 

 the whole day. When night put an end to the contefl, the 

 field of battle was covered with the bodies of the llain. 

 This battle, in which Alexander is faid to have wounded 

 with his own fword the king of the northern nations, is em- 

 bcllifiied with a variety of fictions ; but the event of it was 

 highly honourable to the courage and fnccef;. of the young 

 prince'. From the river Neva, near which the battle was 

 fought, he obtained the furname of Nevlkoi. The remainder 

 of his life was employed in exertions of valour and attivity 

 againfl the invaders of his country. He defeated the Tartars 

 in feveral contefts. In 1245 he raifed the fiege of Novogo- 

 rod, and gained a viftory over the Germans, Danes, and 

 Tfchudes, on the borders of the Peipus lake. After his fa- 

 ther's death he paid a vifit to the Tartar khan, who acknow- 

 ledgcd, that though he had heard much to his praife, he far 

 exceeded every thing that had been reported concerning him. 

 In 1252, upon his return from a fecond vifit to the khan, he 

 afcended the throne as grand prince of Vladimir. With a 

 very confiderable force he now undertook an expedition 

 againft Sweden, and coming off victorious, he fo far con- 

 formed to the then fubllfting praftice of war, as to ra- 

 vage all the countries which he had captured, and retiimed 

 to Ruiiia with a multitude of prifoners, and heaps of fpoil. 

 On oecafion of a difference \\hich happened between tlie 

 RufTians, and particularly the inhabitants of Novogorod, and 

 the Tartars, with refpeft to the humiliating and burdenfome 

 tribute which was exafted by the latter, Alexander, in 

 125S, attempted to pacify the difconteiitcd, and to induce 



then 



