A L M 



A L M 



king's chaplains, dcp-.ited by the lord jhr.oner to be his fub» 

 ahiioncr, who is alfo to fcntter new-coi)iailtwo-pences in the 

 towns and places through which the king palics in his pro- 

 grefs. See Maundy T'ljurfilaw 



He has alfo the charge of feveral poor pcnfioners to the 

 crown below ftairs ; confiding of fuch as liavt fptnt their 

 youth, and become fuperannuated, in the king's fcrvice ; 

 or the widows of fuch hou(hold fervants as died poor, and 

 were not able to provi.'e for tlieir wives and children, whom 

 he duly pays. Chamberlayne's State of Great Britain, 

 p. 98. 



Under the lord almoner, bcfides the fub-almoner, there is 

 a yeoman, and two grooms of the almonry, chofcn by his 

 lordfliip. 



The French kings ufed to Iiave their great almoners, firft 

 almoners, ordinary or quarterly almoners, &c. 



Great almoner, grand almoiiler, was the higheft eccleflaf- 

 tical dignity in that kingdom. To him belonged the fu- 

 pcrintendcncy of all hofpitals, and houfes of lepers. The 

 king received the laerament from his hand. He faid mafs 

 before the king, in all grand ceremonies and folemni- 

 ties. 



Almoner is alfo applied, in Ecckjutjikal JVriters, to the 

 BEACONS of churclies. 



Almoner is alio ufed, in H'lftor'tans of the Middle jige, for 

 him appointed by a perfon to dillribute his alms to the poor. 

 In this fcnfe, almoner amounts to much the fame with what 

 has been fmce denominated executor. 



Almoner is alio fometimes ufed for a perfon who left 

 alms to the poor, by his laft: will. 



Almoner is alfo fometimes ufed for a legatee. 



In this fenfe, it is the rule, that the fame perfon could 

 not both be almoner and heir. 



Almoner is alfo a more fafliionable title given, by fome 

 writers, to chaplains. In this fenfe we meet with almoner 

 of a (hip, almoner of a regiment. 



ALMONRY, or Aumbry, the office or lodg-ings of the 

 almoner ; alfo the place where the alms are given. See 

 Ambry. 



ALMONTE, a neat town of Spain, in the coimtry of 

 Seville, environed with a foreft of olives ; 1 3 miles fouth- 

 eall of Moguer. 



Almonte, a river of Spain, which runs into the Tagus, 

 not far from Truxiilo. 



ALMOPIA, in Anc'iait Geography, a country of Ma- 

 cedonia, inhabited by tlie Almopians, in which ftood tlie 

 cities of Europus, Albanopulis, and Apfalus. Thucydides 

 mentions Almopia, and Pliny the Almopii ; and it is laid to 

 have derived its name from Almops, fon of Neptune and 

 Hellc, the daughter of Athamas. 



ALMORA, in Geography, a country of Afia, between 

 the mountains of Thibet and Hindoltan, north of the pro- 

 vince of Rohileund. The principal towns are Rampour 

 and Coflipour. 



ALMORAVIDES, in Hijl ry, a name given by the 

 Spanifli liiftorians to an Arab tribe, which took pofreffion 

 of a dillriCl of Africa inorder to live at their eafe, and in a 

 ftate of retirement, as they pretended to follow the dictates 

 of the Koran more clofcly than others of tlieir feft, fiom 

 whence they took the name oi Morabites, which the Spa- 

 niards changed into tiiat of Almoravides. The firil prince 

 or chief of tliis nation was Abubeker Ben Omar, who is 

 commonly called by Spaniih authors Abu Texfien or Texi- 

 fian. This prince founded the dynafty of the Almoravides 

 in Barbary, A. D. 1051, by the aid of a powerful army of 

 malecontcnts in the provinces of Nuniidia and Libya, affem- 

 bled by the influence of the Marabouts or Morabites, whence 



the appellation was derived. Texefian, as wc have (liewn 

 in the hillory of Algiers, was fucceeded by liis fon Yufei, 

 or Jofcph, who, after having extended his conqiiclls 111 

 Africa, and reduced the kingdoms of Tremecen, Fe/., and 

 Tunis, to a (late of tributary vailalage, took advantage of 

 the intefline wars in Spain, and paffed over, with a view of 

 enlarging his conquells, into that country. Here he re- 

 pulfed tne Chriflians with great vigour ; and though the 

 Moorifii princes did not afford him the affidance which he 

 expeftcd, he reduced the gieateft parts of the kingdoms of 

 Murcia, Granada, Cordova, Juen, and fome few places in 

 Valencia ; and then returned into Africa, leaving his con- 

 quered dominions under the government of his nephew Mo- 

 hammed, witli a conilderable part of his army. As foon as 

 he arrived in Africa, he publifiicd a general gazie, or reli- 

 gious war, and with a frclh and numerous army embarked at 

 Ceuta for his Spanifli conquells, and foon rejoined his iitphew 

 in Andalufia, which they ravaged with fire and fword. In 

 1 107, five years after their affault, he made another defcent, 

 penetrated into' Portugal, and reduced the city of Lilbon, 

 with a great part of the kingdom, but loll the cities of A!- 

 gua/ir and Gibraltar, which he had talccn before. Having 

 been defeated at fea in his way to liarbary, he propofed a 

 truce,' which was agreed to on condition that he fliould fub- 

 mit to become the tributary of the Spaniih monarch. 

 Yufef, the Almoiavide prince, was fo exafperatcd that lie 

 vowed never to defift until he had utterly extirpated Chiil- 

 tianity in Spain. Accordingly he prepared for a frefh de- 

 fcent ; and landing at Malaga, led his army into the enemy's 

 counti-y with great fury and little prudence. The couie- 

 quence of this hally meafure was a battle, famous in hiliory, 

 called the Battle of the Seven Counts, in which, thoiigli 

 after great (laughter he gained a viftory, he loft fo great a 

 number of his own men, that he was obliged to return tf> 

 Africa, where he died foon after, at his capital of Morocco, 

 leaving the fovereignty to his fon All, A. 1). mo. This 

 prince, lefs warlike than his father, employed his thoughts 

 in erecting fumptuous buildings, and in particular the great 

 mofque of Morocco, whilft he neglefted his Spanifli con- 

 quells. Alphonlo, king of Aragon, was daily recovering 

 fome conilderable cities from him ; and he was at lad re- 

 duced to the neccflity of paffing over to Spain, for the fuc- 

 cour of the Moorilh princes. But he was nnfuccefsful in 

 feveral expeditions ; and in his laft enterprife, though he had 

 the vigorous concurrence of the Moorifii chiefs, he was de- 

 feated and flain by king Alphoufo, with the lofs of c;o,ooo 

 men, in the fixth year of his reign. He was fucceeded by 

 his fon Al Abraham, or Brahem, who purfued his plca- 

 fures, and oppreffed his fubjecls with taxes, which occa- 

 fioned diffatisfadlion and complaint, and foon terminated in a 

 revolution, by which the government was transferred from 

 the tribe of the Almoravides to the Almohedes, in the 

 25th year of his reign. Mod. Un. Hift. vol. xiv. p. 296 — 

 301. 



ALMOUT, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the pro- 

 vince of Taberiftan, 32 leagues fouth-weft of Ferebad. 



ALMS, eleemofyna, fomething given out of charity or pity 

 to the poor. 



The ecclefiaftics anciently fubfifted wholly on alms. — The 

 alms of the primitive Chriftians were divided into three parts; 

 one wheretif belonged to the bifliops, another to the pri'efts, 

 and a third to the deacons and fub-derxons. — Sometimes they 

 divided them, ir.to four ; the lall of which went to the poor, 

 and to the repairing of churches. 



The Romanifts extend the term alms to that which \% 

 given to the church, or to other pious ufef. — Hence, what 

 the church holds on this footing is called tenure in alms. 



Alms 



