Alexandra

Lambert li Court and Alexandre de Bernay (Li Romans d'Alexandre). There are German versions (1130) by Lamprecht; by Rudolf von Ems, who took the story from Walter of Châtillon's Latin epic; and by Seifried (1352). A Norman-French metrical poem by Thomas of Kent is translated in the English King Alisaunder. Examples in several other languages might be cited. See Nöldeke's Beiträge zur Geschichte des Alexanderromans (1890); Spiegel's Alexandersage bei den Orientalen (1851); Meyer's Alexandre le Grand dans la Littérature Française au Moyen Age (1886).

To

Alexandra, QUEEN, wife of King Edward VII., born at Copenhagen, Dec. 1, 1844, is the eldest daughter of King Christian IX. of Denmark and his wife, Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. the careful upbringing by her wise and clever mother, as well as to the simplicity which characterized her early home life, may be traced many of the admirable qualities for which the Queen is conspicuous. The marriage of this sea-king's daughter from over the seas' to the Prince of Wales was solemnized in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on March 10, 1863. The first break in the family circle was the death of the eldest son, the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Jan. 14, 1892. For thirty-seven years, the Queen, as Princess of Wales, took part, along with her husband, in numerous public and state functions. An Eastern tour as far as Egypt and Constantinople was undertaken by the prince and princess in 1868-9, mainly for the sake of her health. Throughout her life, both Princess of Wales and as Queen, she has displayed deep interest in philanthropic agencies, especially in the London hospitals, and participated actively in the efforts made to succor the wounded soldiers and to support the widows and orphans of those who fell in the South African

war.

as

Alexandre, AARON (?17661850), celebrated chess - player, native of Hohenfeld, Bavaria; lived some time in Paris; travelled in most European countries and Egypt, and died in London; author of Encyclopédie des Echecs (1837); Problèmes d'Echecs (1846).

Alexandrescu, GRIGORIE (1812-86), Roumanian author and statesman, who won great popularity by his political satires, and was Minister of Education under Alexander Cuza. Collected works: Meditatii, Elegi. Epistole Satire si fabule (Bucharest, 1863).

Alexandretta, ISKANDERUN, or

154

SCANDEROON, seapt. tn., N. Syria, on gulf of same name, 23 m. N. of Antioch, port of that city and of Aleppo, at N. end of low marshy plain (Europeans reside at Beilan). Safe anchorage, 5 to 6 fathoms, half a mile from shore. Pop. 7,000.

Alexandri, VASILE (1821-90), Roumanian author and statesman; wrote numerous plays for the theatre at Jassy (1844-8); took part in the Roumanian rising of 1848; was Minister of Foreign Affairs (1859-60); founded, with Negruzzi, the review Convorbiri Literare. In 1873 his famous drama, Boierii si Ciocoii, was written and acted. His martial songs, written during the Russo Turkish war (1877-8), were received with enthusiasm, and his collection of Roumanian folk-songs is very meritorious. His Opere appeared at Bucharest, 1873-6, in 7 vols.; his dramatic pieces in 1875, in 4 vols. In 1874 he won the prize given by the Society of Romance Languages at Montpellier for the best poem with his Cantecul Gintei Latine, in which he glorified the Latin race as the queen of humanity.

Alexandria. (1.) In Africa one of the most famous cities of antiquity, was founded B.C. 332 by command of Alexander the

ENAPXHH

Alexandria

called the Brucheion or Basileia, lay the royal buildings, and the Museum, containing the Great Library. Here also stood the two Cleopatra needles (16th century B.C.), one of which is now in London (since 1878), and the other in New York (since 1880); the temple of Poseidon; the palaces of the Ptolemies. To the s. of it were the gymnasium and the hippodrome. In the Egyptian quarter (Rhacotis) stood the Serapeum, or temple of Serapis, containing a second library and the Pillar of Pompey, and at the extreme w. lay the Necropolis. A special feature was the great system of underground tanks, holding more than a year's supply of water.

Under the Ptolemies, Alexandria rose to be a mighty trading centre, with a mixed population of about 750,000, consisting of Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Romans, and a sprinkling of other nationalities. It was also famous for its glass, paper, and fine textiles - all manufactured there — but was even more famous as one of the chief intellectual centres of antiquity. Even when Egypt became a Roman province, after its conquest by Cæsar (B.C. 48), Alexandria continued to be the greatest seaport of the empire. It survived the cruelties of Cara

Great. Situated about 14 m. w. of the Canopic mouth of the Nile, on the coast of Egypt, on the narrow strip of land separating Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean, the city was admirably placed to become a great emporium. Nearly a mile off lay the little rocky island of Pharos, afterwards the scene of the labors of the translators of the Septuagint. By order of Alexander, a mole, the Heptastadium, 600 ft. broad-now twice that width was run out from the mainland to the island, thus converting the open channel inside Pharos into two splendid harbors, the N.E. or Great Harbor, and the S.E. or Eunostos, from which a canal ran into Lake Mareotis. On the N.E. corner of Pharos, Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus) built (B.C. 283) a lighthouse, whence Pharos became synonymous with 'lighthouse' (Fr. phare). At the E. end of the city, in the quarter

calla (A.D. 215), the internal struggles between Christian and pagan factions in the 3rd century, and the Jewish persecutions carried on by the patriarch Cyril in the 5th century; but it sustained a severe blow when captured by the fanatical Arabs under Amru (641). The misrule of the Turks (who took the city in 1517), the discovery of America and of the sea route to India and the East, completed the temporary ruin of Alexandria, until towards the end of the 18th century it had only about 6,000 inhabitants. But in 1806 it began to revive under Mehemet Ali: and, with the returning prosperity of Egypt in modern times, it has acquired fresh importance. In 1798 the city was taken by storm by Napoleon, but in 1801 it was wrested from him by the British. In 1882, during the rebellion of Arabi Pasha, the British fleet under Admiral Seymour

Alexandria

bombarded and destroyed the harbor forts.

Libraries.-There were two libraries the Great' in the Museum, and the 'Daughter' in the Serapeum. In the former were close upon 700,000 volumes. Under a succession of great librarians it became a famous centre of learning, to which also the observatories, the zoological and botanical gardens, and the collections of the Museum contributed. The Great Library and Museum were destroyed during Cæsar's wars (B.c. 48-47), the 'Daughter' Library and Serapeum by command of Theodosius (A.D. 389). The story of the destruction of the Alexandrian Library by Amru is discredited by the best authorities, although to his caliph Omar is ascribed the

155

treatment. The one exception is found in the Idylls of Theocritus. But to Alexandrian scholars the world owes its possession of the texts of most of the ancient authors. In science also we are their debtors: Euclid the geometrician, Eratosthenes and Ptolemy the geographers, and Hipparchus the astronomer, here laid the foundations and extended the borders of their respective sciences. Alexandria was also the seat of Jewish learning, a school of thought which came under the influence of Greek ideas, and of which the most illustrious teacher was Philo. Alexandria, the last fortress of paganism, became in turn the stronghold of orthodox Christianity through its famous exponents, Clement and Origen,

saying that if the books in it agreed with the Koran they were useless, if they did not they were pernicious, and in either case should be destroyed. See Ritschl's Die Alexandrinischen Bibliotheken (1866); Weniger's Das Alexandrinische Museum (1875).

School and Philosophy.-The thousand years over which the influence of the great Alexandrian School extended falls into two periods, the Grecian (B.c. 33230), and the Neo-Platonist, merging into the Christian (B.C. 30A.D. 641). The school was strong in erudition and criticism, but lacked originality. Imitative rather than creative, its leaders used the old epic, lyric, dramatic, and elegiac forms for treatises on astronomy, grammar, criticism, mythology, etc., rather than the subjects suitable for poetic

the great teachers, and Athanasius the steadfast patriarch of the city. It was in Alexandria, too, that the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (from Hebrew into Greek) was made. See Bigg's Christian Platonists of Alexandria (Bampton Lectures, 1886).

Codex.-The Alexandrian Codex (Codex A), one of the authoritative Greek texts of the Holy Scriptures, dating probably from about 450, was presented to King Charles 1. in 1628, through Sir Thomas Rowe, ambassador at Constantinople, by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of that city, who had taken it thither on his removal from Alexandria. Since 1753 it has been in the British Museum. See Prolegomena of Woide (1786) and Baber (181628).

Alexandria

MODERN ALEXANDRIA (Turk, Iskanderieh) is the chief port and second town of Egypt, and is the station of the Egyptian fleet. The old harbor, s.w. of the peninsula, is the only harbor for large craft; the new harbor, on the N.E. of it, is protected by a two-mile breakwater. There are three principal quarters - the Frank (European) in the E., the Arab in the w., and the Mohammedan between the two harbors. The chief features of the last named are the palace Ras et-Tin, the barracks and the arsenal. Alexandria is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop. In 1901, 2,882 vessels of over 24 million tons entered the port, nearly half the tonnage being British. Alexandria is joined to the Rosetta branch of the Nile by canal. Imports about 15 millions in 1903; exports (threefourths cotton and cottonseed, the rest being sugar, beans, onions, gum-arabic, cigarettes, etc.) about 18 millions. Pop. (1902) 310,587.

Alexandria. (1.) City, Va., on the Potomac R., the Washington branch of the Ches. & O., the Main Line, and the Bluemont branch of the Southern, the Washington Southern, the B. & O., the Pa. and other R. Rs., 6 m. below Washington, with which it is connected by a ferry. It is the port of call of the Parhams Point Steamboat Line, the Norfolk & Rappahannock River Line, and the Mt. Vernon & Marshall Hall Steamboat Co. The river is a mile wide and deep enough_to accommodate large ships. The town has an extensive commerce both by land and water. It has active manufactures, including shoe shops, grist mills, glass manufactories, chemical laboratories, machine shops, and breweries. The manufactures amount to about $20,000,000 yearly. Here are Mt. Vernon & St. Mary's Academy, and a Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary. Among the prominent buildings are the Masonic Lodge, the house where the Congress of governors met (April 13, 1755) before the departure of Braddock's expedition, and Christ Church, of which Washington was a vestryman. In colonial times Alexandria was called Belhaven. Here Braddock established his headquarters (1755). In 1861, Colonel Ellsworth was shot here, after he had lowered a Confederate flag upon the Marshall House. In the Civil War, Alexandria was the capital of the section of Virginia which held allegiance to the Federal government. Pop. (1910) 15,329. (2.) City, Madison co., Ind., on Pipe Creek, and the New Castle & Rushville branch of the

Alexandria Bay

Lake Erie & Western, and the C. C. C. & St. L. R. Rs., 48 m. N.E. of Indianapolis. It has natural gas and manufactures glass, paper, and iron products. Pop. (1910) 5.096. (3.) City, La., co. seat of Rapides Parish, on the Red River, and the St. L., Watkins & Gulf, the Monroe District branch of the Mo. Pac., the La. Railway & Navigation Co., the Alexandria branch of the So. Pac., and the La. Div. of the Texas & Pac. R. Rs., and has steamboat communication with New Orleans and other river ports. Cotton is raised in the surrounding country and exported from here. The town has cotton compresses and manufactures cottonseed oil, as well as sugar, molasses, etc. Pop. (1910) 11,213. (4.) Vil., Minn., co. seat of Douglass co. on the Winnipeg Line of the Minneap., St. P. & Sault Ste. Marie, and the St. Cloud & Fergus Falls div. of the Great Northern R. Rs., 45 m. s.E. of Fergus Falls. The surrounding country is exceedingly fertile, and contains many lakes, and the town is a summer resort. The chief crop is wheat, and there are flour mills, breweries, and manufactures of furniture, machinery, iron implements, knives, etc. Pop. (1910) 3,001. (5.) Tn., Glengarry co., Ontario, on the Canada Atlantic R. R., 70 m. E. of Ottawa. There are manufactures of boxes. iron goods, flour, etc. Pop. (1901) 1,911.

Alexandria Bay, vil. of Alexandria township, Jefferson co., N. Y., on the St. Lawrence R., opposite the Thousand Islands, reached by the Clayton & Alexandria Bay, the Toronto & Montreal, the Ogdensburg & Alexandria Bay, and other steamship lines. It is the chief popular resort of the Thousand Islands region. Pop. (1910) 1,899.

Alexandrine Liturgy, called also the LITURGY OF ST. MARK, who is said to have composed it for the use of Egyptian Christians; still extant in substance.

Alexandrine Verse is an iambic metre consisting of twelve syllables. The name is derived from the old French romance of Alexandre le Grand, composed about 1180 by Lambert li Court and Alexandre de Bernay, in which the measure is first used. It is the standard measure in French poetry. According to the rules of scansion in French, the cæsura must always fall after the sixth syllable; but this rule has been neglected by most English poets who have employed the metre. English poets use the Alexandrine occasionally for the sake of variety. The Spenserian stanza regularly, ends in one, and Dryden and Cowley use it pretty freely among their deca

156

syllables. But the only long Englísh poem in which this metre is exclusively employed is Drayton's Polyolbion (1612-22), and the result shows how little it is adapted to the genius of our language. This metre has been employed in Germany by Opitz, Rückert, Freiligrath, Geibel, and others.

Alexandropol, tn., gov. Erivan, Transcaucasia, Russia. The railway to Tabriz in Persia branches off from the Tiflis-Kars line near Alexandropol, which is 137 m. by rail from Tiflis. Pop. (1897) 32,018.

Alexandrov, tn., gov. Vladimir, Russia, 70 m. w. of Vladimir city. Iron and steel foundries. Pop. (1897) 6,848.

Alexandrovsk. (1.) Town, gov. St. Petersburg, Russia, 54 m. E. of the capital. Imperial residence; manufacture of porcelain; refineries, tanneries. (2.) Town, gov. Ekaterinoslav, Russia, 52 m. s. of Ekaterinoslav city, on the 1. bk. of the Dnieper. Grain trade; three annual fairs. Pop. (1897) 28,434. (3.) Tn., Siberia, opposite Sakhalin, of the Russian part of which it is the centre of government; capital of the Alexandrovsk dist., the N.W. of the island. Flour and saw mills.

Alexandrovsk Grushevski, tn. prov. Don Cossacks, Russia, 15 m. N.N.E. of Novocherkask. Pop. (1897) 16,250.

Alexei, MICHAILOVITCH (1629– 76), Czar of Russia. Succeeding his father, Michael Feodorovitch, in 1645, he extended his dominions after a successful war against Poland (1654-67). He also waged war with Sweden, extended his power to the east of Siberia, and put down (1672) a revolt of the Don Cossacks. His most important works, however, were the codification of the laws, and the opening up of communication with W. Europe.

Alexei, PETROVITCH (16901718), eldest son of Peter the Great, was excluded from the succession because of his opposition to his father's reforms. He fled to Vienna, and thence to Naples. Having returned to Russia, he was imprisoned, condemned to death, and then pardoned, but died (or was executed) in prison a few days later. His son became Peter II. See Barrow's (1883) and Schuyler's (1884) Life of Peter the Great.

Alexeieff (1843) ERGHENYI IVANOVITCH, Russian naval officer, born of Armenian father and Russian mother. Commanded the Pacific squadron in 1899; afterwards governor of prov of Kwantung; adjutant-general (1901); and viceroy of the Far East (1903), but was recalled in October, 1904. His strong character and obstinate policy helped to precipitate the war with Japan.

Alexis, WILLIBALD. RING, GEORG.

Alfieri See HA

Alexius I., COMNENUS (10481118), nephew of the Emperor Isaac Comnenus, and one of the ablest of the Byzantine emperors, supplanted (1081) the Emperor Nicephorus. From the north and east his empire was assailed by the Pechnegs and the Turks, from the west by the Normans; and in 1096 the warriors of the first Crusade encamped before Constantinople. But by wisdom and courage he contrived, during thirty-seven years, to organize his empire-to put in order the finances, and reform the army. His career is fully recorded in the Alexiad.

Alfalfa, the Spanish name for the Medicago sativa, or lucerne, a leguminous plant highly valued

Alfalfa or Lucerne.

for pasture and forage. From Europe it has spread through the temperate zone of the New World, being grown in great quartities in S. California and the southern and western states of the U. S. generally, into which it was introduced by early Spanish settlers. It produces several crops a year, and improves the soil, although it requires rich ground in order to succeed; it is especially adapted to dry climates, but is not so hardy as red clover. Also known as Spanish trefoil, French, Brazilian, and Chilean clover, and in Britain, medic or purple medic.

Alfarabi (d. c. 950), Arabian philosopher, born at Farab, beyond the Oxus. In his encyclopædia he recognized six orders of sciences-language, logic, mathematics, natural sciences, civil science, divine science. Lived at Bagdad and Damascus. He popularized among the Arabs the theories of Aristotle, and was the master of Avicenna. For his par tially published works, see Munk's Mélanges, pp. 341-352 (1859), and Steinschneider's Mémoires de Académie de St. Pétersbourg, 7th series, vol. xiii. (1869).

Alfieri, VITTORIO, COUNT (1749-1803), Italian poet and

Alfonso I.

dramatist, born at Asri, m Piedmont; succeeded at fourteen to a large inheritance. From his nineteenth year he traveled widely in Europe. His first work was a tragedy on Cleopatra, staged at Turin in 1775. In 1777 Alfieri became deeply attached to Louise von Stolberg, Countess of Albany, wife of Prince Charles Edward, and settled with her first in Alsace, and later in Paris, whence he was driven by the revolution. He returned with Louise to Florence, where the last ten years of his life were spent. Alfieri's own Memoirs (Eng. trans. 1810) give an excellent picture of his character. His tragedies, inspired chiefly by political, and especially by republican ideals, are severe and His dislike restrained in form.

of French anarchy is recorded in his Misogallo; he also wrote many sonnets, and odes on American independence. Charles Lloyd (1815) and Bowring (Bohn) have both translated the tragedies. Landor introduces Alfieri in the Imaginary Conversations. A new edition of his Opere, in 12 vols., was begun at Rome in 1902. See Centofanti's Vita di Alfieri (1842); Mazzantini's ed. of the Letters (1890); Vernon Lee's Countess of Albany (1884); Bertana's Vittorio Alfieri (1902); and Howells's Life of and Essays on Alfieri (1877).

Alfonso I. OF PORTUGAL (1110of 85), 'The Conqueror,' son Henry of Burgundy, undertook (1128) the control of state affairs, till then directed by his mother, Theresa of Castile; waged successful warfare against the Moors, inflicting a decisive defeat on them at Ourique (1139), when he assumed the title of King of Portugal; and captured Lisbon in

1147.

Alfonso III., "The Great' (848-910), King of Leon, Galicia, and the Asturias, an intrepid champion of Christendom against the Moors in Spain, succeeded Ordoño I., his father, in 866. In a succession of hard-fought campaigns, he extended his rule over Old Castile and part of Portugal. Popular discontent, represented by his son Garcias in 888, and later by his queen, forced him to abdicate in favor of his three sons; but a Moorish invasion recalled him to power.

Alfonso I. (d. 1134), King of Aragon and Navarre from 110534, surnamed 'The Victorious,' succeeded his brother Pedro i. The opposition of his wife, Urraca cf Castile, from whom he was separated, frustrated him in his attempt to annex Castile on the death of his father-in-law, Alfonso

VI.

In his successful warfare against the Moors he seized Saragossa and Tarragona, and inRicted a severe defeat upon them in the mountains of Valencia

157

(1126). The victor in twenty-nine engagements, he was mortally wounded during the siege of Fraga.

In

Alfonso V. OF ARAGON and I. OF SICILY AND SARDINIA (13851458), 'The Magnanimous,' was the son of Ferdinand the Just, whom he succeeded in 1416. 1420 Joanna 1. of Naples made him her heir, but revoked the gift in 1423; and thereafter, until 1442, he was engaged in a struggle to secure possession of that kingdom. He was an enlightened ruler, and gave asylum to many scholars who fled from Constantinople when it was captured by the Turks.

Alfonso I. OF CASTILE and VI. OF LEON (1030-1109), son of Ferdinand of Castile and Leon, ascended the throne of Leon in 1065. He carried on, with varying fortunes, a long and sanguinary warfare with his brother Sancho, King of Castile; and on the assassination of the latter, in 1072, Alfonso obtained his kingdom. imprisoned his younger brother Garcia until the latter's death. He won New Castile from the Moors, but ultimately sustained a crushing defeat at their hands in 1108.

He

Alfonso X., King of Leon and Castile (1226-84), surnamed "The Wise,' or 'The Astronomer,' succeeded Ferdinand III., his father (1252); was chosen king by some of the German princes (1257); his arms were successful against the Moors (1263); repressed the rebellion promoted by his son Philip (1271), but was driven from the throne by Sancho, his second son (1282). He was a patron of literature; completed the codification of the laws-Leyes de las Partidas -and was the author of poetical and scientific works. By his command the first complete history of Spain was written in the Castilian tongue, and the Old Testament was translated into Spanish.

The astronomical tables known as Alfonsine were prepared under his direction.

Alfonso XII. (1857-85), King of Spain, son of the exiled Queen Isabella, was chosen by the provisional government to succeed Amadeus of Aosta in 1874. put down the Carlist rebellion of 1876, and restored orderly govern

ment.

He

Alfonso XIII. (b. 1886), King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII., was proclaimed king on the day of his birth (May 17). His mother, Queen Maria Christina,

acted as regent until he reached his majority, at the age of sixteen, in 1902. On May 31, 1906, Alfonso married the Princess Ena of Battenberg, a niece of King Edward VII. of England. The match was opposed in certain English official circles because of its possible political consequences,

Alfred the Great

but King Edward considered such contingencies remote and refused to interfere. In Catholic Spain, on the other hand, there was much apprehension because of the Protestant training of the Princess, nor was this feeling entirely removed when she abjured her faith and was formally admitted into the Catholic Church two days before her betrothal was publicly announced (March 9, 1906). As the wedding procession was returning from the church of San Geronimo, Madrid, an anarchist threw a bomb at the royal carriage. The explosion killed several soldiers and citizens, but the King_and Queen were not injured. The King displayed great courage and calmness, and the similar demeanor of the Queen at once made her a popular idol. A son and heir was Lorn on May 10, 1907, and christened Alfonso. A second son, Prince Jaimé, was born June 23, 1908. (See SPAIN)

Alford, HENRY (1810-71), English scholar and poet, was born in London; labored as clergyman in Ampton, Wymeswold, London, and (1857) as dean cf Canterbury; was evangelical in sympathy; is remembered chiefly for his Greek Testament (1849-61). First editor of the Contemporary Review (186670). Wrote Poems and Poetical Fragments (1831); The School of the Heart (1835); Chapters on the Greek Poets (1841); the Hulsean Lectures, On the Consistency of the Divine Conduct, etc. (1841-2); A Plea for the Queen's English (1863); also author of several hymns. See Life (1873) by his

widow.

Alfred, vil., Allegany co., N. Y., on the Allegheny div. of the Erie R. R., 9 m. s.w. of Hornellsville. It is noted for Alfred University, non-sectarian, having a staff of 26 instructors and 30 students. Pop. of the town (1910) 1,590.

Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of SaxeCoburg and Gotha (1844-1900), second son of Queen Victoria, was born at Windsor. In 1858 he entered the navy, and became admiral of the fleet in 1893. In Aug., 1893, he succeeded his uncle, Ernest II., as reigning Duke of He Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. was succeeded by his nephew, the Duke of Albany.

Alfred the Great (849-901), king of the West Saxons in England, was born at Wantage in Berkshire. He was the youngest son of King Ethelwulf, but when his brother Ethelred died in 871 Alfred was declared king by universal consent. The young king fought eight or nine battles with the Danes in the first year of his rule, winning, among others, the battle of Ashdown. A period of rest followed; but in 878,

Alfred the Great

Guthrum, king of the Danes in E. Anglia, invaded Wessex, and Alfred retired for a time to Athelney, in Somersetshire, where tradition says that he burned the cakes. Shortly afterwards he gathered levies from three shires, and inflicted a severe defeat upon the Danes at Edington, in Wiltshire. The peace of Wedmore was concluded, under which Guthrum consented to become Christian and to withdraw from Wessex, while the supremacy of Alfred was acknowledged over the whole country south of the Thames and over the greater part cf Mercia. From 878 to 893 the land enjoyed comparative peace. It was utilized by the enlightened king in the consolidation of England. He practically founded the British navy; reorganized the national defences; raised public buildings, reclaimed waste lands; and revised all existing laws, combining those which he found good into a single code. He founded schocls, encouraged literature in the native tongue, and improved the services of the church. This work was again interrupted by war. A new Danish army appeared under Hastings, who for four years kept Alfred and his forces incessantly occupied. Having once more saved his country, the great king died, Oct. 27, 901, at the age of fifty-two. The thousandth anniversary of his death was fittingly celebrated in 1901 in Winchester, the ancient capital of England.

Alfred's principal writings are as follows:

(1.) A translation of the Universal History of Orosius contains three original insertions by the king: a brief description of North-Central Europe, and the account of two voyages of discovery by the explorers, Othere and Wulfstan. (2.) A translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, which, on account of the Mercian peculiarities in the language, may be due to Alfred's instigation rather than to his own execution. (3.) A translation of the De Consolatione Philosophie of Boethius. (4.) A close translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis contains a priceless original preface by the king. (5.) A translation of Gregory's Dialogues, not yet edited, and by some assigned away from Alfred. (6.) Blooms, a commonplace-book of 'sayings which King Alfred collected.' (7.) Alfred's hand is not directly traceable in the Saxon Chronicle, but the finest writing it contains is the contemporary narrative of the Danish wars in his reign, and the Chronicle itself is certainly due to his fostering interest and care.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the best authority on Alfred. There are Lives by Asser (ed. Wise, 1722), Powell (1634), Spelman