ALEXIS MICHAELOVITCH, czar of Russia, the father of Peter the Great, the first czar who acted on the policy of cultivating friendly relations with other European states (1630-1677).

ALEXIS PETROVITCH, son of Peter the Great, conspired against his father as he had broken the heart of his mother, was condemned to death; after his trial by secret judges he was found dead in prison (1695-1718).

ALEXIUS COMNE`NUS, emperor of the East, began life as a soldier, was a great favourite with the soldiers, who, in a period of anarchy, raised him to the throne at the period of the first crusade, when the empire was infested by Turks on the one hand and Normans on the other, while the crusaders who passed through his territory proved more troublesome than either.  He managed to hold the empire together in spite of these troubles, and to stave off the doom that impended all through his reign of thirty-seven years (1048-1118).

ALFA, an esparto grass valuable for making paper.

AL`FADUR, the All-Father or uncreated supreme in the Norse mythology.

ALFARA`BI, an Arabian philosopher of the 10th century, had Avicenna for a disciple, wrote on various subjects, and was the first to attempt an encyclopedic work.

ALFIE`RI, an Italian dramatist, spent his youth in dissipation before he devoted himself to the dramatic art; on the success of his first drama “Cleopatra,” met at Florence with the Countess of Albany, the wife of Charles Edward Stuart, on whose death he married her; was at Paris when the Revolution broke out, and returned to Florence, where he died and was buried.  Tragedy was his forte as a dramatist (1749-1803).

ALFONSINE TABLES, astronomical tables drawn up at Toledo by order of Alfonso X. in 1252 to correct the anomalies in the Ptolemaic tables; they divided the year into 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds.

ALFONSO I., the “Conqueror,” founder of the kingdom of Portugal, was the first king, originally only count, as his father before him; in that capacity took up arms against the Moors, and defeating them had himself proclaimed king on the field of battle, a title confirmed to him by the Pope and made good by his practically subjecting all Portugal to his sway (1110-1185).

ALFONSO X., the Wise, or the Astronomer, king of Castile and Leon, celebrated as an astronomer and a philosopher; after various successes over the Moors, first one son and then another rose against him and drove him from the throne; died of chagrin at Seville two years later.  His fame connects itself with the preparation of the Alfonsine Tables, and the remark that “the universe seemed a crank machine, and it was a pity the Creator had not taken advice.”  It was a saying of his, “old wood to burn, old books to read, old wine to drink, and old friends to converse with” (1226-1284).

ALFONSO III., surnamed the Great, king of Asturias, ascended the throne in 866, fought against and gained numerous victories over the Moors; the members of his family rose against him and compelled him to abdicate, but on a fresh incursion of the Moors he came forth from his retreat and triumphantly beat them back; died in Zamora, 910.