See Dio Cassius lxvii. ff.; Ammianus Marcellinus, passim;
Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, book ii.; C. Zeuss, Die
Deutschen und die Nachbarstamme (Munich, 1837), pp. Ro5 ff.;
O. Bremer in H. Paul, Grundriss der Permanischen Philologie
(2nd ed., Strassburg, 1900), vol. iii. pp. 930 h. (F. G. M. B.)
ALAMANNI, or ALEMANNI, LUIGI (1405-1556), Italian
statesman and poet, was born at Florence. His father was a
devoted adherent of the Medici party, but Luigi, smarting under
a supposed injustice, joined with Others in an unsuccessful
conspiracy against Giulio de' Medici, afterwards POpe Clement
VII. He was obliged in consequence to take refuge in Venice,
and, on the accession of Clement, to flee to France. When
Florence shook off the papal yoke in 1527, Alamanni returned,
and took a prominent part in the management of the affairs of the
republic. On the restoration of the Medici in 1530 he had again
to take refuge in France, where he composed the greater part
of his works. He was a favourite with Francis I., who sent
him as ambassador to Charles V. after the peace of Crepy in
1544. As an instance of his tact in this capacity, it is
related that, when Charles interrupted a complimentary address
by quoting from a satirical poem of Alamanni's the words---
``l' aquila grifagna, Che per piu devorar, duoi rostri porta''
(Two crooked bills the ravenous eagle bears, The better to devour),
the latter at once replied that he spoke them as a poet, who
was permitted to use fictions, but that he spoke now as an
ambassador, who was obliged to tell the truth. The ready
reply pleased Charles, who added some complimentary words.
After the death of Francis, Alamanni enjoyed the confidence
of his successor Henry II., and in 1551 was sent by him as his
ambassador to Genoa. He died at Amboise on the 18th of April
1556. He wrote a large number of poems, distinguished by
the purity and excellence of their style. The best is a
didactic poem, La Coltivazione (Paris, 1546), written
in imitation of Virgil's Georgics. His Opere Toscane
(Lyons, 1532) consists of satirical pieces written in blank
verse. An unfinished poem, Avarchide, in imitation of
the Iliad, was the work of his old age and has little
merit. It has been said by some that Alamanni was the first
to use blank verse in Italian poetry, but the distinction
belongs rather to his contemporary Giangiorgio Trissino. He
also wrote a poetical romance, Girone il Cortese (Paris,
1548); a tragedy, Antigone; a comedy, Flora; and other
poems. His works were published, with a biography by P.
Raffaelli, as Versi e prose di Luigi Alamanni (Florence, 1859).
See G. Naro, Luigi Alamanni e la coltivazione (Syracuse, 1897), and C .
Corso, Un decennio di patriottismo di Luigi Alamanni (Palermo, 1898).
ALAMEAGH, or ALUMBAGH, the name of a large park 01 walled
enclosure, containing a palace, a mosque and other buildings,
as well as a beautiful garden, situated about 4 m. from
Lucknow, near the Cawnpore road, in the United Provinces of
India. It was converted into a fort by the mutineers
in 1857, and after its capture by the British was of
importance in connexion with the military operations around
Lucknow. (See INDIAN MUTINY and OUTRAM, SIR JAMES.)
ALAMEDA, a residential city of Alameda county, California,
U.S.A., on an artificial island about 5 m. long and 1 m.
wide, on the E. side of San Francisco bay, opposite to and
about 6 m. from San Francisco, and directly S. of Oakland,
from which it is separated by a drainage canal, spanned by
bridges. Included within the limits of the city is Bay Farm
island, with an area of about 3 sq. m. Pop. (1870) 15571
(1880) 5708; (1890) 11,165; (1900) 16,464, of whom 4175 were
foreign-born; (1910, census) 23,383. Alameda is served by
the Southern Pacific railway, and is connected by an electric
line with Oakland and Berkeley. Its site is low and level
and its plan fairly regular. Among the city's manufactures
are terra-cotta tiles, pottery, rugs, refrigerators and
salt. The city owns and operates the electriclighting
plant; the water-works system is privately owned, and the
water supply is obtained from deep wells at San Leandro.
A settlement existed here before the end of the Mexican
period. In 1854 it was incorporated as a town and in 1885
was chartered as a city. In 1906 the city adopted a freehold
charter, centralizing power in the mayor and providing
for a referendum. The county was organized in 1853.
ALAMOS DE BARRIENTOS, BALTASAR (1555-1640), Spanish
scholar, was born at Medina del Campo in 1555. His friendship
with Antonio Perez caused him to be arrested in 1590 and
imprisoned for nearly thirteen years. His 7Acito espanol
ilustrado con aforismos (Madrid, 1614) is the only work
which bears his name, but he is probably the author of the
Discurso del gobierno ascribed to Perez. Through the
influence of Lerma (to whom the Tacito is dedicated) and of
Olivares, he subsequently attained high official position.
See L'Art de gouverner, ed. J. M. Guardia (Paris, 1867);
P. J. Pidal, Historia de las alteraciones de Aragon en
el reinado de Felipe II. (Madrid, 1862), vol. iii. pp.
29-30; A. Perez, Relaciones (Geneva, 1654), pp. 86-88.
ALAND ISLANDS, an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf
of Bothnia, about 25 m. from the coast of Sweden, and 15 from
that of Finland. The group, which forms part of the Finnish
province of Abo-Bjorneborg, consists of nearly three hundred
islands, of which about eighty are inhabited, the remainder
being desolate rocks. These islands form a continuation of
a dangerous granite reef extending along the south coast of
Finland. They formerly belonged to Sweden, and in the
neighbourhood the first victory of the Russian fleet Over
the Swedes was gained by Peter the Great in 1714. They were
ceded to Russia in 1809. They occupy a total area of 1426
sq. km., and their present population is estimated at about
19,000. The majority of these occupy the island of Aland, upon
which is situated the town of Mariehamn with a population of
1171. The inhabitants are mostly of Swedish descent, and
are hardy seamen and fishermen. The surface of the islands
is generally sandy, the soil thin and the climate keen; yet
Scotch fir, spruce and birch are grown; and rye, barley, flax
and vegetables are produced in sufficient quantity for the
wants of the people. Great numbers of cattle are reared;
and cheese, butter and hides, as well as salted meat and
fish, are exported. There are several excellent harbours
(notably that of Ytternas), which were at one time of great
importance to Russia from the fact that they are frozen up
for a much briefer period than those on the coast of Finland.
The Aland Islands occupy a position of the greatest strategic
importance, commanding as they do both the entrance to the
port of Stockholm and the approaches to the Gulf of Bothnia,
through which the greater part of the trade of Sweden is carried
on. When, by the 4th article of the treaty of Fredrikshavn
(Friedrichshamn), 5/17 September 1809, the islands were
ceded to Russia, together with the territories forming the
grand-duchy of Finland on the mainland, the Swedes were
unable to secure a provision that the islands should not be
fortified. The question was, however, a vital one not only
for Sweden but for Great Britain, whose trade in the Baltic was
threatened. In 1854, accordingly, during the Crimean War,
an Anglo-French force attacked and destroyed the fortress
of Bomersund, against the erection of which Palmerston had
protested without effect some twenty years previously. By
the ``Aland Convention,'' concluded between Great Britain,
France and Russia on the 30th of March 1856, it was stipulated
that ``the Aland Islands shall not be fortified, and that
no military or naval establishments shall be maintained or
created on them.'' By the 33rd article of the treaty of Paris
(1856) this convention, annexed to the final act, was given
``the same force and validity as if it formed part thereof,''
Palmerston declaring in the House of Commons (May 6) that
it had ``placed a barrier between Russia and the north of
Europe.,' Some attention was attracted to this arrangement
when in 1906 it was asserted that Russia, under pretext of
stopping the smuggling of arms into Finland, was massing
considerable naval and military forces at the islands. The
question of the Aland Islands created some discussion in 1907
and 1908 in connexion with the new North Sea agreements, and
undoubtedly Russia considered the convention of 1856 as rather
humiliating. But it was plainly shown by other powers that
they did not propose to regard it as modified or open to
question, and the point was not definitely and officially raised.
See the article by Dr Verner Soderberg in the
National Review, No. 392, for April 1908.
ALANI (Gr. 'Alanoi,'Alaunoi; Chinese 'O-lan-na; since
the 9th century A.D. they have been called As, Russ.
Jasy, Georgian Ossi), the easternmost division of the
Sarmatians (see SCYTHIA), Iranian nomads with some Altaic
admixture. First met with north of the Caspian, and later
(c. 1st century A.D.) spreading into the steppes of
Russia, the Alans made incursions into both the Danubian and
the Caucasian provinces of the Roman empire. By the Huns they
were cut into two portions, of which the western joined the
Germanic nations in their invasion of southern Europe, and,
following the fortunes of the Vandals, disappeared in North
Africa. Those of the eastern division, though dispersed about
the steppes until late medieval times, were by fresh invading
hordes forced into the Caucasus, where they remain as the
Ossetes. At one time partially Christianized by Byzantine
missionaries, they had almost relapsed into heathenism, but are
now under Russian influence returning to Christianity. (E. II. M.)
ALANCON, HERNANDO DE, Spanish navigator of the 16th century,
is known only in connexion with the expedition to the coast of
California, of which he was leader. He set sail on the 9th
of May 1540 with orders from the Spanish court to await at
a certain point on the coast the arrival of an expedition by
land under the command of Vasquez de Coronado. The junction
was not effected, though Alarcon reached the appointed place
and left letters, which were afterwards found by Diaz, another
explorer. Alarcon was the first to determine with certainty
that California was a peninsula and not an island, as had
been supposed. He made a careful survey of the coast,
ascended the Rio del Tizon Or Rio de Buena Guia (Colorado)
for 85 Spanish m., and was thus able on his return to New
Spain in 1541 to construct an excellent map of California.
See Herrera, Decade VI. book ix. ch. 15;
vol. vi. fol. 212 of Madrid edition of 1730.
ALARCON, JUAN RUIZ DE (1518?-1639), Spanish dramatist,
was born about 1581 at Tlacho (Mexico), where his father was
superintendent of mines. He came to Europe in 1600, studied
law at Salamanca, and in 1608 went back to Mexico to compete
for a professorial chair. Returning to Spain in 1611, he
entered the household of the marquis de Salinas, became a
successful dramatist, and was nominated a member of the council
of the Indies in 1623. He died at Madrid on the 4th of August
1639. His plays were published in 1628 and 1634; the most
famous of these is La Verdad sospechosa, which was adapted
by Corneille as the Menteur. Alarcon had the misfortune to
be a hunchback, to be embittered by his deformity, and to be
constantly engaged in personal quarrels with his rivals; but
his attitude in these polemics is always dignified, and his
