of his sons and Mary, daughter and heiress of Charles the
Bold, duke of Burgundy, Albert handed over the government of
Brandenburg to his eldest son John, and returned to his Franconian
possessions. In 1474 he married his daughter Barbara to Henry
XI., duke of Glogau, who left his possessions on his death in
1476 to his widow with reversion to her family, an arrangement
which was resisted by Henrv's kinsman, John II., duke of
Sagan. Aided by Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, John invaded
Brandenburg, and the Pomeranians seized the opportunity to
revolt. Under these circumstances Albert returned to
Brandenburg in 1478, compelled the Pomeranians to own his
supremacy, and after a stubborn struggle secured a part
of Duke Henry's lands for his daughter in 1482. His main
attention was afterwards claimed by the business of the Empire,
and soon after taking part in the election of Maximilian as
king of the Romans he died at Frankfort on the 11th of March
1486. He left a considerable amount of treasure. His first
wife was Margaret of Baden, by whom he had six children;
and his second was Anne of Saxony, by whom he had thirteen.
Albert was a man of relentless energy and boundless ambition,
who by reason of his physical and intellectual qualities
was one of the most prominent princes of the 15th century.
See Das kaiserliche Buch des Markgrafen Albrecht Achilles,
Ferkurfurstliche Periode, 1440-1470, edited by C. Hofler
(Bayreuth, 1850); Kurfurstliche Periode, edited by J.
von Minutoli (Berlin, 1850); Quellensammlung zur Geschichte
des Hauses Hohenzollern, Band I., edited by C. A. H.
Burkhardt (Jena, 1857); O. Franklin, Albrecht Achilles
und die Nuremberger, 1444-1453 (Berlin, 1866); Politische
Korrespondenz des Kurfursten Albrecht Achilles, 1486,
edited by F. Priebatsch (Leipzig, 1894-1898); J. G. Droysen,
Geschichte der preussischen Politik (Berlin, 1835-1886).
ALBERT (FRANCIS CHARLES AUGUSTUS ALBERT EMMANUEL) (1819-1861),
prince-consort of England, was born at Bosenau on the 26th
of August 1819. He was the second son of the hereditary duke
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (belonging to the Ernestine or elder
branch of the royal family of Saxony) by his first wife, the
princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (d. 1831), from
whom the duke was separated in 1824. His father's sister
married the duke of Kent, and her daughter, afterwards Queen
Victoria of England, Prince Albert's wife, was thus his first
cousin. They were born in the same year. Albert and his
elder brother, Ernest, were close companions in youth, and
were educated under the care of Consistorialrath Florschutz,
subsequently proceeding to the university of Bonn. There
Prince Albert devoted himself especially to natural science,
political economy and philosophy, having for teachers such
men as Fichte, Schlegel and Perthes; he diligently cultivated
music and painting, and excelled in gymnastic exercises,
especially in fencing. The idea of a marriage between him
and his cousin Victoria had always been cherished by their
uncle, King Leopold I. of Belgium, and in May 1836 the duke of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his two sons paid a visit to Kensington
Palace, where Princess Victoria, as she then was, lived, for
the purpose of making acquaintance for the first time. The
visit was by no means to the taste of King William IV., who
disapproved of the match and favoured Prince Alexander of
Orange. But Leopold's plan was known to Princess Victoria,
and William's objections were fruitless. Princess Victoria,
writing to her uncle Leopold (May 23, 1836), said that Albert
was ``extremely handsome''; and (June 7) thanked him for the
``prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give
me in the person of dear Albert. He possesses every quality
that could be desired to render me perfectly happy.', No
formal engagement was entered into, but the situation was
privately understood as one which in time would naturally
develop. After the queen came to the throne, her letters show
her interest in Albert's being educated for the part he would
have to play. In the winter of 1838-1839 the prince travelled
in Italy, accompanied by Baron Stockmar, formerly Leopold's
doctor and private secretary, and now the queen's confidential
adviser. On the 10th of October 1839 he and Ernest went again
to England to visit the queen, with the object of finally
settling the marriage. Mutual inclination and affection at
once brought about the desired result. They became definitely
engaged on the 15th of October, and on the 10th of February 1840
the marriage was celebrated at the chapel-royal, St James's.
The position in which the prince was placed by his marriage,
while it was one of distinguished honour, was also one
of considerable difficulty; and during his lifetime the
tactful way in which he filled it was very inadequately
appreciated. The public life of the prince-consort cannot
be separated from that of the queen, and it is unnecessary
here to repeat such details as are given in the article
on her (see VICTORIA, QUEEN.) The prejudice against
him, on account of what was regarded as undue influence in
politics, was never fully dissipated till after his death.
His co-operation with the queen in dealing with the political
responsibilities which devolved upon the sovereign represented
an amount of conscientious and self-sacrificing labour which
cannot easily be exaggerated; and his wisdom in council
could only be realized, outside a very small circle, when in
later years the materials for the history of that time became
accessible. He was indeed a man of cultured and liberal
ideas, well qualified to take the lead in many reforms which
the England of that day sorely needed. He was specially
interested in endeavours to secure the more perfect application
of science and art to manufacturing industry. The Great
Exhibition of 1851 originated in a suggestion he made at a
meeting of the Society of Arts, and owed the greater part of
its success to his intelligent and unwearied efforts. He had
to work for its realization against an extraordinary outburst
of angry expostulations. Every stage in his project was
combated. In the House of Peers, Lord Brougham denied the
right of the crown to hold the exhibition in Hyde Park; in
the Commons, Colonel Sibthorp prophesied that England would
be overrun with foreign rogues and revolutionists, who would
subvert the morals of the people, filch their trade secrets
from them, and destroy their faith and loyalty towards their
religion and their sovereign. Prince Albert was president of
the exhibition commission, and every post brought him abusive
letters, accusing him, as a foreigner, of being intent upon
the corruption of England. He was not the man to be balked by
talk of this kind, but quietly persevered, looking always to
the probability that the manufacturing power of Great Britain
would be quickened by bringing the best manufactured products
of foreign countries under the eyes of the mechanics and
artisans. A sense of the artistic was at this time almost
wholly wanting among the English people. One day the prince
had a conversation with a great manufacturer of crockery,
and sought to convert him to the idea of issuing something
better than the eternal willow-pattern in white with gold,
red or blue, which formed the staple of middle and lower class
domestic china. The manufacturer held out that new shapes
and designs would not be saleable; but he was induced to
try, and he did so with such a rapid success that a revolution
in the china cupboards of England was accomplished from that
time. The exhibition was opened by the queen on the 1st of May
1851, and was a colossal success; and the realized surplus
of L. 150,000 went to establish and endow the South Kensington
Museum (afterwards renamed ``Victoria and Albert'') and to
purchase land in that neighbourhood. Similar institutions,
On a smaller scale but with a kindred aim, always found in
him warm advocacy and substantial support. It was chiefly at
meetings in connexion with these that he found occasion for
the delivery of addresses characterized by profound thought and
comprehensiveness of view, a collection of which was published in
1857. One of the most favourable specimens of his powers
as a speaker is the inaugural address which he delivered as
president of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science when it met at Aberdeen in 1859. The education of his
family and the management of his domestic affairs furnished
the prince with another very important sphere of action, in
which he employed himself with conscientious devotedness.
The estates of the duchy of Cornwall, the hereditary appanage of
the prince of Wales, were so greatly improved under his father's
management that the rent-roll rose from L. 11,000 to L. 50,000 a
year. Prince Albert, indeed, had a peculiar talent for the
management of landed estates. His model farm at Windsor was in
every way worthy of the name; and the grounds at Balmoral and
Osborne were laid out entirely in conformity with his designs.
A character so pure. and a life so useful and well-directed in
all its aims, could scarcely fail to win respect among those
who were acquainted with the facts. As the prince became better
known, public mistrust began to give way. In 1847, but only
after a significantly keen contest with Earl Powis, he was
elected chancellor of the university of Cambridge; and he was
afterwards appointed master of the Trinity House. In June
1857 the formal title of prince-consort was conferred upon
him by letters patent, in order to settle certain difficulties
as to precedence that had been raised at foreign courts.
But in the full career of his usefulness he was cut off.
During the autumn of 1861 he was busy with the arrangements
for the projected international exhibition, and it was just
after returning from one of the meetings in connexion with
it that he was seized with his last illness. Beginning at
the end of November with what appeared to be influenza, it
proved to be an attack of typhoid fever, and, congestion of
the lungs supervening, he died on the 14th of December. The
grief of the queen was overwhelming and the sympathy of the
whole nation marked a revulsion of feeling about the prince
himself which was not devoid of compunction for earlier want of
appreciation. The magnificent mausoleum at Frogmore, in which
his remains were finally deposited, was erected at the expense
of the queen and the royal family; and many public monuments to
``Albert the Good'' were erected all over the country, the most
notable being the Albert Hall (1867) and the Albert Memorial
(1876) in London. His name was also commemorated in the queen's
institution of the Albert medal ( 1866) in reward for gallantry
in saving life, and of the order of Victoria and Albert (1862).
By the queen's authority, her secretary, General Grey, compiled
The Early Days of the Prince Consort, published in 1867; and
The Life and Letters of the Prince Consort (ist vol., 1874;
2nd, 1880) mas similarly edited by Sir Theodore Martin. A volume
of the Principal Specches and Addresses of Prince Albert,
with an introduction by Sir Arthur Helps, was published in
1862. See also the Letters of Queen Victoria (ioo7). (H. CH.)
ALBERT I. (c. 1250-1308), German king, and duke of Austria,
eldest son of King Rudolph I., the founder of the greatness
of the house of Habsburg, was invested with the duchies of
Austria and Styria, together with his brother Rudolph, in
1282. In 1283 his father entrusted him with their sole
