(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