Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/496

Rh 458 A L C A L C ALCALA DE HENARES, an ancient Spanish city on the river Henares, 17 miles E.N.E. of Madrid. It has been identified with the Roman Complutum, which was destroyed about the year 1000, and was rebuilt by the Moors in 1083. In later times it was renowned for its richly-endowed university, founded by Cardinal Ximenes in 1510, which, at the height of its prosperity, numbered more than 10,000 students, and was second only to that of Salamanca. Here the famous edition of the Holy Bible known as the Complutensian Polyglot was prepared. The college of St Ildefonso contains a magnificent chapel, in which Ximenes is buried, and is distinguished by its splendid architecture, partly Moorish and partly Gothic. Alcala is further celebrated as the birthplace of the Ger man emperor Ferdinand I., the poet Figueroa, the naturalist Bustamente de la Camera, the historian Solis, and last and greatest of all, Cervantes, who was born here in 1547. Since the removal of the university to Madrid in 1836 the town has rapidly declined. It contains a military academy and various public institiitions, but is of little commercial importance. Population, 8745. ALCALA LA REAL, a town of the province of Jaen in Spain, 18 miles S.W. of the town of that name. It stands on a declivity between two mountain ridges, at an elevation of about 3000 feet above the sea. It possesses a fine abbey. Its distinctive name la Real, the Royal, is derived from its capture in 1340 by Alphonso XI. of Leon, in person. In 1810 the Spaniards were defeated here by the French under Sebastiani. Some trade is carried on at the place in wine and wool. Population, 11,521. ALCALDE (from the Arabic al-cadi, the judge), an official title given in Spain to various classes of functionaries entrusted with judicial duties. Criminal judges, members of courts of appeal, magistrates, and even parish officers are all known by the name alcalde secondary descriptive titles distinguishing their different positions and functions. It is to be observed that the word is entirely distinct from Alcaide, the latter being always employed to designate a military officer. ALCAMENES ( AA/m/AcV^s), a famous Athenian sculp tor, a pupil of Phidias, who is celebrated for his skill in art by Cicero, Pliny, Pausanias, Lucan, &amp;lt;tc. He flourished from about 448 to 400 B.C., and appears as one of the great triumvirate of Greek sculptors, Phidias, Alcamenes, and Polycletus. He is said to have once competed with his master, the subject being a statue of Minerva. In this attempt the style of Alcamenes was exquisite in finish, but he had overlooked the consideration that the statue was to be placed on a high column, and there his work would not bear comparison with that of his great master. His statue of Venus Urania, in the temple of that deity at Athens, was reckoned his masterpiece. ALCAMO, a city of Sicily, in the Italian province of Trapani, is situated 22 miles E. of Trapani, near the Gulf of Castellamare. It lies in a district of peculiar fertility, which produces some of the best wines in the island. The town is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, but its internal appearance is mean and dirty. It contains a very strong castle, and many churches and monasteries. Near it are the ruins of the ancient Segcsta, including a Doric temple and a theatre in good preservation ; and there are also on the neighbouring hill Moorish towers and other remains, standing as memorials of the Saracen occupation of Sicily. Population (18G5), 19,518. ALCANTARA, the ancient Norba Ccesarea, a town of Spain, in the province of Caceres, on a rocky height on the left bank of the Tagus. Alcantara (in Arabic, the bridge) derived its name from the magnificent Roman bridge which spanned the Tagus at this point, and which was erected, according to the inscription, A.P, 104, in honour of the emperor Trajan, who was a native of Spain. This remarkable structure is built entirely of blocks of granite without cement, and consisted, until its partial destruction, of six arches of various span, with a total .length of 670 feet and a height of 210 feet. The second arch on the right bank was blown up by the English in 1809, and, although temporarily reconstructed, was again destroyed in 1836 to prevent the passage of the Carlist troops. The bridge has never since been repaired; and it is a striking illustration of the want of public spirit in Spain that the river is crossed by means of a ferry-boat in the neighbourhood of this grand engineering work, which it is a national duty to preserve. The population of the town is 4200. ALCANTARA, a seaport of Brazil, in the province of Maranhao, on the bay of San Marcos. It has a tolerable harbour; and excellent cotton is grown in the vicinity, forming the chief article of commerce. Rice and salt, obtained from the neighbouring lagoons, are also exported. Population, 10,000. ALCANTARA, KNIGHTS OF (la Caballeria de Alcan tara], an order of knights of Spain, instituted about 1156 A.D. by the brothers Don Suarez and Don Gomez de Bar- rientos for protection against the Moors. In 1 1 77 they were confirmed as a religious order of knighthood under Bene dictine rule by Pope Alexander III. Until about 1213 they were known as the Knights of San Julian del Pereyro ; but when the defence of Alcantara, newly wrested from the Moors by Alphonso IX. of Castile, was entrusted to them, they took their name from that city. For a con siderable time they were in some degree subject to the grand master of the kindred order of Calatrava. Ulti mately, however, they asserted their independence by electing a grand master of their own, the first holder of the office being Don Diego Sanche. During the rule of thirty-seven successive grand masters, similarly chosen, the influence and wealth of the order gradually increased until the Knights of Alcantara were almost as powerful as the sovereign. In 1494-5 Juan de Zufiiga was prevailed upon to resign the grand mastership to Ferdinand, who thereupon vested it, as he had already done that of two other orders, in his own person as king ; and this arrangement was ratified by a bull of Pope Alexander VI., and was declared permanent by Pope Adrian VI. in 1523. The yearly income of Zufiiga at the time of his resignation amounted to 150,000 ducats. In 1540 Pope Paul III. released the knights from the strictness of Benedictine rule by giving them permission to marry, though second marriage was forbidden. The three vows were henceforth oledientia, castitas conjugalis, and conversio morum. In modern times the history of the order has been somewhat chequered. When Joseph Bonaparte became king of Spain in 1808, ho deprived the knights of their revenues, which were only partially recovered on the restoration of Ferdinand VI J. in 1814. The order ceased to exist as a spiritual body in 1835, though it is still recognised in its civil capacity. ALCARAZ, a small town in Spain, in the province of Albacete, 34 miles W.S.W. of the town of that name. It stands on very hilly ground near the river Guadarmena, and has the remains of a once strong castle and of a mag nificent Roman aqueduct. Weaving, iron-founding, and agriculture are the chief branches of industry. Copper and zinc are found in the vicinity. Population, 7325. ALCAVALA, a duty formerly charged in Spain and its ^colonies on all transfers of property, whether public or private. It was originally imposed by Alphonso XI. to secure freedom from the Moors in 1341, as an ad valorem tax of 10, increased afterwards to 14 per cent., on the selling price of all commodities, whether raw or manufactured, which was chargeable as often as they were sold or ex-