Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/144

ALM kept, and Almagro, having also procured a patent of vice-royalty, resolved to subdue for himself the neighbouring province of Chili. He had prosecuted this enterprise with success for some time, when he was summoned to the assistance of the brothers of Pizarro, besieged in their capital of Cuzco by some tribes of Indians. He hastened into Peru, raised the siege, recommenced it on his own account when refused entrance into the city, and carried Cuzco by storm; but having to engage an army sent by Pizarro to the relief of his brothers, he was defeated, and, after a captivity of two months and a half, shamefully put to death by his former friend.—J. S., G.  ALMAGRO,, governor of Peru, son of the preceding, born in 1520, inherited from his father the hatred of Pizarro, who kept him in durance along with his governor, Juan de Herrada, a bold and politic man, who took the first opportunity of delivering himself and his charge from confinement. That occurred in 1541, when the two brothers of Pizarro had quitted Peru, and the partizans of Almagro, favoured by the indolent security of the governor-general, had provided themselves with arms, and all things necessary for an attack on Pizarro's residence, which the confederates were sworn to make the scene of a murder, that should avenge the death of the first Almagro. On the 26th June, Pizarro was assassinated, and Almagro proclaimed governor of Peru. Cuzco refused to acknowledge his authority, and he was on his way to besiege that city, when Christopher Baca de Castro, charged by the king to settle the affairs of Peru, appeared to dispute the legitimacy of the new viceroy's authority. Almagro having quickly reduced Cuzco to submission, gave battle to the king's commissioner. The result was disastrous. He escaped from the field of battle only to be brought to the block a few months after (1542.)—J. S.. G.  ALMAMOUN. See.  ALMANSOR. See.  ALMEIDA,, a Portuguese surgeon, author of several medical treatises studied anatomy in London under the celebrated Hunter. Died in 1822.  ALMEIDA,, the Portuguese Joan of Arc, celebrated by Camoens and a host of his imitators for a feat of valour quite as extraordinary as any of those which have immortalized the French "Pucelle," was born at the village of Aljubarotta. Of humble birth, and known in her native village only in her simple calling of baker, on the occasion of its being invaded in 1385 by the troops of the king of Castile, she snatched up an instrument of her trade, a kind of shovel, and with that weapon made a furious attack on the Castilian soldiers, seven of whom were laid prostrate by this village Amazon.—J. S., G.  ALMEIDA,, first viceroy of Portuguese India, born of illustrious parentage towards the middle of the fifteenth century, was appointed governor of the Indies in 1505. In March of that year he sailed from Belem with a fleet of twenty-two ships, being instructed to explore the Red Sea, after fortifying Sofala and Quiloa. He reached the latter place towards the end of July, and effected its reduction without difficulty. Proceeding to Mombaça, he experienced from the Moors of that port a stout but ineffectual resistance. Their treasures enriched all but Almeida, who claimed an arrow for his share of the booty. In the month of October, he reached the coasts of Portuguese India, and chose for his residence Cochin, where he assumed the title of viceroy, justified, his admirers thought, by the extent of his authority, and the homage it exacted from native sovereigns. At the same time, to shield himself from reproaches and to testify his loyalty, he sent to Portugal in 1506, as a present to King Emmanuel, eight vessels loaded with spices; and in the same spirit he proceeded to erect a fortress on the island of Sofala, a part of his instructions hitherto neglected. The brilliant career of his son (see ) about this time shed a splendid lustre on the administration of Almeida, soon to be closed by the arrival of Albuquerque, who, shortly after the death of Lourenço in an engagement with the Moors before Daboul, announced himself at Cochin as new governor of India. Almeida, burning to avenge the loss of his son, refused to yield up his authority till he had chastised the infidels, especially the emir Hossein, admiral of the sultan of Egypt, and the rajah of Calicut, who had shared between them the triumph of Daboul. After inflicting a summary retribution on the inhabitants of the latter port, he encountered his enemies at sea, opposite the town of Diu, and completely destroyed their fleet. Returning to Cochin after so brilliant a victory, Almeida showed himself more unwilling than ever to surrender his dignities; but Albuquerque at length prevailed, and in November, 1509, the victor of Diu finally quitted the shores on which his name had become a terror and his vengeance a proverb. Three ships formed the convoy of the deposed viceroy. Entering the bay of Saldanha, near the Cape of Good Hope, to procure water, a skirmish took place between the crews and a tribe of Caffres, which necessitated the landing of Almeida with all his forces. He had penetrated about a league into the interior of the country, and was returning to the ships, when, in the midst of a cloud of dust raised by a herd of oxen which his soldiers were driving shorewards, a Caffre, perceiving Almeida's helmet raised for a moment, thrust him through the throat with a stick hardened in the fire. Thus perished in March, 1510, by the hand of a wandering savage, one who, in the course of a few years, had spread the fear of European arms over the greater part of the Indian peninsula.—J. S., G.  ALMEIDA,, a Portuguese naval commander, one of the heroes of Camoens, was a son of Francisco d'Almeida, viceroy of Portuguese India. Inured to adventure from his earliest years, he was remarked, even among the veteran heroes of the viceroyalty, for his martial daring. Ceylon submitted to his arms in 1505; and a year or two afterwards, with a loss of only six or eight of his men, he routed at sea three thousand Mohammedans. This great victory, however, was followed in 1508 by a great reverse, involving the death of Almeida. Hossein, the admiral of the sultan of Egypt, and Melek-Iaz, admiral of the rajah of Calicut, having effected a junction of their forces in the port of Choul, gave battle to the Portuguese, and avenged the Mohammedan disaster of the preceding year by a victory over the latter, who had to regret the loss of their young and brave commander. Wounded early in the engagement, he continued to give his orders seated on a chair, till struck dead by a bullet which lodged in his breast.—J. S., G. <section end="144H" /> <section begin="144I" />ALMEIDA,, a Portuguese diplomatist, successively ambassador at Rome and London, and afterwards minister of foreign affairs; died in 1814 in Brazil, whither he had repaired some years before his death. <section end="144I" /> <section begin="144J" />ALMEIDA,, a Portuguese satirical poet, born at Lisbon in 1745, died in 1811. <section end="144J" /> <section begin="144K" />ALMEIDA or ALMEYDA, or, a voluminous Portuguese writer, died in 1804. <section end="144K" /> <section begin="144L" />ALMELOVEN,, a Dutch painter and engraver of the first half century. <section end="144L" /> <section begin="144M" />ALMELOVEN,, a learned Dutch physician, born at Mydrecht in 1657, distinguished himself in languages, philosophy, and medicine at Utrecht; became professor of Greek literature and of medicine at Harderwyk in 1697, and in that capacity continued to enjoy the renown to which his various erudition entitled him till his death in 1712. He left many treatises in Latin, chiefly on medical subjects.—J. S., G. <section end="144M" /> <section begin="144N" />ALMENAR,, a Spanish physician, author of a treatise, "De Morbo Gallico," flourished in the fifteenth century. <section end="144N" /> <section begin="144O" />ALMENDINGEN,, a German jurisconsult, distinguished as an essayist on Political and philosophical subjects, son of the minister of Hesse Darmstadt at the court of France, was born at Paris in 1766; died in 1827. <section end="144O" /> <section begin="144P" />ALMEON or ALMANZOR, an Arabian prince and mathematician of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, who wrote astronomical observations on the sun, and is not to be confounded with another author of the same name, who wrote on astrology. <section end="144P" /> <section begin="144Q" />ALMER,, a Danish painter of some celebrity, born at Copenhagen in 1742, died in 1792. <section end="144Q" /> <section begin="144R" />ALMERAS,, a French general, born in 1764, distinguished himself in 1794 by a brilliant feat of arms, having, at the head of only two hundred men, repulsed in a pass of the Alps a force of fifteen hundred; was present with Kleber in Egypt; and on his return, having been named general of division, took part in the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian campaigns of Napoleon. Died in 1823 at Bourdeaux.—J. S., G. <section end="144R" /> <section begin="144S" />ALMEYDA,, a Portuguese theologian, born of noble parentage at Lisbon in 1701, acquired a reputation as a writer on canon law, which he elucidated in a work of great research, still highly esteemed. <section end="144S" /> <section begin="144T" />ALM´ICI,, a learned Italian, born at Brescia in 1714. He has left a variety of treatises in theology, history, and general literature. He died in 1779. <section end="144T" /> <section begin="144Zcontin" />ALMODO´VAR, the Duke of, a Spanish diplomatist of <section end="144Zcontin" />