Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/275

 ALBERT 251 became a member of the provisional govern- ment as a special representative of the working classes, and always signed himself "Albert, ouvrier." He was elected to the constituent assembly for the department of the Seine ; but being implicated in the uprising of May 15, he was sentenced to transportation, and remained in prison till the amnesty of 1854. Albert does not figure in the history of the Commune of 1871. ALBERT I. (Ger. Albrechf), archduke of Austria and emperor of Germany, born in 1248, died May 1, 1308. He was the son of Rudolph of Hapsburg, and succeeded to his hereditary estates, but the succession to the crown was conferred by the electors upon Adolphus of Nassau. Albert affected submis- sion, and remitted to the new emperor the royal insignia. But on the coronation of Wenceslas of Bohemia he met four of the elec- tors, and arranged with them a diet at Mentz, before which Adolphus was summoned to an- swer charges of high crimes and misdemea- nors. Adolphus 6f course refused the requisi- tion of any such tribunal, and the diet there- upon adjudged him guilty of contumacy, and deprived him of the crown. War was dfe- clared, the two armies met, July 2, 1298, near Gellheim, between Spire and Worms, and Al- bert unhorsed Adolphus in personal combat, whereupon the latter, continuing to fight, was soon despatched by the followers of his rival. Feigning a respect for the rights of the body of electors, Albert declined to exercise the siipreme power until a diet had been formally convened, and he was duly elected and crowned at Aix-la-Ohapelle. Pope Boniface VIII., however, stigmatized him as a mur- derer, and instituted a new combination against him, which was disconcerted by Albert's son Ru- dolph. Albert was now involved in hostilities with Bohemia, of which he made himself mas- ter for a short time ; but the people rose, and he was obliged to retire. He attempted to subjugate part of Switzerland, but in crossing the river Reuss in a boat was murdered by his nephew John of Swabia, whose posses- sions Albert had seized during his minority. John was assisted by three noblemen. Albert's daughter Agnes terribly avenged her father's murder, though not on John himself, who es- caped to Italy, and died a monk. Albert was succeeded in Austria by his son Frederick the Handsome, and in the empire by Henry of Lux- emburg. ALBERT (Ger. Albrechf), the first duke of Prussia, son of Frederick, margrave of Anspach and Baireuth, and grandson of Albert Achilles, elector of Brandenburg, born May 17, 1490, died March 21, 1568. He was educated for the church under the elector of Cologne, but also served in the army of the emperor Maxi- milian, and in 1511 was elected grand master of the Teutonic order. Refusing to take the oath of fealty to the king of Poland, he be- came involved in the hostilities which had subsisted for years between the order and the Poles. Sigismund I. of Poland, whose sister was Albert's mother, began the war in earnest, but, after some successful fighting, was in 1521 in- duced to grant a four years' truce, during which Albert solicited aid from other German princes. He betook himself to Germany, where he was persuaded by Luther to embrace the reformation and change the domains of the order into a temporal principality. At the ex- piration of the truce the grand master con- sented to hold the territory of the order as a fief from Poland, and the majority of the knights agreed to hold under Albert. Al- bert now threw himself heartily into the refor- mation movement, established new schools, and founded the university of Konigsberg. Dissensions on doctrinal points between the professors of his new university involved him hi troubles which lasted till his death. ALBERT (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Eman- nel), prince consort of Great Britain, prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born at Coburg, Aug. 26, 1819, died in Windsor Castle, Dec. 14, 1861. Under the auspices of his father, Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he received a brilliant education, which he perfected by studying at the university of Bonn. In June, 1838, he vis- ited England, and was introduced by King Leopold of Belgium to the young Queen Vic- toria, who in November, 1839, formally an- nounced to the privy council that she intended to marry Prince Albert. He was naturalized by act of parliament, Jan. 21, 1840, and the marriage was celebrated Feb. 10. An annual allowance of 50,000 was at first proposed, but only 30,000 was voted. The prince was made a field marshal, knight of the garter, and chancellor of the university of Cambridge, and invested with other high titles and functions. As president of the society of arts his aesthetic tastes found ample scope for activity. The crystal palace of 1851, the forerunner of many other expositions of industry and art, was chiefly due to his zeal and enlightened knowledge. His model farm at Windsor gave a powerful impulse toward the establishment of others all over the country. His public spirit was felt in a variety of industrial and charitable undertak- ings, while in political affairs he exercised a wise influence over the queen without obtru- sive intermeddling. Devoted to the education of the royal family, and warmly attached to the queen, he made the domestic life of the court synonymous with virtue and culture. The delicacy of his position as a German prince and as husband of the queen, without political authority, exposed him occasionally to misap- prehensions ; and in 1855 it was necessary for the ministry to correct in parliament the im- pressions which had been current in regard to his alleged partiality for alien interests in inter- national questions. Nevertheless, he frequently saved the government from danger by his cool judgment and patriotism. Shortly before his death, during the civil war in the United