Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/380

ALEXANDER. the weak instruinent of liis ambitious son, Cesare Borgia. Other biographies are 1)V F. Kaiser (Re- gensburg, 1878) and Clement "(Paris, 1882).— Alexander Vll. (Fabio Chigi), Pope 10.55-67. He confirmed the condemnation of Jansenism, and had the satisfaction of receiving the Swedish Queen, Giiristina. the daughter of Gustavus Adol- phus. into the Catholic Church. Consult his life, by S. Paliavicini (Prato, l-8.'i'J). — Alexander VIII. (Pietro Ottoboni), Pope 1089-91. He pub- lislied the bull "Inter Multiplices" against Galli- canism.

ALEXANDER I. (?-320 B.C.). King of Epinis; son of Xeoptolemus and brother of Olympias, the motlier of Alexander the Great. He was made King of Epirus by Philip of Macedon, and it was at his marriage with Philip's daughter Cleopatra (u. c. 336) that Philip was assassi- nated. At the request of the Tarentines, Alexan- der went to Italy (332), to aid them against the Lucanians and Bruttii, but, after considerable success, was slain by the Lucanians at the battle of Pandosia, in Southern Italy.

ALEXANDER II. (?-c.242 B.C.). King of Epirus, son cjf Pyrrhus and of Lanassa, daughter of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles. He succeeded his father in B.C. 272. To avenge the death of Pyrrhus, slain while fighting against Antigonus Gonatus, he seized Macedonia, the latter's king- dom. Soon afterward, however, he was deprived of both Macedonia and his own dominions by De- metrius, son of Antigonus, but recovered Epirus b_y the aid of the Areanians (Just, xxvi: 3; xxxviii: 1; and Plut., Pi/rrh. 9).

ALEXANDER I. (1857-1893). Prince of Bulgaria from 1S79 to 18S0. He was the second son of Prince Alexander of Hesse by a morganatic marriage with Countess Julia of Hauck. He served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 on the stafif of General Gurko and in the personal suite of the Czar. After the erection of Bulgaria into an autonomous prineiiiality. he was elected hereditary prince April 29, 1870, by the Bulgarian Sobranje. at the instance of Russia, and the choice was confirmed by those jiowers which had participated in 1878 in the Congress of Berlin. The principality was organized under Russian influence, but at once developed political parties. Alexander began his administration with a Conservative ministry, seeking to maintain a good understanding with Russia and to establish an orderly government. He then tried a Xationalist ministry, but in 1881 dismissed it. convoked the Sobranje, and secured special powers, under which he appointed a Conservative ministry, headed by two Russian generals, Kaulbars and SobolefT, The Conservative party was but a small faction, and Alexander now allied himself with the Nationalists, who were enabled to assert theniselves nuire and more against the Russian inlhumce. In 1885 Eastern Runielia revolted against its governor-general, souglit aid from Alexander, who assumed the title of Prince of the Two Bulgarias, and ni'cnmplished the union in spite of Russian ojiposition. seciring recognition as governor from the Porte. This lirought on a war with Servia, in which Bulgaria triumphed. Prince Alexander conducting his armv with courage and skill. In the night of August'20-21. 1886, a conspiracy headed by Zankoli'. and inspired by Russian niachinatimis, forced him to sign his abdication, and lu' was kidiuipped and taken into Russian territory. Popular indignation in Bulgaria procured his release, but on September 7 he formally abdicated, believing that it was for the good of the country in view of Russian opposition. He had shown a courage, ability, and loyalty to Bulgaria such as had hardly been expected. He died on his estate at Gratz, in Styria. Consult: Soboleff, Der erste Fiirst von BuUja-rieii (Leipzig, 1880), trans, from Russian; Draudar, I'riiice Ale.randrr of Batteiiherg (1884); A. Koch, Alexander's chaplain, I'rinz Alexander v. Batlenhrrg (Darmstadt, 1887).

ALEXANDER I., (1777-1825). Emperor of Russia from 1801 to 1825. He was born December 23 (12 Old Style), 1777, at Saint Petersburg, and was the son of Paul I. and Maria Feodorovna (born Dorothea of Württemberg). The violent and arbitrary reign of Alexander's predecessor produced a conspiracy to force his abdication in favor of his son. The Polish prince, Adam Czartoryski, a friend of Alexander, who gives a circumstantial account of the conspiracy, says that Alexander was privy to the plan of forced abdication, but not to the assassination. The news of the accession of Alexander was received, according to the Russian historian Karamsin, as &ldquo;a message of redemption.&rdquo; Alexander had been educated under the direction of his grandmother, Catharine II., by eminent instructors, chief among whom was the Swiss Colonel Laharpe, whose ability and liberal views made a strong impression upon the imaginative character of his pupil. His education, however, was still incomplete when broken off by the dismissal of Laharpe, on account of his sympathy with the French Revolution. Alexander received a military training which was equally incomplete. His defective education, his experiences in the courts of his great, but despotic and immoral grandmother and of his half-insane father produced a curious mingling of characteristics and tendencies. Czartoryski speaks of the frank avowal made to him in 1796 by Alexander of his sympathy with republicanism and his belief that hereditary power was unjust and absurd. The tragedy with which his reign began also made its impression.

He began his reign with sweeping reforms. He abolished the barbaric and excessive punishments in use under his predecessors, restrained the brutality of the police, did away with the secret tribunal, pardoned many of his father's victims, and in other ways reformed the laws and procedure. Restrictions upon literature, art, and trade were removed. &ldquo;I would not place myself above the law, even if I could,&rdquo; Alexander wrote to the Princess Galitzin, &ldquo;for I do not recognize any legitimate power on earth that does not emanate from the law. . . . The law should be the same for all.&rdquo; He was aided in his work by four intimate friends, young men of liberal views &mdash; Count Paul Strogonoff, Prince Victor Kotchubei, Nicholas Novossiltsoff, and Prince Adam Czartoryski. These Alexander called his &ldquo;committee of public safety.&rdquo; They deliberated the duties and the limitations of the imperial power &mdash; a new question in Russia, and not much considered since that time. In 1801 the Senate was made the supreme high court, its ukases to be subject only to the imperial veto. The first move of the Senate in opposition to the Emperor, however, met with a sharp rebuke, and Czartoryski well explains the attitude