returned to Holland, took his seat as a noble in the states-general, and was made a general of horse in the Dutch army. He joined the forces of the allies in 1703, was present at Ramillies in 1706 and at Oudenarde in 1708, and distinguished himself at the siege of Lille. He commanded at the siege of Aire in 1710, led Marlborough’s second line in 1711, and was general of the Dutch forces in 1712, being defeated at Denain after the withdrawal of Ormonde and the English forces and taken prisoner. He died on the 30th of May 1718, aged 48. He married Geertruid, daughter of Adam van der Denijn, by whom, besides a daughter, he had a son, William Anne, who succeeded him as 2nd earl of Albemarle.
Of the later earls mention need only be made of the sixth, George Thomas Keppel (1799–1891), British general, second son of the fourth earl, born on the 13th of June 1799. Educated at Westminster School he entered the army as ensign, 14th Foot, in 1815. He joined his regiment in Belgium and took part in the Waterloo campaign and the march to Paris, joined the second battalion in Corfu, and was transferred to the 22nd Foot, with which he served in Mauritius and at the Cape, returning home in 1819, when he was appointed equerry to the duke of Sussex. Promoted to a lieutenancy in the 24th Foot, he was transferred to the 20th Foot, and went to India, where he was aide-de-camp to the marquess of Hastings until his resignation in 1823, when Keppel returned to England, travelling overland through Persia, Moscow and St Petersburg. He published in 1825 an account of his travels, entitled Journey from India to England. He was aide-de-camp to the Marquess Wellesley, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, for two years, was promoted captain in the 62nd Foot, studied in the senior department of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and in 1827 obtained a half-pay unattached majority. He did not again serve on full pay, but rose to be a general. In 1829 he visited the seat of the Russo-Turkish war and was with the British fleet in Turkish waters. In 1832 he was returned in the Whig interest to the first reformed parliament as member for East Norfolk and sat until 1835. He was private secretary to the premier, Lord John Russell, in 1846, and M.P. for Lymington from 1847 to 1849. He succeeded to the title on the death of his brother in 1851. He died in 1891 and was buried at Quidenham, Norfolk. He wrote an account of a Journey across the Balkans, Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham, and an autobiography entitled Fifty Years of My Life.
See G. E. C(ockayne), Complete Peerage, 8 vols. (London, 1887). For the two Williams de Fortibus, see s.v. Prof. T. F. Tout’s articles in the Dict. of Nat. Biog.
ALBENGA, a town and episcopal see of Liguria, Italy, on the N.W. coast of the Gulf of Genoa, in the province of Genoa, 5212 m. S.W. of Genoa by rail. Pop. (1901) 6248. Albenga is the ancient Album Ingaunum or Albingaunum, the chief town of the Ingauni, one of the most important of the Ligurian tribes, whose territory reached as far as Genoa. Under the empire it was a municipium; an inscription records the restoration of the walls, forum, harbour, &c., by Constantius A.D. 354. A little way outside the town to the E. is a well-preserved Roman bridge nearly 500 ft. long and 1112 ft. wide, with 10 arches, each with a span of 37 ft. It belonged to the coast road and is now known as Ponte Lungo. To the S. of the town is a conspicuous monument, 27 ft. high, in the form of a rectangular pillar, resembling a tomb; but as there is no trace of a door to a sepulchral chamber it may be a shrine. In the town itself there are no Roman remains; but there is a good Gothic cathedral in brick, and an interesting octagonal baptistery, attributed to the 8th or 9th century, the arches being supported by ancient columns, and the vaulting decorated with mosaics. Some of the medieval palaces of Albenga have lofty brick towers.
See A. d’Andrade in Relazione dell’ Ufficio Regionale per la Conservazione dei monumenti del Piemonte e della Liguria (Turin, 1899), 114 seq.
ALBERONI, GIULIO (1664–1752), Spanish-Italian cardinal and statesman, was born near Piacenza, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola, on the 31st of May 1664. His father was a gardener, and he himself became first connected with the church in the humble position of verger in the cathedral of Piacenza. Having gained the favour of Bishop Barni he took priest’s orders, and afterwards accompanied the son of his patron to Rome. During the war of the Spanish succession Alberoni laid the foundation of his political success by the services he rendered to the duke of Vendôme, commander of the French forces in Italy; and when these forces were recalled in 1706 he accompanied the duke to Paris, where he was favourably received by Louis XIV. In 1711 he followed Vendôme into Spain as his secretary. Two years later, the duke having died in the interval, Alberoni was appointed consular agent for Parma at the court of Philip V. of Spain, being raised at the same time to the dignity of count. On his arrival at Madrid he found the princesse des Ursins all but omnipotent with the king, and for a time he judged it expedient to use her influence in carrying out his plans. In concert with her he arranged the king’s marriage with Elizabeth Farnese of Parma. The influence of the new queen being actively exerted on Alberoni’s behalf, he speedily rose to high position. He was made a member of the king’s council, bishop of Malaga, and in 1715 prime minister, and was raised to the dignity of cardinal in 1717. His internal policy was exceedingly vigorous. The main purpose he put before himself was to produce an economic revival in Spain by abolishing internal custom-houses, throwing open the trade of the Indies and reorganizing the finances. With the resources thus gained he undertook to enable King Philip V. to carry out an ambitious policy both in Italy and in France. The impatience of the king and his wife gave the minister no time to mature his plans. By provoking England, France, Holland and the Empire at once it brought a flood of disaster on Spain for which Alberoni was held responsible. On the 5th of December 1719 he was ordered to leave Spain, Elizabeth herself having taken an active part in procuring the decree of banishment. He went to Italy, and there had to take refuge among the Apennines, Pope Clement XI., who was his bitter enemy, having given strict orders for his arrest. On the death of Clement, Alberoni boldly appeared at the Conclave, and took part in the election of Innocent XIII. (1721), after which he was for a short time imprisoned by the pontiff on the demand of Spain. At the next election (1724) he was himself proposed for the papal chair, and secured ten votes at the Conclave which elected Benedict XIII. Benedict’s successor, Clement XII. (elected 1730), named him legate of Ravenna, in which capacity he incurred the pope’s displeasure by the strong and unwarrantable measures he adopted to reduce the little republic of San Marino to subjection to Rome. He was consequently replaced by another legate in 1740, and soon after he retired to Piacenza. Clement XII. appointed him administrator of the hospital of San Lazzaro at Piacenza in 1730. The hospital was a medieval foundation for the benefit of lepers. The disease having disappeared from Italy, Alberoni obtained the consent of the pope to the suppression of the hospital, which had fallen into great disorder, and replaced it by a college for the education of seventy poor boys for the priesthood, under the name of the Collegio Alberoni, which it still bears. He died on the 16th of June 1752, leaving a sum of 600,000 ducats to endow the seminary he had founded, and the residue of the immense wealth he had acquired in Spain to his nephew. Alberoni left a large quantity of manuscripts; but the genuineness of the Political Testament, published in his name at Lausanne in 1753, has been questioned.
An Histoire du Cardinal Alberoni up to 1719 was published by Jean Rousset de Missy at the Hague in 1719. A laudatory life, Storia del Cardinale Giulio Alberoni, was published by Stefano Bersani, a priest educated at his college, at Piacenza, in 1861. Giulio Alberoni e il suo secolo, by Giovanni Bianchi (1901), is briefer and more critical. See also Lettres intimes de J. Alberoni, edited by M. E. Bourgeois (1892).
ALBERT (1522–1557), prince of Bayreuth, surnamed The Warlike, and also Alcibiades, was a son of Casimir, prince of Bayreuth, and a member of the Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern family. Born at Ansbach on the 28th of March 1522, he lost his father in 1527 and came under the guardianship of his uncle George, prince of Ansbach, a strong adherent of the reformed doctrines. In 1541 he received Bayreuth as his share of the family lands, and as the chief town of his principality
