296 ALFONSO was chosen by some of the electors emperor of Germany, while Kichard of Cornwall was sup- ported by others ; but his power in Germany remained a mere shadow, and in 1273 Rudolph of Hapsburg put an end to the interregnum. His reign was disturbed by the revolt of his brother Philip and Alhamar, king of Granada, an invasion by the king of Morocco, and a civil war caused by the claim of his second son San- cho to be recognized as heir to the throne. Sancho was excommunicated by the pope and the kingdom placed under an interdict. Alfon- so was one of the most learned men of his age. He laid the foundation of Spanish prose by causing a translation of the Bible to be made into that language, by ordering all legal pro- ceedings to be conducted in it, and by the excellent specimens which he himself gave of it in his writings. He is also distinguished as a poet and as a man of science. He is best remembered, however, for his celebrated body of laws, known usually as Las siete Partidas (" The seven Parts "), but named by its author the Setenario, from a code begun by his father. The materials for this work were drawn from the code of Justinian, the Visigothic laws, the local institutions of different parts of the king- dom, and other sources. Its enforcement was long resisted by the great cities, but it was at last in 1348 established on a firm footing, and has been ever since the basis of Spanish com- mon law, and has even, by the admission of Florida and Louisiana into the United States, been introduced into the legal system of our own country. Another important work of which Alfonso is the author is the Cronica general de Espatla (" General Chronicle of Spain "). He established on a firm basis the university of Seville, and was eminent for his astronomical and mathematical attainments, and for his researches in alchemy. The as- tronomical tables which bear his name, and were probably constructed by Moorish astron- omers invited to his court for that purpose, were celebrated for a long time. His astro- nomical works have been published in several volumes, by order of the Spanish government, edited by Manuel Rico y Sinobas (1864 et seq.). ALFONSO I., king of Arngon and Navarre, surnamed el Batallador (the battler), son of Sancho V., succeeded his brother Pedro I. in 1104, died in 1134. He married Urraca, daugh- ter of Alfonso VI. of Leon and Castile, and in her right claimed the sovereignty of those states also, and is sometimes counted as Al- fonso VII. of that line. The first years of his reign were distracted by violent quarrels and wars with his wife, whom he finally divorced in 1114. The Moors under Ali ben Yusuf in- vaded the province of Toledo, and carried terror to the gates of the capital of Christian Spain ; a second army appeared in Portugal ; and a third laid siege to Barcelona. Alfonso fought an indecisive battle wjth these last in 1111, after which they abandoned Catalonia. Subsequently he directed his firms against the invaders in other quarters, and rescued almost all the territory S. of the Ebro from Mohammedan domination. He took Saragossa (1118) after a four years' series of operations, and made it his capital. In 1125 he invaded Andalusia at the invitation of the Mozarabes, or Christian inhabitants of that country; and though he failed in the siege of Granada, he performed the remarkable feat of leading an army through . hostile territory from Saragossa to the Mediter- ranean, somewhere between Malaga and Al- meria, and back again, without serious loss. On the death of his divorced queen he made preparations to enforce his claims in Castile, but was persuaded by the church to agree to a truce and renounce the title of emperor of Spain, which he had assumed. He finally un- dertook to secure the free navigation of the Ebro by reducing the Moorish city of Tortosa near its mouth. As a preliminary to this en- terprise he besieged Fraga, on the Ciuga, an affluent of the Ebro, and was there slain in battle the only engagement, it is said, in which he was ever vanquished. ALFONSO V. of Aragon, and I. of Naples and Sicily, surnamed the Magnanimous, born about 1390, died June 27, 1458. He succeeded his father Ferdinand I. in 1416, and the first act of his reign displayed the generosity of his character. Having received a list of nobles who were conspiring to dethrone him, he tore the paper in pieces without reading it. In the early part of his reign he left Spain to make good his claims to the sovereignty of the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, which were then partly in the power of the Genoese. In the war which followed he met with some success, but soon relinquished this project for more dazzling schemes of ambition. Joanna, queen of Naples, being attacked by Louis III., duke of Anjou, sent to Alfonso, offering to make him duke of Calabria and heir to the throne of Naples if he would aid her against the duke of Anjou. Alfonso eagerly accept- ed this proposition, abandoned Sardinia and Corsica, over which his sovereignty thenceforth amounted to but little, and, sailing to Naples, obliged the duke of Anjou to raise the siege, and make a peace on terms advantageous to the queen. But Joanna became jealous of the power of her new ally, and open war broke out between them. The queen summoned to her aid Sforza Attendolo, the general of the duke of Anjou, who defeated Alfonso. The latter was soon enabled by the arrival of fresh troops from Spain to make himself master of the city of Naples, and to hold his enemies in check. But his presence was now required in Spain to protect his kingdom of Aragon, then at war with Castile. Accordingly, leaving his brother Don Pedro in charge of his affairs in Italy, he sailed for Spain in 1423. On his way thither he made a descent on Marseilles, then belonging to the duke of Anjou, captured the city without difficulty, but neither sacked it nor carried away from it any booty, with the
