alfalfa Perennial, CLOVER-like legume ( Medicago sativa). It is widely grown primarily for hay, pasturage, and silage. It is known for its toler¬ ance of drought, heat, and cold, and for its improvement of soil by nitri¬ fication (see nitrifying bacteria) due to bacteria associated with its roots. The plant, which grows 1-3 ft (30-90 cm) tall, develops numerous stems that arise from a much-branched crown at soil level, each bearing many three-leaved leaflets. Its long primary root —as long as 50 ft (15 m) in some plants—accounts for its unusual ability to tolerate drought. Its remarkable capacity for regeneration of dense growths of new stems and leaves following cutting makes possible as many as 13 crops of hay in one growing season. Alfalfa hay is very nutritious and palatable, high in protein, minerals, and vitamins.
Alfasi \al-'fa-se\, Isaac ben Jacob (b. 1013, near Fes, Mor.—d. 1103, Lucena, Spain) Moroccan Jewish scholar. He spent most of his life in Fes, but in 1088 he was denounced to the government and was obliged to flee to Spain. He became head of the Jewish community in Lucena and estab¬ lished a noted Talmudic academy, provoking a rebirth of Talmudic study in Spain. His codification of the Talmud, Sefer ha-Halakhot (“Book of Laws”), deals with Halakhah (Hebrew law) and ranks with the works of Maimonides and Karo. It was crucial in establishing the primacy of the Babylonian Talmud over the Palestinian Talmud.
Alferov, Zhores (Ivanovich) (b. March 15, 1930, Vitebsk, Belorus- sia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet physicist. He received a Ph.D. from the A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in 1970 and became director of the institute in 1987. With a research team, he developed the first practical hetero¬ structure electronic device in 1966 and went on to pioneer electronic components made from heterostructures, including the first heterostruc¬
ture laser. His work led to great advances in communications technology. In 2000 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Herbert Kroemer and Jack S. Kilby.
Alfieri \al-'fya-re\, Vittorio, Count (b. Jan. 16, 1749, Asti, Piedmont—d. Oct. 8, 1803, Florence) Italian tragic poet and playwright. Through his lyrics and dramas he helped revive the national spirit of Italy. After a period of travel in which he experienced English political liberty and read the works of Montesquieu and other French writers, he left the military and began writing. His tragedies almost always present the struggle between a champion of liberty and a tyrant. Of the 19 tragedies that he approved for publication in an edition of 1787-89, the best are Filippo, Antigone, Oreste, Mirra, and his masterpiece, Saul, often con¬ sidered the most powerful drama in the Italian theatre. His autobiography (1804) is his chief prose work.
Alfonsm \al-fon-'sen\ (Foulkes), Raul (Ricardo) (b. March 13, 1926/7, Chascomus, Buenos Aires, Arg.) Civilian president of Argentina (1983-89). He took a degree in law and founded a newspaper before entering politics in 1953. After Argentina lost the Falkland Islands War, the discredited military permitted free elections, and Alfonsm defeated the Peronist candidate. He prosecuted members of the armed forces for human rights violations, but military pressure (including several armed revolts) led him to pardon most convicted officers. His presidency was plagued by high inflation, a huge national debt, labour disputes, and a discontented military. Constitutionally barred from a second term, he was succeeded by Carlos Menem.
Alfonso I (Portugal) See Afonso I Alfonso III (Portugal) See Afonso III
Alfonso V known as Alfonso the Magnanimous (b. 1396—d. June 27, 1458, Naples) King of Aragon (1416-58) and of Naples (as Alfonso I, 1442-58). He followed a policy of Mediterranean expansion, pacifying Sardinia and Sicily and attacking Corsica (1420). Taken pris¬ oner by the Genoese (1435) while preparing to attack Naples, he per¬ suaded his captors into an alliance and conquered Naples (1442), to which he transferred his court. He engaged in much diplomatic and military activity in Africa, the Balkans, and the eastern Mediterranean in order to protect his commerce with the East and defend Christendom against the Turks. He died during an assault on Genoa.
Alfonso VI known as Alfonso the Brave (b. before June 1040—d. 1109, Toledo, Castile) King of Leon (1065-70) and of Castile and Leon (1072-1109). He inherited Leon from his father, Ferdinand I, and warred with his envious brother Sancho II. On Sancho’s death he inherited Castile (1072); he also occupied Galicia and imprisoned his brother Garcia, its rightful ruler. In 1077 Alfonso proclaimed himself emperor of all Spain. He took Toledo from the Muslims, but his demands for tribute led to the invasion of Spain by the North African Almoravids, and he was defeated at Zallaqah (1086). The ClD became an ally and defended eastern Spain, but Alfonso continued to lose ground against the Berber armies.
Alfonso X known as Alfonso the Wise (b. Nov. 23, 1221, Burgos, Castile—d. April, 2, 1284, Sevilla) King of Castile and Leon (1252-84). He crushed revolts by Muslims (1252) and nobles (1254), and he annexed Murcia after repelling an invasion by Morocco, Granada, and Murcia (1264). He claimed the title of Holy Roman emperor (1256), but Gregory X persuaded him to renounce the claim. His second son became his suc¬ cessor as Sancho IV. Alfonso’s court was a center of culture, producing an influential law code, the Siete Partidas, and establishing the form of modern Castilian Spanish.
Alfonso XII (b. Nov. 28, 1857, Madrid, Spain—d. Nov. 25, 1885, Madrid) Spanish king whose reign (1874-85) inspired hopes for a stable constitutional monarchy. Alfonso followed his mother, Isabella II, into exile following her deposition by the revolution of 1868. He was proclaimed king in 1874 and returned to Spain the next year. His reign was marked by unaccustomed tranquillity. The most urgent problems—ending the civil war with the Carlists (see Carlism) and drafting a constitution—were settled in 1876. Alfonso was popular, and his early death from tubercu¬ losis disappointed those who desired a constitutional monarchy.
Alfonso XIII (b. May 17, 1886, Madrid, Spain—d. Feb. 28, 1941, Rome, Italy) Spanish king (1886-1931). The posthumous son of Alfonso XII, he was immediately proclaimed king under his mother’s regency and assumed full authority at 16. He relished power, and after World War I
Alexius I Comnenus, detail of an illumi¬ nation from a Greek manuscript; in the Vatican Library (Cod. Vat. Gr. 666)
BIBLIOTECA APOSTOUCA VATICANA
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
46 I Alfred ► Algeria
he moved toward a system of more personal rule, even seeking to rid himself of the Cortes (parliament). He associated himself with the dicta¬ torship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-30), but after the latter’s fall the freely elected Republicans demanded Alfonso’s abdication, and he was forced to leave Spain. His grandson became Spain’s sovereign as Juan Carlos I in 1975.
Alfred known as Alfred the Great (b. 849—d. 899) King of Wes- sex (871-99) in southwestern England. He joined his brother Ethelred I in confronting a Danish army in Mercia (868). Succeeding his brother as king, Alfred fought the Danes in Wessex in 871 and again in 878, when he was the only West Saxon leader to refuse to submit to their authority and was driven from the kingdom to the island of Athelney. He defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington (878) and saved Kent from another Danish invasion in 885. The next year he took the offensive and captured London, a success that brought all the English not under Danish rule to accept him as king. The conquest of the Danelaw by his successors was enabled by his strategy, which included the construction of forts and a naval fleet and the reformation of the army. Alfred drew up an important code of laws (see Anglo-Saxon law) and promoted literacy and learning, personally translating Latin works by Boethius, Pope Gregory I, and St. Augustine of Hippo into Anglo-Saxon. The compilation of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle was begun under his reign.