288 ALEXANDER JANN.EUS ALEXANDER NEVSKOI In 1222 he became a Franciscan monk, and was the first of his order to retain his doctor- ate in the university. Bonaventura was his pupil, and perhaps also Aquinas. His chief work was his Summa Theologies, which, after being examined and approved by a committee of 70 doctors, was accepted as a complete man- ual of instruction in theology for all institu- tions of learning in Christendom. ALEXANDER JAMiEUS, king of the Jews, of the house of the Asmoneans, from 105 to 78 B. C. (See HEBREWS.) ALEXANDER JOHN I., prince of Roumania, of the house of Cuza, born in Galatz, March 20, 1820. He was educated in Paris, became a colo- nel in the Moldavian service, and held several civil offices, resigning in consequence of disagree- ment with the government about the Austrian occupation. He was an active partisan of the union party, which favored the political union of the two Danubian principalities, and was hostile to Austrian influence. He was ap- pointed minister of war in 1858, and elected prince of Moldavia Jan. 17, 1859, and of Wal- lachia Feb. 5. In October, 1860, he obtained the recognition of the sultan, and on Dec. 23, 1861, he proclaimed the union of the two prin- cipalities under the name of Roumania. He dissolved the national assembly March 14, 1863, abrogated the electoral law May 14, 1864, and promulgated a new and entirely arbitrary con- stitution. A conspiracy formed against him in 1865 was suppressed, but one instigated in 1866 by Bratiano, Ghika, Cantacuzene, and other eminent public men, put an end to his reign. On the night of Feb. 23 they sent officers to his house, who forced him to sign his abdica- tion. A provisional government was pro- claimed April 13, 1866. Prince Charles of Hohenzollern, a relative of the king of Prussia, was chosen reigning prince, and Alexander Cuza has since lived in retirement at Vienna. ALEXANDER K K t(.KOK(,K ITCH, a Servian prince, born at Topola, Oct. 11, 1806. After the execution of his father, Czerny or Kara George, at Belgrade in 1817, his mother went with him to Wallachia. He was for some time in the Russian military service, until permis- sion was granted for his return to Servia, when he became aide-de-camp of the reigning prince, Michael Obrenovitch. After the downfall of the Obrenovitch dynasty, Alexander was elected prince of Servia, Sept. 14, 1842. This choice was ratified by Turkey, but not by Rus- sia. Both governments sent commissioners to Servia, and on June 15, 1843, he was reflected with the consent of the two powers. He pro- moted education and industry, and improved the civil and military service. He was soon accused, however, of leaning too much toward Turkey, especially during the Crimean war, when he prevented the national party from rising in rebellion against the Porte. The sul- tan rewarded his loyalty by confirming the privileges which he had granted to Servia, and by allowing the country to be placed, by the terms of the treaty of Paris of March 30, 1856, under the collective protection of the great powers, instead of, as previously, under the sole protection of the Porte. A conspiracy against him was discovered in 1857, and its two ringleaders, the presidents of the senate and the supreme court of Servia, Stefanovitch and Rayovitch, were sentenced to death, and their six accomplices to hard labor for life. The popular feeling against this sentence ran so high that the authorities durst not execute it, while Alexander incurred still greater odium by invoking the assistance of the Turkish au- thorities for the detection and punishment of the conspirators. He was called upon to re- sign ; and on his retiring to the fortress of Bel- grade, under the protection of Turkish guns, his expulsion from the throne and the country was decreed by the Servian national assembly (December, 1858), and Prince Milosh Obreno- vitch, then an octogenarian, was reinstated. Milosh, on his death, Sept. 26, 1860, was suc- ceeded by his son, Prince Michael Obrenovitch. Alexander, living in Hungary, constantly in- trigued with Servian revolutionists and Foreign schemers. A conspiracy instigated by them in 1864 was frustrated, but that of 1868 resulted in the assassination of Prince Michael (June 10), but not in the overthrow of the Obreno- vitch dynasty. Milan (Obrenovitch IV.), Mi- chael's cousin and adopted son (born in 1854), was proclaimed his successor under a regency. The murderers were arrested, and 15 of them, including two brothers of Prince Alexander, were at once put to death, while the prince himself, convicted of having planned and given money for the execution of the murder, was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the court of Belgrade. His surrender being de- manded, the Hungarian authorities ordered a new trial at Pesth, and the evidence was not deemed sufficiently strong for his conviction. He was not molested in Pesth for nearly 18 months, when another trial took place (1870), which again resulted in his favor. In Janu- ary, 1871, this verdict was reversed by a court of appeal, and he was sentenced to eight years' close imprisonment and to payment of costs ; but the sentence has not been executed. ALEXANDER NEVSKOI, a Russian hero and saint, son of the grand duke Yaroslav II. of Novgorod and Vladimir, born in 1219, died in 1263. In his youth he fought against the Tartars, who, however, in 1238 succeeded in making Russia tributary. He was more successful in defending the northern bounda- ries against the encroachments of the Danes, the Swedes, and the knights sword-bearers. He won a great battle against the Swedes in 1240, on the banks of the Neva, near the mod- ern St. Petersburg; hence his surname of Nevskoi. In 1243 he defeated the knights on the ice of Lake Peipus. On the death of his father in 1247 he became grand duke of Nov- gorod, and on that of his brother Andrew grand duke of Vladimir, and lord paramount
