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Selkirk, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Alexander sĕlˈkərk [key], 1676–1721, Scottish sailor whose adventures suggested to Daniel Defoe the story of Robinson Crusoe (1719). In 1704, as a sailing master, Selkirk quarreled with ...

Spotswood, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Spotswood, Alexander, 1676–1740, colonial governor of Virginia, b. Tangier, Morocco. Appointed in 1710, he was officially lieutenant governor under the nominal governorship of George Hamilton, 1st e...

Stambuliski, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Stambuliski, Alexander, Bulgarian Aleksandr Stamboliski both: älĕksänˈdər stämbōlēˈskē [key], 1879–1923, Bulgarian politician. He was a leader of the Peasants' party and by 1911 had become...

Mackenzie, Alexander, Canadian political leader

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, Alexander, 1822–92, Canadian political leader, b. Scotland. Emigrating (1842) to Canada, he worked first as a stonemason in Kingston, Ont., and then as a builder and contractor in Sarnia....

Parmenion

(Encyclopedia)Parmenion pärmēˈnēən [key], d. 330 b.c., Macedonian general. He served under Philip II. On Philip's death Parmenion was largely responsible for the adherence of the army in Asia to Alexander the ...

Alfonso I, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso I, 1109?–1185, first king of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy. After his father's death (1112), his mother, Countess Teresa, ruled the county of Portugal with the help of her Spanish lover...

Alfonso II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II (Alfonso the Fat), 1185–1223, king of Portugal (1211–23), son and successor of Sancho I. His reign was spent in struggles with the church and his brothers and sisters, to whom his fathe...

Alfonso III, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso III, 1210–79, king of Portugal (1248–79), son of Alfonso II, brother and successor of Sancho II. By his marriage with Matilda, countess of Boulogne, he became count of Boulogne and thus wa...

Alfonso IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso IV, 1291–1357, king of Portugal (1325–57), son and successor of Diniz. Disgruntled by the favoritism his father showed toward Alfonso's illegitimate half-brothers, Alfonso rose in revolt i...

Alfonso V, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V, 1432–81, king of Portugal (1438–81), son of Duarte and Queen Leonor. During his minority there was a struggle for the regency between the queen mother and Alfonso's uncle, Dom Pedro, du...