=Almadie.= A kind of military canoe or small vessel, about 24 feet long, made of the bark of a tree, and used by the negroes of Africa. Almadie is also the name of a long boat used at Calcutta, often from 80 to 100 feet long, and generally 6 or 7 broad; they are rowed with from 10 to 30 oars. =Alman-rivets=, =Almain-rivets=, or =Almayne-rivets=. A sort of light armor derived from Germany, characterized by overlapping plates which were arranged to slide on rivets, by means of which flexibility and ease of movement were promoted. =Almaraz, Bridge of.= In Spain, which on the 18th of May, 1812, was captured by Lord Hill, when he defeated a large French _corps d’armée_, which was one of the most brilliant actions of the Peninsular war. =Almeida.= A strong fortress of Portugal, in the province of Beira. The capture of it by the Duke of Wellington, in 1811, after it had fallen into the hands of the French, was deemed a very brilliant exploit. =Almenara=, or =Almanara=. City in Spain, in the province of Lerida, where, in 1710, Gen. Stanhope, with 4 regiments of dragoons and 20 companies of grenadiers, defeated a Spanish corps, composed of 4 battalions and 19 escadrons. =Almeria.= City and seaport in Andalusia, Spain; captured from the Moors in 1147, by the united troops of Alfonso VII., king of Castile, Garcias, king of Navarre, and Raymond, count of Barcelona. =Almexial, Battle of.= Between the Spaniards and Portuguese in 1663. The Portuguese were commanded by Sanctius Manuel, count of Vilaflor, and the celebrated Count Frederick von Schomberg, the latter being the veritable hero of the day. The Portuguese gained a great victory; the Spanish army was commanded by Don Juan of Austria, son of Philip IV. =Almissa= (Dalminium). City in Dalmatia, Austria; it was the ancient capital of Dalmatia, but was ruined by Scipio Nasica in 156 B.C. =Almogavares.= See CATALANS. =Almohades.= Mohammedan partisans, followers of El-Mehedi in Africa, about 1120. They subdued Morocco, 1145; entered Spain and took Seville, Cordova, and Granada, 1146-56; ruled Spain until 1232, and Africa until 1278. =Almonacid-de-Zorita.= A town in the province of Guadalaxara, Spain, where the French defeated the Spaniards in 1809. =Almora.= City in Bengal, which the English captured in 1815, and still hold. =Almoravides.= Mohammedan partisans in Africa, rose about 1050; entered Spain by invitation, 1086; were overcome by the Almohades in 1147. =Alney.= An island in the Severn, Gloucestershire, England. Here a combat is asserted to have taken place between Edmund Ironside and Canute the Great, in the sight of their armies. The latter was wounded, and proposed a division of the kingdom, the south part falling to Edmund. Edmund was murdered at Oxford shortly after, it is said, by Aedric Streon, and Canute obtained possession of the whole kingdom, 1016.