The Prussian Code of Law, amplified from the Landrecht of Frederick the Great. Alliance Society. A political association formed in Belgium in 1897, with the object of uniting the different branches of the Liberal Party. Allodial Lands. Among the Franks, lands held in absolute proprietorship, as opposed to lands held as fiefs, and dependent upon a superior. They were subject to no burden, except the call to arms for national defence, and passed at death to all the children equally, or, failing issue, to the next of kin. Alte Fritz. Frederick the Great of Prussia is constantly referred to by this sobriquet. Althing. The general assembly of the Norsemen. (_See also_ Thing.) Alumbrados. A sect of mystics, founded in Spain about 1520, the forerunners of the better known Illuminati of Germany. They were finally suppressed by the Inquisition. Amalfitan Code. A code of maritime law, drawn up during the First Crusade by the mercantile community of Amalfi. It is the oldest known maritime code. Amboise, Conspiracy of. A plot on the part of Condé and the Bourbons, in 1560, to seize the Guises, and the King, Francis II, who was a mere puppet in their hands. The plot was discovered, and several of the leaders were executed. Amboise, Convention of. An agreement between Catherine de’ Medici and the Huguenots in 1563, after the first civil war, by which the Huguenots were allowed the free exercise of their religion. Amboyna, Massacre of. The murder of ten Englishmen, in the employment of the India Company, at the Dutch factory of Amboyna in 1623. America Act. An Act passed in 1775, consolidating all the previous penal acts relating to the American Colonies. It declared that all American vessels were lawful prizes, and that all Americans captured in them, or elsewhere, could be forced to take service against America. Commissioners were appointed to receive the submission of the revolted colonies, but no provisions were made for the redress of grievances. America, Discovery of. According to the Norse Sagas, the discovery of America should be placed to the credit of the Vikings, who made five expeditions to the coast between 985 and 1011, the first being that of Eric the Red, who settled in Greenland in 986, and the most famous that of Thorfinn Karlsefne, about 1007. The rediscovery by Columbus took place in 1492. American Customs Act. An Act passed in 1764, levying customs duties on goods imported into the American Colonies. These duties were to be levied for the benefit of England, and the proceeds thereof paid into the English Treasury. The assertion of this right to tax the Colonies for the benefit of the Mother Country may be considered the cause of the loss of the American Colonies. American-Japanese Treaty.