The history of the reign of Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany; and of all the kingdoms and states in Europe, during his age. : To which is prefixed, a view of the progress of society in Europe, from the subversion of the Roman Empire, to the beginning of the sixteenth century. : Confirmed by historical proofs and illustrations. : In three volumes. / By William Robertson, D.D. Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and historiographer to His Majesty for Scotland. Author of the late elegant History of Scotland. ; Volume the first[-third].

THE HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. BOOK I. (Part II.)

XIMENES, though engaged in such great schemes of domestic policy, and embar∣rassed by the artifices and intrigues of the Flemish ministers, had the burden of two foreign wars to support. The one was in Na∣varre, invaded by its unfortunate monarch, John d'Al∣bret. The death of Ferdinand, the absence of Charles, and the discord and disaffection which reigned among the Spanish nobles, seemed to present him with a fa∣vourable opportunity of recovering his dominions. The Cardinal's vigilance, however, defeated a measure so well concerted. Foreseeing the danger to which that kingdom might be exposed, one of his first acts of administration was to order thither a considerable body of troops. While the king was employed with one part of his army in the siege of St. Jean Pied en Port, Villalva, an officer of great experience and courage, attacked the other by surprize, and cut it to pieces. The king instantly retreated with precipitation, and an end was put to the war t 1.1. But as Navarre was filled

at that time with towns and castles, slightly fortified, and weakly garrisoned, which being unable to resist an enemy, served only to furnish him with places of retreat; Ximenes, always bold and decisive in his measures, or∣dered every one of these to be dismantled, except Pam∣peluna, the fortifications of which he proposed to render very strong. To this uncommon precaution Spain owes the possession of Navarre. The French, since that period, have often entered, and have as often over-run the open country; but while they were exposed to all the inconveniencies attending an invading army, the Spaniards have easily drawn troops from the neighbour∣ing provinces to oppose them; and the French, being destitute of strong towns to which they could retire, have been obliged to abandon their conquest with as much rapidity as they gained it.

THE war which he carried on in Africa, against the famous adventurer Horuc Barbarossa, who, from a private corsair, raised himself by his singular valour and address, to be king of Algiers and Tunis, was far from being equally successful. The ill conduct of the Spa∣nish general, and the rash valour of his troops, presented Barbarossa with an easy victory. Many perished in the battle, more in the retreat, and the remainder returned into Spain covered with infamy. The magnanimity, however, with which the Cardinal bore this disgrace, the only one he experienced during his administration, ad∣ded new lustre to his character * 1.2. Great composure of temper under a disapointment, was not expected from a man so remarkable for the eagerness and impatience with which he urged on the execution of all his schemes.

THIS disaster was soon forgotten; while the conduct of the Flemish court proved the cause of constant uneasi∣ness, not only to the Cardinal, but to the whole Spa∣nish nation. All the great qualities of Chievres, the prime minister and favourite of the young king, were sullied with an ignoble and sordid avarice. The acces∣sion of his master to the crown of Spain, opened a new and copious source for the gratification of this passion. During the time of Charles's residence in Flanders, the

whole tribe of pretenders to offices or to favour resorted thither. They soon discovered that, without the patron∣age of Chievres, it was vain to hope for preferment; nor did they want sagacity to find out the proper method of securing him. Vast sums of money were drawn out of Spain. Every thing was venal, and disposed of to the highest bidder. After the example Chievres, the inferior Flemish ministers engaged in this traffick, which became as general and avowed, as it was infamous w 1.3. The Spaniards were filled with rage when they beheld offices of great importance to the welfare of their coun∣try, set to sale by strangers, unconcerned for its honour or its happiness. Ximenes; disinterested in his whole administration, and a stranger, from his native grandeur of mind, to the passion of avarice, inveighed with the utmost boldness against the venality of the Flemings. He represented to the King in strong terms, the mur∣murs and indignation which their behaviour excited among a free and high-spirited people, and besought him to set out without loss of time for Spain, that, by his presence, he might dissipate the clouds which were ga∣thering all over the kingdom x 1.4.

CHARLES was fully sensible that he had delayed too long to take possession of his dominions in Spain. Pow∣erful obstacles, however, stood in his way, and detained him in the Low Countries. The war which the league of Cambray, had kindled in Italy, still subsisted; though during its course, the armies of all the parties engaged in it, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 taken different directions. France was now in alliance with Venice, which it had at first combined to destroy. Maximilian and Ferdinand had for some years carried on hostilities against France, their original ally, to the valour of whose troops the confederacy ow∣ed all its success. Together with his kingdoms, Ferdi∣nand transmitted this war to his grandson; and there was reason to expect that Maximilian, always fond of new enterprizes, would persuade the young monarch to enter into with ardour. But the Flemings, who had long possessed an extensive commerce, which during the league of Cambray, had grown to a great height upon

the ruins of the Venetian trade, dreaded a rupture with France; and Chievres, sagacious to discern the true in∣terest of his country, and not warped on this occasion by his love of wealth, warmly declared for maintaining peace with the French nation. Francis I. destitute of allies, and solicitous to secure his late conquests in Italy by a treaty, listened with joy to the first overtures of accommodation. Chievres himself conducted the ne∣gociation in name of Charles. Gouffier appeared as plenipotentiary for Francis. Each of them had presid∣ed over the education of the prince whom he represent∣ed. They had both adapted the same pacific system; and were equally persuaded that the union of the two monarchs was the happiest event for themselves, as well as for their kingdoms. In such hands the negociation did not languish. A few days after opening their con∣ferences at Noyon, they concluded a treaty of confe∣deracy and mutual defence between the two monarchs; Aug. 13, 1516. the chief articles in which were, that Francis should give in marriage to Charles his eldest daughter, the princess Louisa, an infant of a year old, and as her dowry, should make over to him all his claims and pretensions upon the kingdom of Naples; that in consideration of Charles's being already in pos∣session of Naples, he should till the accomplishment of the marriage pay an hundred thousand crowns a year to the French king; and the half of that sum annually, as long as the princess had no children; that when Charles shall arrive in Spain, the heirs of the King of Navarre may represent to him their right to that kingdom: and if he do not give them satisfaction, Francis shall be at liberty to assist them with all his forces x 1.5. This alli∣ance not only united Charles and Francis, but obliged Maximilian, who was unable alone to cope with the French and Venetians, to enter into a treaty with those powers, which put a final period to that bloody and te∣dious war which the league of Cambray had occasioned. Europe enjoyed a few years of universal tranquillity, and was indebted for that blessing to two princes, whose rivalship and ambition kept it in perpetual discord and agitation during the remainder of their reigns.

BY the treaty of Noyon, Charles secured a safe pas∣sage into Spain. It was not, however, the interest of his Flemish ministers, that he should visit that kingdom soon. While he resided in Flanders, the revenues of the Spanish crown were spent there, and they engros∣sed, without any competitors, all the effects of their monarch's generosity; their country became the seat of government, and all favours were dispensed by them. Of all these advantages, they ran the risque of seeing themselves deprived, from the moment that their sovereign entered Spain. The Spaniards would naturally assume the direction of their own affairs; the Low Countries would be considered only as a province of that mighty monarchy; and they who now distri∣buted the favours of the prince to others, must then be content to receive them from the hands of strangers. But what Chievres chiefly wished to avoid was, an interview between the King and Ximenes. On the other hand, the wisdom, the integrity, and the mag∣nanimity of that prelate, gave him a wonderful as∣cendant over the minds of men; and it was extremely probable, these great qualities, added to the reverence due to his age and office, would command the respect of a young prince, who, capable of noble and generous sentiments himself, would, in proportion to his admi∣ration of the Cardinal's virtues, lessen his deference towards persons of another character. Or, on the other hand, if Charles should allow his Flemish fa∣vourites to retain all the influence over his councils which they at present possessed, it was easy to fore∣see that the Cardinal would remonstrate loudly against such an indignity to the Spanish nation, and vindicate the rights of his country with the same in∣trepidity and success, that he had asserted the pre∣rogatives of the crown. For these reasons, all his Flemish counsellors combined to retard his departure; and Charles, unsuspicious, from want of experience, and fond of his native country, suffered himself to be unnecessarily detained in the Netherlands a whole year after signing the treaty of Noyon.

THE repeated intreaties of Ximenes, the advice of his grandfather Maximilian, and the impatient mur∣murs

of his Spanish subjects in 1517. prevailed on him at last to embark, Sept. 13. He was attended not only by Chievres, his prime-minister, but by a nume∣rous and splendid train of the Flemish nobles, fond of beholding the grandeur, or of sharing in the boun∣ty of their prince. After a dangerous voyage, he landed at Villa Viciosa, in the province of Asturias, and was received with such loud acclamations of joy, as a new monarch, whose arrival was so ardently de∣sired, had reason to expect. The Spanish nobility resorted to their sovereign from all parts of the king∣dom, and displayed a magnificence which the Flem∣ings were unable to emulatey 1.6.

XIMENES, who considered the presence of the king as the greatest blessing to his dominions, was advanc∣ing towards the coast, as fast as the infirm state of his health would permit, in order to receive him. Dur∣ing his regency, and notwithstanding his extreme old age, he abated, in no degree, the rigour or frequency of his mortifications; and to these he added such labo∣rious assiduity in business, as would have worn out the most youthful and vigorous constitution. Every day he employed several hours in devotion; he celebrated mass in person; he even allotted some space for study. Not∣withstanding these occupations he regularly attended the council; he received and read all papers presented to him; he dictated letters and instructions; and took un∣der his inspection all business, civil, ecclesiastical, or mi∣litary. Every moment of his time was filled up with some serious employment. The only amusement in which he indulged himself by way of relaxation after business, was to canvass, with a few friars and divines, some intricate article in scholastic theology. Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew upon him. On his journey, a violent disorder seized him at Bos Equillos, attended with uncommon symp∣toms; which his followers considered as the effects of poison z 1.7, but could not agree whether the crime ought to be imputed to the hatred of the Spanish noble, or to

the malice of the Flemish courtiers. This accident obliging him to stop short, he wrote to Charles, and with his usual boldness advised him to dismiss all the strangers in his train, whose numbers and credit gave offence already to the Spaniards, and would ere long alienate the affections of the whole people. At the same time he earnestly desired to have an interview with the king, that he might inform him of the state of the na∣tion, and the temper of his subjects. To prevent this, not only the Flemings, but the Spanish Grandees em∣ployed all their address, and industriously kept Charles at a distance from Aranda, the place to which the Car∣dinal had removed. Through their suggestions, every measure that he recommended was rejected; the utmost care was taken to make him feel, and to point out to the whole nation, that his power was on the decline; even in things purely trivial, such a choice was al∣ways made, as was deemed most disagreeable to him. Ximenes did not bear this treatment with his usual for∣titude of spirit. Conscious of his own integrity and me∣rit, he expected a more grateful return from a prince, to whom he delivered a kingdom more flourishing than it had been in any former age, and authority more ex∣tensive and better established, than the most illustrious of his ancestors had ever possessed. He could not, there∣fore, on many occasions, refrain from giving vent to his indignation and complaints. He lamented the fate of his country, and foretold the calamities it would suffer from the insolence, the rapaciousness, and ignorance of strangers. While his mind was agitated by these pas∣sions, he received a letter from the king, in which, after a few cold and formal expressions of regard, he was al∣lowed to retire to his diocese; that after a life of such continued labour, he might end his days in tranquillity. This message proved fatal to Ximenes. His haughty mind, it is probable, would not survive disgrace; per∣haps his generous heart could not bear the prospect of the misfortunes ready to fall on his country. Which∣soever of these opinions we embrace, certain it is that he expired Nov. 8, a few hours after reading the letter z 1.8.

The variety, the grandeur, and the success of his schemes, during a regency of only twenty months, leave it doubtful whether his sagacity in council, his prudence in conduct, or his boldness in execution deserve the greatest praise. His reputation is still high in Spain, not only for wisdom, but for sanctity; and he is the on∣ly prime minister mentioned in history, whom his con∣temporaries reverenced as a saint a 1.9, and to whom the people under his government ascribed the power of working miracles.

SOON after the death of Ximenes, Charles made his public entry, with great pomp, into Valladolid in 1518, whither he had summoned the Cortes of Castile, though he assumed on all occasions the name of king, that title had never been acknowledged in the Cortes. The Spa∣niards considering Joanna as possessed of the sole right to the crown, and no example of a son's having en∣joyed the title of king during the life of his parents oc∣curring in their history, the Cortes discovered all that scrupulous respect for ancient forms, and that aversion to innovation, which are conspicuous in popular assem∣blies. The presence, however, of their prince, the ad∣dress, the artifices, and the threats of his ministers, pre∣vailed on them at last to declare him king, in conjunc∣tion with his mother, whose name they appointed to be placed before that of her son in all publick acts; and de∣clared that, if at any future period she should recover the exercise of reason, the whole royal authority should return into her hands. At the same time, they voted a free gift of six hundred thousand ducats to be paid in three years, a sum more considerable than had ever been granted to any former monarch b 1.10.

NOTWITHSTANDING this obsequiousness of the Cor∣tes to the will of the king, the most violent symptoms of dissatisfaction with his government began to break out in the kingdom. Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent. Charles seemed to have no sentiments but those which his minister inspired, and

scarce uttered a word but what he put into his mouth. He was constantly surrounded by Flemings; no person got access to him without their permission; nor was any admitted to audience but in their presence. As he spoke the Spanish language very imperfectly, his answers were always extremely short, and often delivered with hesitation. From all these circumstances, many of the Spaniards were led to believe that he was a prince of a slow and narrow genius; some pretended to discover a strong resemblance between him and his mother, and be∣gan to whisper that his capacity for government would never be far superior to hers; and though they who had the best opportunity of judging concerning his cha∣racter, maintained, that notwithstanding such unpro∣mising appearances, he possessed a large fund of know∣ledge and sagacity c 1.11; yet all agreed in condemning his partiality towards his countrymen, and his attachment to his favourites as unreasonable and immoderate. Un∣fortunately for Charles, these favourites were unworthy of his confidence. To amass wealth seems to have been their only aim; and as they had reason to fear, that ei∣ther their master's good sense, or the indignation of the Spaniards, might soon abridge their power, they hasten∣ed to improve the present opportunity, and their avarice was the more rapacious, because they expected their au∣thority to be of no long duration. All honours, offices and benefices, were either engrossed by the Flemings, or publickly sold by them. Chievres, his wife, and Sau∣vage, whom Charles, on the death of Ximenes, had im∣prudently raised to be chancellor of Castile, vied with each other in all the refinements of extortion and venali∣ty. Not only the Spanish historians, who, from resent∣ment, may be suspected of exaggeration, but Peter Mar∣tyr Angleria, an Italian, who resided at that time in the court of Spain, and who was under no temptation to de∣ceive the persons to whom his letters are addressed, give a description which is almost incredible, of the insatiable and shameless covetousness of the Flemings. Accord∣ing to Angleria's calculation, which he asserts to be ex∣tremely moderate, they remitted into the Low Coun∣tries,

in the space of ten months, no less a sum than a million and one hundred thousand ducats. The nomi∣nation of William de Croy, Chievres's nephew, a young man not of canonical age, to the Archbishoprick of To∣ledo, exasperated the Spaniards more than all these ex∣actions. They considered the elevation of a stranger to the head of their church, and to the richest benefice in the kingdom, not only as an injury, but as an insult to the whole nation; and both clergy and laity, the former from interest, the latter from indignation, joined in ex∣claiming against it d 1.12.

CHARLES leaving Castile thus disgusted with his ad∣ministration, set out for Saragossa, the capital of Ara∣gon, that he might be present in the Cortes of that kingdom. On his way thither, he took leave of his bro∣ther Ferdinand, whom he sent into Germany on the pre∣tence of visiting their grandfather, Maximilian, in his old age. To this prudent precaution, Charles owed the preservation of his Spanish dominions. During the violent commotions which arose there soon after this period, the Spaniards would infallibly have offered the crown to a prince, who was the darling of the whole nation; nor did Ferdinand want ambition, or cousel∣lors, that would have prompted him to accept of the offer e 1.13.

THE Aragonese had not hitherto acknowledged Charles as King, nor would they allow the Cortes to be assembled in his name, but in that of the Justiza, to whom, during an interregnum, this privilege belonged f 1.14. The opposition Charles had to struggle with in the Cor∣tes of Aragon, was more violent and obstinate than that which he had overcome in Castile; after long delays, however, and with much difficulty, he persuaded the members to confer on him the title of king, in con∣junction with his mother. At the same time he bound himself by that solemn oath, which the Aragonese ex∣acted of their king, never to violate any of their rights or liberties. When a donative was demanded, the mem∣bers

were still more intractable; many months elapsed before they would agree to grant Charles two hundred thousand ducats, and that sum they appropriated so strictly for paying debts of the crown, which had long been forgotten, that a very small part of it came into the King's hands. What had happened in Castile taught them caution, and determined them rather to satisfy the claims of their fellow citizens, how obsolete soever, than to furnish strangers the means of enriching themselves with the spoils of their country g 1.15.

DURING these proceedings of the Cortes, ambassa∣dors arrived at Saragossa from Francis I. and the young king of Navarre, demanding the restitution of that kingdom in terms of the treaty of Noyon. But neither Charles, nor the Castilian nobles whom he consulted on this occasion, discovered any inclination to part with this acquisition. A conference held soon after at Mont∣pelier, in order to bring this matter to an amicable issue, was altogether fruitless; and while the French urged the injustice of the usurpation, the Spaniards were at∣tentive only to its importance h 1.16.

FROM Aragon, Charles proceeded to Catalonia in 1519, where he wasted as much time, encountered more difficulties, and gained less money. The Flemings were now become so odious in every province of Spain by their exactions, that the desire of mortifying them, and of disappointing their avarice, augmented the jealou∣sy with which a free people usually conduct their delibe∣rations.

THE Castilians, who had felt most sensibly the weight and rigour of the oppressive schemes, carried on by the Flemings, resolved no longer to submit with a tameness fatal to themselves, and which rendered them the ob∣jects of scorn among the rest of the Spaniards. Sego∣via, Toledo, Seville, and several other cities of the first rank, entered into a confederacy for the defence of their rights and privileges; and notwithstanding the si∣lence of the nobility, who, on this occasion, discovered neither the publick spirit, nor the resolution which be∣came their order, they laid before the king a full view

of the state of the kingdom, and of the mal-adminis∣tration of his favourites. The preferment of strangers; the exportation of the current coin; the increase of taxes, were the grievances of which they chiefly complained; and of these they demanded redress with that boldness, which is natural to a free people. These remonstrances, presented at first at Saragossa, and renewed afterwards at Barcelona, Charles treated with great neglect. The confederacy, however, of these cities at this juncture, was the beginning of that famous union among the com∣mons of Castile, which not long after threw the king∣dom into such violent convulsions, shook the throne, and almost overturned the constitution i 1.17.

SOON after Charles's arrival at Barcelona, he received the account of an event which interested him much more than the murmurs of the Castilians, or the scrup∣les of the Cortes of Catalonia. This was the death of the Emperor Maximilian, January 12, an occurrence of small importance in itself, for he was a prince con∣spicuous neither for his virtues, his power, nor his abi∣lities; but rendered by its consequences more memo∣rable than any that had happened during several ages. It broke that profound and universal peace which then reigned in the Christian world; it excited a rivalship between two princes, which threw all Europe into agi∣tation, and kindled wars more general, and of longer duration, than had hitherto been known in modern times.

THE revolutions occasioned by the expedition of the French king, Charles VIII. into Italy, had inspired the European Princes with new ideas concerning the impor∣tance of the Imperial dignity. The claims of the Em∣pire upon some of the Italian states were numerous; its jurisdiction over others was extensive; and though the former had been almost abandoned, and the latter sel∣dom exercised, under princes of no abilities, and of little influence, it was obvious, that in the hands of an Em∣peror possessed of power and genius, they would be em∣ployed as engines for stretching his dominion over the greater part of that country. Even Maximilian, feeble

and unsteady as his conduct always was, had availed himself of the infinite pretensions of the Empire, and had reaped advantage from every war and every nego∣ciation in Italy during his reign. These considerations, added to the dignity of the station, confessedly the first among Christian princes, and to the rights inherent in the office, which, if exerted with vigour, were far from being inconsiderable, rendered the imperial crown more than ever an object of ambition.

NOT long before his death, Maximilian had discovered great solicitude to preserve this dignity in the Austrian family, and to procure the king of Spain to be chosen his successor. But he himself having never been crown∣ed by the Pope, a ceremony deemed essential in that age, was considered only as Emperor elect; and though historians did not attend to that distinction, neither the Italian nor German chancery bestowed any other title upon him than that of King of the Romans; and no example occurring in history of any person's being cho∣sen a successor to a king of the Romans, the Germans, always tenacious of their forms, and unwilling to con∣fer upon Charles an office for which their constitution knew no name, obstinately refused to gratify Maximi∣lian in that point k 1.18.

BY his death, this difficulty was at once removed, and Charles openly aspired to that dignity which his grandfather had attempted, without success to secure for him. At the same time Francis I. a powerful rival, entered the lists against him; and the attention of all Europe was fixed upon this competition, no less illus∣trious from the high rank of the candidates, than from the importance of the prize for which they contended. Each of them urged his pretensions with sanguine ex∣pectations, and with no unpromising prospect of success. Charles considered the Imperial crown as belonging to him of right, from its long continuance in the Austrian line; he knew that none of the German princes posses∣sed power or influence enough to appear as his antago∣nist; he flattered himself, that no consideration would

induce the natives of Germany to exalt any foreign prince to a dignity, which during so many ages had been deemed peculiar to their own nation; and least of all, that they would confer this honour upon Francis I. the sovereign of a people whose genius, and laws, and man∣ners differed so widely from those of the Germans, that it was scarcely possible to establish any cordial union between them: he trusted not a little to the effect of Maximilian's negociations, which though they did not attain their end, had prepared the minds of the Ger∣mans for his elevation to the imperial throne; but what he relied on as his chief recommendation, was the for∣tunate situation of his hereditary dominions in Germa∣ny, which served as a natural barrier to the Empire against the encroachments of the Turkish power. The conquests, the abilities, and the ambition of Sultan Se∣lim II. had spread over Europe, at that time, a gene∣ral and well founded alarm. By his victories over the Marmalukes▪ and the extirpation of that gallant body of men, he had not only added Egypt and Syria to his empire, but had secured to it such a degree of internal tranquillity, that he was ready to turn against Christen∣dom the whole force of his arms, which nothing had hitherto been able to resist: The most effectual expe∣dient for stopping the progress of this torrent, seemed to be the election of an Emperor, possessed of extensive territories in that country, where its first impression would be felt, and who, besides, could combat this for∣midable enemy with all the forces of a powerful mo∣narchy, and with all the wealth furnished by the mines of the new world, or the commerce of the Low Coun∣tries. These were the arguments by which Charles publickly supported his claim; and to men of integrity and reflection, they appeared to be not only plausible, but convincing. He did not, however, trust the suc∣cess of his cause to these alone. Great sums of money were remitted from Spain; all the refinements and ar∣tifice of negociation were employed; and a considerable body of troops kept on foot by the states of the Circle of Suabia, was secretly taken into his pay. The venal were gained by presents; the objections of the more

scrupulous were answered or eluded; and some feeble princes were threatened and over-awed l 1.19.

ON the other hand, Francis supported his claim with equal eagerness, and no less confidence of its being well founded. His emissaries contended that it was now high time to convince the Princes of the house of Aus∣tria that the Imperial crown was elective, and not here∣ditary; and that other persons might aspire to an honour which their arrogance had come to regard as the pro∣perty of their family; that it required a sovereign of mature judgment, and of approved abilities, to hold the reins of government in a country where such un∣known opinions concerning religion had been published, as had thrown the minds of men into an uncommon a∣gitation, which threatened the most violent effects; that a young prince, without experience, who had hitherto given no specimens of his genius for command, was no equal match for Selim, a monarch, grown old in the art of war, and in the course of victory; whereas a king, who, in his early youth had triumphed over the valour and discipline of the Swiss, till then reckoned invincible, would be an antagonist not unworthy of the conqueror of the East; that the fire and impetuosity of the French cavalry, added to the discipline and stability of the Ger∣man infantry, would form an army so irresistible, that instead of waiting the approach of the Ottoman forces, it might carry hostilities into the heart of their domi∣nions; that the election of Charles would be inconsist∣ent with a fundamental constitution, by which the per∣son who holds the crown of Naples, is excluded from aspiring to the Imperial dignity; that his elevation to that honour would soon kindle a war in Italy, on ac∣count of his pretensions to the dutchy of Milan, the effects of which could not fail of reaching the Empire, and might prove fatal to it m 1.20. But while his ambassa∣dors enlarged upon these and other topicks of the same kind, in all the courts of Germany, Francis, sensible of the prejudices entertained against him as a foreigner,

unacquainted with the German language or manners, endeavoured to overcome these, and to gain the favour of the princes by immense gifts, and by infinite pro∣mises. As the expeditious method of transmitting mo∣ney, and the decent mode of conveying a bribe by bills of exchange was then little known, the French ambas∣sadors travelled with a train of horses loaded with trea∣sure, an equipage not very honourable for that prince by whom they were employed, and infamous for those to whom they were sent n 1.21.

THE other European princes could not remain in∣different spectators of a contest, the decision of which so nearly affected them. Their common interest ought naturally to have formed a general combination, in order to disappoint both competitors, and to prevent either of them from obtaining such pre-eminence in power and dignity, as might prove dangerous to the liberties of Europe. But the ideas with respect to a proper distribution and balance of power were so lately introduced into the system of European policy, that they were not hitherto objects of sufficient attention. The passions of some princes, the want of foresight in others, and the fear of giving offence to the candidates, hindred such a salutary union of the powers of Europe, and rendered them either totally negligent of the pub∣lick safety, or kept them from exerting themselves with vigour in its behalf.

THE Swiss Cantons, though they dreaded the eleva∣tion of either of the contending monarchs, and though they wished to have seen some prince whose dominions were less extensive, and whose power was more mode∣rate, seated on the Imperial throne, were prompted, however, by their hatred of the French nation, to give an open preference to the pretensions of Charles, while they used their utmost influence to frustrate those of Francis o 1.22.

THE Venetians easily discerned, that it was the in∣terest of their republick to have both the rivals set aside; but their jealousy of the house of Austria, whose ambition and neighbourhood had been fatal to

their grandeur, would not permit them to act up to their own ideas, and led them hastily to give the san∣ction of their approbation to the claim of the French king.

IT was equally the interest, and more in the power of Henry VIII. of England, to prevent either Fran∣cis or Charles from acquiring a dignity which would raise them so far above other monarchs. But though Henry often boasted, that he held the balance of Eu∣rope in his hand, he had neither the steady attention, the accurate discernment, nor the dispassionate temper which that delicate function required. On this occasion it mortified his vanity so much, to see himself excluded from that noble competition which reflected such ho∣nour upon the two antagonists, that he took the reso∣lution of sending an ambassador into Germany, and of declaring himself a candidate for the imperial throne. The ambassador, though loaded with caresses by the German princes and the Pope's nuncio, informed his master, that he could hope for no success in a claim which he had been so late in preferring; and Henry, imputing his disappointment to that circumstance alone, and soothed with this ostentatious display of his own im∣portance, seems to have taken no farther part in the matter, either by contributing to thwart both his rivals, or to promote one of them p 1.23.

LEO X, a pontiff no less renowned for his political abilities, than for his love of the arts, was the only prince of the age who observed the motions of the two contending monarchs with a prudent attention, or who discovered a proper solicitude for the public safety. The imperial and papal jurisdiction interfered in so ma∣ny instances, the complaints of usurpation were so nu∣merous on both sides, and the territories of the church owed their safety so entirely to the weakness of their neighbours, and so little to their, own force, that nothing was so formidable to the court of Rome as an Empe∣ror of extensive power, or of enterprizing genius. Leo trembled at the prospect of beholding the Imperial crown placed on the head of the king of Spain and of

Naples, and the master of the new world; nor was he less afraid of seeing a king of France, who was duke of Milan, and lord of Genoa, exalted to that dignity. He foretold that the election of either of them would be fatal to the independence of the holy see, to the peace of Italy, and perhaps to the liberties of Europe. To oppose them, however, required address and caution in proportion to the greatness of their power, and their opportunities of taking revenge. Leo was defective in neither. He secretly exhorted the German Princes to place one of their own number on the Imperial throne, which many of them were capable of filling with honour; he put them in mind of the constitution by which the kings of Naples were for ever excluded from that dig∣nity q 1.24; he warmly exhorted the French king to persist in his claim, not from any desire that he should gain his end, but as he foresaw that the Germans would be more disposed to favour the king of Spain, he hoped that Francis himself, when he discovered his own chance of success to be desperate, would be stimulated by re∣sentment and the spirit of rivalship, to concur with all his interest in raising some third person to the head of the Empire; or on the other hand, if Francis should make unexpected progress, he did not doubt but that Charles would be induced by similar motives to act the same part; and thus by prudence and attention, the mutual jealousy of the two rivals might be so dextrously managed, as to disappoint both. But this scheme, the only one which a prince in Leo's situation could adopt, though concerted with great wisdom, was executed with little discretion. The French ambassadors in Germany fed their master with vain hopes; the pope's nuncio be∣ing gained by them, altogether forgot the instructions he had received; and Francis persevered so long and so obstinately in urging his own pretensions, as rendered all Leo's measures abortive r 1.25.

SUCH were the hopes of the candidates, and the views of the different princes, when the diet was opened according to form at Frankfort, June 17th. The

right of chusing an Emperor had long been vested in seven great princes, distinguished by the name of Elec∣tors, the origin of whose office, and the nature and ex∣tent of their powers, have already been explained. These were, at that time Albert of Brandenburgh, archbishop of Mentz; Herman count de Wied, archbishop of Co∣logne; Richard de Greiffenklau, archbishop of Treves; Lewis, king of Bohemia; Lewis, count Palatin of the Rhine; Frederick, duke of Saxony; and Joachim I. marquis of Brandenburgh. Notwithstanding the artful arguments produced by the ambassadors of the two kings, in favour of their respective masters, and in spite of all their solicitations, intrigues, and presents, the E∣lectors did not forget that maxim on which the liberty of the German constitution was thought to be founded. Among the members of the Germanick body, which is a great republick composed of states almost independent, the first principle of patriotism is to depress and limit the power of the Emperor; and of this idea, so natural under such a form of government, a German politician seldom loses sight. No prince of considerable power, or extensive dominions, had for some ages been raised to the Imperial throne; and to this prudent precaution many of the great families in Germany owed the splen∣dor and independence which they had acquired during that period. To elect either of the contending mon∣archs, would have been a gross violation of that salutary maxim; would have given to the empire a master, in∣stead of an head; and would have reduced themselves from the rank of equals, to the condition of subjects.

FULL of these ideas, they all turned their eyes to∣wards Frederick, duke of Saxony, a prince of such emi∣nent virtue, and abilities, as to be distinguished by the name of the Sage, and with one voice offered him the Imperial crown. He was not dazzled with that object, which monarchs so far superior to him in power courted with such eagerness; and after deliberating upon the matter a short time, he rejected it with a magnanimity and disinterestedness, no less singular than admirable. Nothing, he observed, could be more impolitic, than an obstinate adherence to a maxim which, though sound and just in many cases, was not applicable to all. In

times of tranquillity, said he, we wish for an Emperor who has not power to invade our liberties; times of danger demand one who is able to secure our safety. The Turkish armies, led by a gallant and victorious monarch are now assembling. They are ready to pour in upon Germany with a violence unknown in former ages. New conjunctures call for new expedients. The imperial sceptre must be committed to some hand more powerful than mine, or that of any other German prince. We possess neither dominions, nor revenues, nor au∣thority which enable us to encounter such a formidable enemy. Recourse must be had in this exigency to one of the rival monarchs. Each of them can bring into the field forces sufficient for our defence. But as the King of Spain is of German extraction, as he is a member and prince of the empire by the territories which de∣scend to him from his grandfather; as his dominions stretch along that frontier which lies most exposed to the enemy; his claim is preferable, in my opinion, to that of a stranger to our language, to our blood, and to our country; and therefore I give my vote to confer on him the Imperial crown.

THIS opinion, dictated by such uncommon genero∣sity, and supported by arguments so plausible, made a deep impression on the Electors. The king of Spain's ambassadors, sensible of the important service which Frederic had done their master, sent him a consider∣able sum of money, as the first token of that prince's gratitude. But he who had greatness of mind to re∣fuse a crown, disdained to receive a bribe; and upon their intreating that, at least, he would permit them to distribute part of that sum among his courtiers, he re∣plied, that he could not prevent them from accepting what should be offered, but whoever took a single flo∣rin should be dismissed next morning from his service r 1.26.

No prince in Germany could now aspire to a dignity, which Frederick had declined for reasons applicable to them all. It remained to make a choice between the two great competitors. But besides the prejudice in Charles's favour arising from his birth, and the situation of his German dominions, he owed not a little to the abilities of the cardinal de Gurk, and the zeal of Erard de la Mark, bishop of Liege, two of his ambassadors who had conducted their negociations with more pru∣dence and address, than those entrusted by the French king. The former, who had long been the minister and favourite of Maximilian, was well acquainted with the art of managing the Germans; and the latter having been disappointed of a cardinal's hat by Francis, em∣ployed all the malicious ingenuity with which the desire of revenge inspires an ambitious mind, in thwarting the measures of that monarch. The Spanish party among the Electors daily gained ground; and the Pope's nuncio, being convinced that it was vain to make any farther opposition, endeavoured to acquire some merit with the future Emperor, by offering voluntarily, in the name of his master, a dispensation to hold the Imperial crown in conjunction with that of Naples s 1.27.

ON the twenty-eighth of June, five months and ten days after the death of Maximilian, this important con∣test, which had held all Europe in suspense, was decided. Six of the Electors had already declared for the king of Spain, and the archbishop of Treves, the only firm ad∣herent to the French interest, having at last joined his brethren, Charles was by the unanimous voice of the Electoral college raised to the Imperial throne t 1.28.

BUT though the Electors consented, from various motives, to promote Charles to that high station, they discovered at the same time great jealousy of his extra∣ordinary power, and endeavoured, with the utmost so∣licitude, to provide against his encroaching on the pri∣leges of the Germanick body. It had long been the cus∣tom to demand of every new Emperor a confirmation of these privileges, and to require a promise that he would never violate them in any instance. While princes who were formidable neither from extent of territory, nor of genius, possessed the imperial throne, a general and verbal engagement to this purpose was deemed sufficient secu∣rity. But under an Emperor so powerful as Charles, other precautions seemed necessary. A Capitulation, or claim of rights was formed, in which the privileges and immunities of the electors, of the princes of the empire, of the cities, and of every other member of the Germa∣nick body are enumerated. This capitulation was im∣mediately signed by Charles's ambassadors in the name of their master, and he himself at his coronation con∣firmed it in the most solemn manner. Since that period, the Electors have continued to prescribe the same con∣ditions to all his successors; and in Germany the Capi∣tulation or mutual contract between the emperor and his subjects, is considered as a strong barrier against the progress of the imperial power, and as the great charter of their liberties to which they often appeal u 1.29.

THE important intelligence of his election was con∣veyed in nine days from Frankfort to Barcelona, where Charles was still detained by the obstinacy of the Cata∣lonian Cortes, which had not hitherto brought to an is∣sue any of the affairs that came before it. He received the account with the joy natural to a young aspiring mind, on an accession of power and dignity which raised him so far above the other princes of Europe. Then it was that those vast prospects which allured him during his whole administration began to open, and from this aera we may date the formation, and are able to trace the gradual progress of a grand system of enterprizing

ambition which renders the history of his reign so wor∣thy of attention.

A TRIVIAL circumstance first discovered the effects of this great elevation upon the mind of Charles. In all the publick writs which he issued as king of Spain, he assumed the title of Majesty, and required it from his subjects as a mark of their respect. Before that time, all the monarchs of Europe were satisfied with the ap∣pellation of Highness, or Grace; but the vanity of other courts soon led them to imitate the example of the Spa∣nish. The epithet of Majesty is no longer a mark of pre-eminence. The most inconsiderable monarchs in Europe enjoy it, and the arrogance of the greater po∣tentates has invented no higher denominationu 1.30.

THE Spaniards were far from viewing the promotion of their King to the Imperial throne with the same satis∣faction which he himself felt. To be deprived of the presence of their sovereign, and to be subjected to the go∣vernment of a vice-roy and his council, a species of ad∣ministration often oppressive, and always disagreeable, were the immediate and necessary consequences of this new dignity. To see the blood of their countrymen shed in quarrels wherein the nation had no concern, to behold its treasures wasted in supporting the splendour of a foreign title, and to be plunged in the chaos of Ita∣lian and German politics, were effects of this event al∣most as unavoidable. From all these considerations, they concluded, that nothing could have happened more pernicious to the Spanish nation; and the fortitude and publick spirit of their ancestors, who, in the Cortes of Castile, prohibited Alfonzo the Wise from leaving the kingdom, in order to receive the Imperial crown, were often mentioned with the highest praise, and pronounced to be extremely worthy of imitation at this juncture w 1.31.

BUT Charles, without regarding the sentiments or murmurs of his Spanish subjects, accepted of the Impe∣rial dignity which the count Palatine, at the head of a solemn embassy, offered him in the name of the Elec∣tors;

and declared his intention of setting out soon for Germany, in order to take possession of it. This was the more necessary, because, according to the forms of the German constitution, he could not, before the cere∣mony of a publick coronation, exercise any act of ju∣risdiction or authority x 1.32.

THEIR certain knowledge of this resolution aug∣mented the disgust of the Spaniards; and a sullen and refractory spirit prevailed among persons of all ranks. The Pope having granted the king the tenths of all ec∣clesiastical benefices in Castile to assist him in carrying on war with greater vigour against the Turks, a convocation of the clergy unanimously refused to levy that sum, upon pretence that it ought never to be exacted but at those times when Christendom was actually invaded by the In∣fidels; and though Leo, in order to support his autho∣rity, laid the kingdom under an interdict, so little re∣gard was paid to a censure which was universally deem∣ed unjust, that Charles himself applied to have it taken off; and thus the Spanish clergy, besides their merit in opposing the usurpations of the pope, and disregarding the influence of the crown, gained the exemption which they had claimed y 1.33.

THE commotions which arose in the kingdom of Va∣lencia, annexed to the crown of Arragon, were more formidable, and produced more dangerous and lasting effects. A seditious monk having by his sermons ex∣cited the citizens of Valencia, the capital city, to take arms, and to punish certain criminals in a tumultuary manner, the people, pleased with this excercise of pow∣er, and with such a discovery of their own importance, not only refused to lay down their arms, but formed themselves into troops and companies that they might be regularly trained to martial exercises. To obtain some security against the oppression of the Grandees was the motive of this association, and proved a powerful bond of union; for as the aristocratical privileges and independence were more complete in Valencia than in any other of the Spanish kingdoms, the nobles, being

fearce accountable for their conduct to any superior, treated the people not only as vassals but as slaves. They were alarmed, however, at the success of this unexpect∣ed insurrection, as it might encourage the people to at∣tempt shaking off the yoke; but as they could not re∣press them without taking arms, it became necessary to have recourse to the Emperor, and to desire his permis∣sion to attack them, 1526. At the same time the peo∣ple made choice of deputies to represent their griev∣ances, and to implore the protection of their sovereign. Happily for the latter, they arrived at court when Charles was exasperated to an high degree against the nobles. As he was eager to visit Germany, where his presence became every day more necessary, and as his Flemish courtiers were still more impatient to return in∣to their native country, and to carry thither the spoils they had amassed in Castile, it was impossible for him to hold the Cortes of Valencia in person. He had for that reason empowered the cardinal Adrian to represent him in that assembly, and in his name to receive their oath of allegiance, to confirm their privileges with the usual solemnities, and to demand of them a free gift. But the Valencian nobles, who considered this measure as an indignity to their country, which was no less entitled, than his other kingdoms, to the honour of their sove∣reign's presence, declared that by the fundamental laws of the constitution they could neither acknowledge a person who was absent as king, nor grant him any sub∣sidy, and to this declaration they adhered with an haugh∣ty and inflexible obstinacy. Charles piqued by their behaviour, decided in favour of the people, and rashly authorized them to continue in arms. Their deputies returned in triumph, and were received by their fellow-citizens as the deliverers of their country; and the inso∣lence of the multitude increasing with their success, they expelled all the nobles out of the city, committed the government to magistrates of their own election, and en∣tered into an association distinguished by the name of Germanada or Brotherhood, which proved the source not only of the wildest disorders, but of the most fatal cala∣mities in that kingdom z 1.34.

MEANWHILE, the kingdom of Castile was agitated with no less violence. No sooner was the Emperor's intention to leave Spain made known, than several cities of the first rank resolved to remonstrate against it, and to crave redress once more of those grievances which they had formerly laid before him. Charles artfully avoided admitting their deputies to audience; and as he saw from this circumstance how difficult it would be at this juncture to restrain the mutinous spirit of greater ci∣ties, he summoned the Cortes of Castile to meet at Com∣postella in Galicia. His only reason for calling that as∣sembly, was the hope of obtaining another donative; for as his treasury had been exhausted in the same pro∣portion that the riches of his ministers increased, he could not, without some additional aid, appear in Ger∣many with splendour suited to the Imperial dignity. To appoint a meeting of the Cortes in so remote a pro∣vince, and to demand a new subsidy before the time for paying the former was expired, were innovations of a most dangerous tendency; and among people jealous of their liberties, and accustomed to supply the wants of their sovereigns with a very frugal hand excited an universal alarm. The magistrates of Toledo remon∣strated against both these measures in a very high tone; the inhabitants of Valladolid, who expected that the Cortes should have been held in that city, were so en∣raged that they took arms in a tumultuary manner; and if Charles with his foreign counsellors had not fortunate∣ly made their escape during a violent tempest, they would have massacred all the Flemings, and have pre∣vented him from continuing his journey towards Com∣postella.

EVERY city through which they passed, petitioned against holding a Cortes in Galicia, a point with regard to which Charles was inflexible. But though the utmost influence had been exerted by the minsters, in order to procure a choice of representatives favourable to their designs, such was the temper of the nation, that at the opening of the assembly, April 1, there appeared among many of the members unusual symptoms of ill humour, which threatened a fierce opposition to all the measures of the court. No representatives were sent by Toledo,

for the lot, according to which, by ancient custom, the election was determined in that city, having fallen upon two persons, devoted to the Flemish ministers, their fellow-citizens refused to grant them a commission in the usual form, and in their stead made choice of two deputies, whom they empowered to repair to Compos∣tella, and to protest against the lawfulness of the Cortes assembled there The representatives of Salamanca re∣fused to take the usual oath of fidelity, unless Charles consented to change the place of meeting. Those of Toro, Madrid, Cordova, and several other places, de∣clared the demand of another donative to be unprece∣dented, unconstitutional, and unnecessary. All the arts, however, which influence popular assemblies, bribes, promises, threats, and even force, were employed in order to gain the members. The nobles, soothed by the respectful assiduity with which Chievres and the other Flemings paid court to them, or instigated by a mean jealousy of that spirit of independence which they saw rising among the commons, openly favoured the pre∣tensions of the court, or at the utmost did not oppose them; and at last, in contempt both of the sentiments of the nation, and of the ancient forms of the constitu∣tion, a majority voted to grant the donative for which the Emperor had applied a 1.35. Together with this grant, the Cortes laid before Charles a representation of those grievances whereof his people craved redress; but he, having obtained from them all he could expect, paid no attention to this ill-timed petition, which it was no longer dangerous to disregard b 1.36.

AS nothing now retarded his embarkation, he dis∣closed his intention with regard to the regency of Cas∣tile during his absence, which he had hitherto kept se∣cret, and nominated Cardinal Adrian to that office, The vice-royalty of Aragon he conferred on Don John de Lanuza; that of Valencia on Don Diego de Men∣doza Con de Melito. The choice of the two latter was universally acceptable; but the advancement of Adrian, though the only Fleming who had preserved any repu∣tation among the Spaniards, animated the Castilians with

new hatred against foreigners; and even the nobles, who had so tamely suffered other inroads upon the con∣stitution, fel•• the indignity offered to their own order by his promotion, and remonstrated against it as illegal. But Charles's desire of visiting Germany, and the im∣patience of his ministers to leave Spain, were now so much increased, that without regarding the murmurs of the Castilians, or even taking time to provide any remedy against an insurrection in Toledo, which at that time threatened, and afterwards produced most formi∣dable effects, he sailed from Corogna on the twenty-second of May; and by setting out so abruptly in quest of a new crown, he endangered a more important one of which he was already in possession * 1.37.

Notes

• t 1.1

  P. Mart. Ep 570.
• * 1.2

  Gometius, lib. vi. p. 179.
• w 1.3

  Miniana. Contin. l. i. c. 2.
• x 1.4

  P. Mart. Ep. 576.
• x 1.5

  Leonard Recueil des Traitez, tom. ii. 69.
• y 1.6

  P. Mart. Ep. 599. 601.
• z 1.7

  Miniana, Contin. lib. i. c. 3
• z 1.8

  Marsallier Vie de Ximenes, p. 447. Gometius lib. vii. p. 206, &c. Baudier Hist. de Ximen. p. 208.
• a 1.9

  Flechier, Vie de Ximen. ii. 746.
• b 1.10

  Miniana, Contin. lib. i. c. 3. P. Mart. Ep. 608. Sandov. p. 12.
• c 1.11

  Sandoval, p. 31. P. Mart. Ep. 655.
• d 1.12

  Sandoval, 2••—31. P. Mart. Ep. 608, 611, 613, 614, 622, 623, 639. Miniana, Contin, lib. i. c. 3. p 8.
• e 1.13

  P. Martyr, Ep. 619. Ferreras, viii. 460.
• f 1.14

  P. Martyr, Ep. 605.
• g 1.15

  P. Martyr, Ep. 615—634.
• h 1.16

  P. Martyr. Ep. 605, 633. 640.
• i 1.17

  P. Martyr, Ep. 630. Ferreras, viii. 464.
• k 1.18

  Guicciardini, lib. 13. p. 15. Hist. Gener. d'Allemagne, par P. Barre, tom. vi, i. p. 1087. P. Heuter, Rer. Austr. lib. vii. c. 17. 179. lib. viii. c. 2, p. 183.
• l 1.19

  Guic. lib. 13. 159 Sleidan, Hist. of the Reformat. 14. Stru. vii Corp. Hist. German. ii. 971. Not. 20.
• m 1.20

  Guic. lib. 13. 160. Sleid. p. 16. Geor. Sabini de elect. Car. V. Historia apud. Scardii Script. Rer. German. vol. ii. p. 4.
• n 1.21

  Memoires de Marech. de Fleuranges, p. 296.
• o 1.22

  Sabinus, p. 6
• p 1.23

  Memoires de Fleuranges, 314. Herbert, Hist. of Henry VIII.
• q 1.24

  Goldasti Constitutiones Imperiales. Francof. 1673. vol. 1. 439.
• r 1.25

  Guicciar. lib 13. 161.
• r 1.26

  P. Daniel, an historian of considerable name, seems to call in question the truth of this account of Frederick's behaviour, because it is not mentioned by Georgius Sabinus in his History of the elec∣tion and coronation of Charles V. tom. iii p. 63. But no great stress ought to be laid on an omission in an superficial author, whose treatises, though dignified with the name of history, contains only such an account of the ceremonial of Charles's election as is usual∣ly published in Germany on like occasions. Sc••••d. Rer. Germ. Script. v. 2. p. i. The testimony of Erasmus, lib. 12. epist. 4. and that of Sleidan, p. 18. are express. Seckendorf in his com∣mentarius Historicus & apologeticus de Lutheranismo, p. 121, has examined this fact with his usual industry, and has established its truth by the most undoubted evidence. To these testimonies which he has collected, I may add the decisive one of Cardinal Cajetan, the pope's legate at Frankfort, in his letter July 5th, 1519. Epistres au princes, &c. recuellies par Ruscelli, traduicts par Belforrest. Par. 1572. p. 60.
• s 1.27

  Freheri. Rer. German. Scriptores, vol. iii. 172. cur. Struvii Argent. 1717. Gianone Hist. of Naples, 2. 498.
• t 1.28

  Jac Aug. Thuan. Hist. sui temporis. Edit. Bulkley, lib. 1. c. 9.
• u 1.29

  Pfeffel Abregè de l'Hist. de Droit Publique d'Allemagne 590. Limnei Capitulat. Imper. Epistres des Princes par Ruscelli, p. 60.
• u 1.30

  Minianae Contin. Mar. p. 13. Ferreras viii. 475. Memoires Hist. de la Houssaie, tom. i. p. 53, &c.
• w 1.31

  Sandoval, i p. 32. Miniana, Contin. p. 14.
• x 1.32

  Sabinus. P. Barre, viii. 1085.
• y 1.33

  P. Martyr, Ep. 462. Ferreras viii. 473.
• z 1.34

  P. Martyr. Ep. 651. Ferreras viii. 476, 485.
• a 1.35

  P. Martyr. Ep. 663. Sandoval, p. 32, &c.
• b 1.36

  Sandoval, 84.
• * 1.37

  P. Martyr, Ep. 670. Sandov. 86.