war;
not on his own account, for he is an infidel and all we are Christians,
but in order to cripple the power of the emperor, to force him into great
expense, and to give all other governments security against so great an
enemy." "As for me," says the contemporary Montluc in his Memoires, "if
I could summon all the spirits of hell to break the head of my enemy who
would fain break mine, I would do it with all my heart, God forgive me!"
On the other hand, on the 11th of February, 1543, Charles V. and Henry
VIII., King of England, concluded an alliance against Francis I. and the
Turks. The unsuccess which had attended the grand expedition conducted
by Charles V. personally in 1541, with the view of attacking Barbarossa
and the Mussulmans in Algiers itself, had opened his eyes to all the
difficulty of such enterprises, and he wished to secure the co-operation
of a great maritime power before engaging therein afresh. He at the same
time convoked a German diet at Spires in order to make a strong
demonstration against the alliance between Francis I. and the Turks, and
to claim the support of Germany in the name of Christendom. Ambassadors
from the Duke of Savoy and the King of Denmark appeared in support of the
propositions and demands of Charles V. The diet did not separate until
it had voted twenty-four thousand foot and four thousand horse to be
employed against France, and had forbidden Germans, under severe
penalties, to take service with Francis I. In 1544 the war thus became
almost European, and in the early days of April two armies were
concentrated in Piedmont, near the little town of Ceresole, the Spanish
twenty thousand strong and the French nineteen thousand; the former under
the orders of the Marquis del Guasto, the latter under those of the Count
d'Enghien; both ready to deliver a battle which was, according to one
side, to preserve Europe from the despotic sway of a single master, and,
according to the other, to protect Europe against a fresh invasion of
Mussulmans.

Francis of Bourbon, Count d'Enghien, had received from the king a
prohibition to give battle. He was believed to be weaker than the
Marquis del Guasto, who showed eagerness to deliver it. Convinced that
such a position was as demoralizing as it was disagreeable for him, the
young Count d'Enghien sent a valiant and intelligent gentleman, Blaise de
Montluc, who had already had experience in the great wars of the reign,
to carry his represent