d bewildered nation was soon crouching at his
feet, not knowing whither he was leading them.

Warfare played no part in this reign. Invasion was met by diplomacy,
and slaughter and bloodshed were relegated to the executioner.
Incredible as it seems, it is said that from his windows this king
could look out upon an avenue of gibbets upon which hung the bodies of
his enemies. The humorous spirit in which he disposed of obstructive
nobles is illustrated by a note to an unsuspecting victim. "Fair
cousin, come and give us your advice. We have need of so wise a head
as yours." And in the morning the fair cousin's wise head was in a
basket filled with sawdust!

When all was done, a town council meant more than the "Order of the
Golden Fleece"; and, _pari passu_, with the humiliation of the noble
came the elevation of the bourgeois. A nameless adventurer would be
admitted to confidential intimacy when a Montmorenci could not get
beyond his antechamber.

In fact, this levelling up and levelling down was the object of all
this king's odious crimes and the central purpose of his cold-blooded
reign. If a patent of nobility was a pretty good passport to the
scaffold, good service in a town council was an open door to elevation.

So, judged by results, Louis XI. was a better king than many a better
man had been. He buried the ideals of the past fathoms deep and then
stamped them down with remorseless feet. He demolished the political
structure of mediaevalism in his kingdom, and when his terrible reign
was ended, in 1483, the Middle Ages had passed away and modern life had
begun in France.

Almost any reign would have seemed colorless after that of Louis XI.
But that of his son, Charles VIII., was made memorable by one event, an
invasion of Italy, which brought to France a long train of disastrous
consequences.

It will be remembered that in the thirteenth century, Charles, Duke of
Anjou, of Sicilian fame, or infamy, and brother of Louis the Saint,
occupied the throne of Naples by invitation of the pope.

The family of Anjou having recently become extinct, Charles was now the
rightful heir to that throne. So as there was nothing in especial for
him to do at home, and as his new army, created and equipped by his
father, was a very splendid affair for that day, and as Charles was
young and ambitious of a name, he determined to take forcible
possession of his inheritance in Italy.

The success of the enterprise was q