who was married to the son and heir of Maxmilian I., Emperor
of Germany.

The young Charles, by the death of his father, had already inherited
the Netherlands and Flanders; to which by the death of his maternal
grandfather there was now added Spain, the kingdom of Naples, Mexico,
and Peru. A heavy enough burden, one would think, for young shoulders.
But it was to become still heavier. In 1519 his other grandfather,
Maximilian I., died, leaving the throne of the empire vacant.

This office by ancient custom, established by Charlemagne, was
elective, and theoretically was open to any prince in Europe. But with
the seven princes known as electors, with whom rested choice of the
successor, hereditary claim had great weight. Europe saw with dismay
the imminent creation of an empire greater than that of Charlemagne--an
empire which would cover a large part of the map of Europe and of
America. For none was this so alarming as for France, which would in
fact be enveloped upon almost every side by this giant among the
nations. A French king would indeed have been dull and spiritless not
to realize the magnitude of the danger, and Francis was neither. There
was only a youth of nineteen standing between him and the greatest
dignity in Europe. It was not alone an opportunity to save France from
this overshadowing power, but to reunite the crowns of France and the
empire as originally designed by Charlemagne. No role could have
better pleased Francis I. He announced himself a claimant for the
vacant throne (under the clause opening it to European princes),
claiming that his ownership of the adjacent territory of Northern Italy
made him the natural successor to the imperial throne.

Then another ambitious young king appeared as another rival claimant,
Henry VIII. of England, with his astute Minister Woolsey to fight the
diplomatic battles for his master. It was a brilliant game, played by
great players for a great stake: Francis lavishly bribing and dazzling
by theatrical displays of splendor; Henry arrogant, ostentatious, vain,
and Charles silent, inscrutable, cold-blooded, and false, whispering to
Woolsey that he might make him pope at the next election. From that
moment the powerful influence of the Cardinal was used for this sedate
youth, this wise youth, who saw that the fitting place for him
(Woolsey) was the chair of St. Peter!

The diplomacy of the boy of nineteen won the prize. The electors gave
the crown to