s of the Church, which some of them wore very awkwardly. There
were bishops and archbishops who hardly knew the ritual of their
Church. Once when a Latin discourse was to be made, it appeared that
the highest princes of the Church could not speak that language, and
the Margrave of Brandenburg was obliged to do it.

It was through princes like these that Charles, sovereign of Lower
Burgundy and the Netherlands, King of Spain and Naples, Duke of Milan,
and Lord of the new world on the other side of the ocean, became also
Emperor of Germany. It is well known how long and actively the
intrigues both for him and the King of France were pursued. There was
no Electoral house to which money or promises were not proffered by
both parties, and none which did not negotiate for its own advantage.
At last Frederic the Wise decided the election, and dear has his
family paid for this decision. When the young king was crowned at
Aix-la-Chapelle, where, to the great delight of the assembled
multitude, he caused his horse to prance joyously before them, and
when, after the coronation, the heralds proclaimed that the Emperor
would, by permission of his Holiness the Pope, take the title of "Roman
Emperor Elect," there were absent from the festive train the Electors
of Saxony and Brandenburg, the Princes of the two houses which from
henceforth were to lead the German opposition against the house of
Hapsburg.

The fate of Germany was decided by the election of Charles V. He was
not entirely a Burgundian, not always a Spaniard, not an Italian, and
least of all a German. His position was too high, for him to make it
the interest of his life to meet the requirements of any one of the
many nations under his sway. The unfortunate part of his exalted
position was, that he could only carry out a personal policy,
subordinating sometimes one, sometimes another country to the course of
his plans, the ultimate aim of which was the advantage of his own
family. Had Charles been less able and less moderate, what was
insupportable in these incongruities would have been felt as a
grievance by all his states; but seldom has a prince maintained so
long, a position in itself untenable. At last, however, the catastrophe
arrived. After thirty years of fame and success, he broke down, and the
misery of Germany became apparent.

Although he had so little in common with the Germans, still he was not
unpopular in the Empire. The people of Germany looked upon him