cy. The Medici of Florence, the Gonzaga of
Mantua, the papal house of Farnese, were all attached by Habsburg
marriages. The republics of Genoa and Siena were drawn into the circle
through the agency of their chief noble families, the Doria and
Piccolomini; while Charles behaved with scrupulous moderation towards
Venice in spite of her active hostility before and after the League of
Cognac. Occasional acts of violence there were, such as the
participation in the murder of Pierluigi Farnese, and the measures which
provoked the rebellion of Siena. These were due to the difficulty of
controlling the imperial agents from a distance, and in part to the
faults of the victim prince and republic. On the whole, the loose
federation of viceroyalties and principalities harmonized with Italian
interests and traditions. The alternative was not Italian independence,
but French domination. At any rate, Charles's structure was so durable
that the French met with no real success in Italy until the 18th
century.

Germany offered a fine field for a creative intellect, since the evils
of her disintegration stood confessed. On the other hand, princes and
towns were so jealous of an increase of central authority that Charles,
at least until his victory over the League of Schmalkalden, had little
effective power. Owing to his wars with French and Turks he was rarely
in Germany, and his visits were very short. His problem was infinitely
complicated by the union of Lutheranism and princely independence. He
fell back on the old policy of Maximilian, and strove to create a party
by personal alliances and intermarriage. In this he met with some
success. The friendship of the electors of Brandenburg, whether Catholic
or Protestant, was unbroken. In the war of Schmalkalden half the
Protestant princes were on Charles's side or friendly neutrals. At the
critical moment which preceded this, the lately rebellious duke of
Cleves and the heir of Bavaria were secured through the agency of two of
Ferdinand's invaluable daughters. The relations, indeed, between the two
old enemies, Austria and Bavaria, were permanently improved. The elector
palatine, whose love affairs with his sister Eleanor Charles as a boy
had roughly broken, received in compensation a Danish niece. Her sister,
widow of Francesco Sforza, was utilized to gain a hold upon the French
dynasty which ruled Lorraine. More than once there were proposals for
winning the hostile house of Saxony by m