The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria by Eleanor E. Tremayne

Author:Eleanor E. Tremayne [Tremayne, Eleanor E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781498163347
Google: XOPooQEACAAJ
Publisher: Literary Licensing, LLC
Published: 2014-08-07T03:04:42+00:00

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The Pope at first warmly upheld Francis I.'s claim and opposed his rival, but he soon saw that the French king had small chance of success, whilst all seemed in favour of Charles. Leo X. did not dissemble that he would have preferred a less powerful emperor than either the King of Castile or the King of France—'but,' as Charles confidently wrote to his envoys in Germany, 'if it should come to choosing either of us two, he has given out that he would be better pleased with us than with the said King of France, and would not refuse us the said dispensation nor any other thing that we should ask.'[65]

Although things seemed to be in his favour, still the King of Spain's election was far from a certainty. Henry of Nassau, writing to Margaret, did not conceal the difficulties that had to be overcome. 'The king,' he says, 'is little known in Germany; the French have said much against him, and the Germans, who come from Spain, have hardly said any good.'

Whilst the struggle between the rival kings' agents continued, the kings themselves were no less anxious as to the final issue. Charles was certain that if the imperial crown left the House of Austria the French would lay claim to his hereditary German states as well as to his kingdom of Naples; and besides being forced to renounce for ever the recovery of the duchy of Burgundy, he might even run the risk of being despoiled of the Netherlands.

On the other hand, the possible election of Charles filled Francis with dismay. On the 16th of April 1519 he wrote to his ambassadors in Germany: 'You understand the reason that moves me to acquire the empire and prevent the Catholic king from acquiring it. If he gets it, seeing the greatness of the kingdoms and lordships he possesses, he might, in time, do me inestimable harm. I should always be uneasy and mistrustful, and it is to be feared that he would take good care to drive me out of Italy.'

But at last the long struggle came to an end, the Pope withdrew his opposition, and Margaret was rewarded by Charles's election at Frankfort as King of the Romans on June 28th, 1519, five months and ten days after Maximilian's death. The news of his election was conveyed in nine days from Frankfort to Barcelona, where Charles was detained by the Catalonian Cortes. His coronation, which gave him the title of 'Romanorum Imperator,' did not take place until the following year. The title of Emperor, though carrying with it no possessions, gave him the position of 'first of earthly potentates in dignity and rank.'

Louise of Savoy bitterly alludes to her son's successful rival in her diary. 'En Juillet, Charles Ve de ce nom, fils de Philippe, archiduc d'Autriche, fut, après que l'Empire eut esté vacant par l'espace de cinq mois, éleu roy des Romains en la ville de Francfort. Pleut à Dieu qu'il eust plus longuement

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