killed Pace and all his servants.[268]
The voice of the German people spoke in no uncertain tones; they would
have Charles and no other to be their ruler. Leo himself saw the (p. 104)
futility of resistance, and making a virtue of necessity, he sent
Charles an absolution from his oath as King of Naples. As soon as it
arrived, the electors unanimously declared Charles their Emperor on
28th June.[269]

[Footnote 267: _Ven. Cal._, ii., 1227.]

[Footnote 268: _L. and P._, iii., 326.]

[Footnote 269: _L. and P._, iii., 339.]

Thus was completed the shuffling of the cards for the struggle which
lasted till Henry's death. Francis had now succeeded to Louis, Charles
to both his grandfathers, and Henry at twenty-eight was the _doyen_ of
the princes of Europe. He was two years older than Francis and eight
years older than Charles. Europe had passed under the rule of youthful
triumvirs whose rivalry troubled its peace and guided its destinies
for nearly thirty years. The youngest of all was the greatest in
power. His dominions, it is true, were disjointed, and funds were
often to seek, but these defects have been overrated. It was neither
of these which proved his greatest embarrassment. It was a cloud in
Germany, as yet no bigger than a man's hand, but soon to darken the
face of Europe. Ferdinand and Maximilian had at times been dangerous;
Charles wielded the power of both. He ruled over Castile and Aragon,
the Netherlands and Naples, Burgundy and Austria; he could command the
finest military forces in Europe; the infantry of Spain, the science
of Italy, the lance-knights of Germany, for which Ferdinand sighed,
were at his disposal; and the wealth of the Indies was poured out at
his feet. He bestrode the narrow world like a Colossus, and the only
hope of lesser men lay in the maintenance of Francis's power. Were
that to fail, Charles would become arbiter of Christendom, Italy a
Spanish kingdom, and the Pope little more than the Emperor's (p. 105)
chaplain. "Great masters," said Tunstall, with reference to a papal
brief urged by Charles in excuse for his action in 1517, "could get
great clerks to say what they liked."[270] The mastery of Charles in
1517 was but the shadow of what it became ten years later; and if
under its dominance "the great clerk" were called upon to decide
between "the great master" and Henry, it was obvious already that all
Henry's services