ainst the edge of a door that he expired the same day--at
the age of twenty-eight. He was a poor, malformed fellow, as we have
seen, and "of little understanding," Commines tells us, "but so good
that it would have been impossible to have found a kinder creature."

With him the Valois dynasty came to an end. He was succeeded by his
cousin, the Duke of Orleans, who, upon his coronation at Rheims, assumed
the title of King of France and the Two Sicilies and Duke of Milan--a
matter which considerably perturbed Federigo of Aragon and Lodovico
Sforza. Each of these rulers saw in that assumption of his own title by
Louis XII a declaration of enmity, the prelude to a declaration of open
war; wherefore, deeming it idle to send their ambassadors to represent
them at the Court of France, they refrained from doing so.

Louis XII's claim upon the Duchy of Milan was based upon his being the
grandson of Valentina Visconti, and, considering himself a Visconti, he
naturally looked upon the Sforza dominion as no better than a usurpation
which too long had been left undisturbed. To disturb it now was the
first aim of his kingship. And to this end, as well as in another
matter, the friendship of the Pope was very desirable to Louis.

The other matter concerned his matrimonial affairs. No sooner did he
find himself King of France than he applied to Rome for the dissolution
of his marriage with Jeanne de Valois, the daughter of Louis XI. The
grounds he urged were threefold: Firstly, between himself and Jeanne
there existed a relationship of the fourth degree and a spiritual
affinity, resulting from the fact that her father, Louis XI, had
held him at the baptismal font--which before the Council of Trent
did constitute an impediment to marriage. Secondly, he had not been a
willing party to the union, but had entered into it as a consequence of
intimidation from the terrible Louis XI, who had threatened his life
and possessions if not obeyed in this. Thirdly, Jeanne laboured under
physical difficulties which rendered her incapable of maternity.

Of such a nature was the appeal he made to Alexander, and Alexander
responded by appointing a commission presided over by the Cardinal of
Luxembourg, and composed of that same cardinal and the Bishops of Albi
and Ceuta, assisted by five other bishops as assessors, to investigate
the king's grievance. There appears to be no good reason for assuming
that the inquiry was not conducted fairly and honoura