y his ransom; and as soon as he was at
liberty they one and all proclaimed him duke. The emperor Philip
and the Germanic diet in vain protested against this measure,
and declared Charles a usurper. The spirit of justice and of
liberty spoke more loudly than the thunders of their ban; and the
people resolved to support to the last this scion of an ancient
race, glorious in much of its conduct, though often criminal in
many of its members. Charles of Egmont found faithful friends
in his devoted subjects; and he maintained his rights, sometimes
with, sometimes without, the assistance of France--making up for
his want of numbers by energy and enterprise. We cannot follow this
warlike prince in the long series of adventures which consolidated
his power; nor stop to depict his daring adherents on land, who
caused the whole of Holland to tremble at their deeds; nor his
pirates--the chief of whom, Long Peter, called himself king of
the Zuyder Zee. But amid all the consequent troubles of such a
struggle, it is marvellous to find Charles of Egmont upholding
his country in a state of high prosperity, and leaving it at his
death almost as rich as Holland itself.

The incapacity of Philip the Fair doubtless contributed to cause
him the loss of this portion of his dominions. This prince, after
his first acts of moderation and good sense, was remarkable only
as being the father of Charles V. The remainder of his life was
worn out in undignified pleasures; and he died almost suddenly,
in the year 1506, at Burgos in Castile, whither he had repaired
to pay a visit to his brother-in-law, the king of Spain.

CHAPTER VI

FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA TO THE ABDICATION OF
THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.

A.D. 1506--1555

Philip being dead, and his wife, Joanna of Spain, having become
mad from grief at his loss, after nearly losing her senses from
jealousy during his life, the regency of the Netherlands reverted
to Maximilian, who immediately named his daughter Margaret
stadtholderess of the country. This princess, scarcely twenty-seven
years of age, had been, like the celebrated Jacqueline of Bavaria,
already three times married, and was now again a widow. Her first
husband, Charles VIII. of France, had broken from his contract
of marriage before its consummation; her second, the Infante
of Spain, died immediately after their union; and her third,
the duke of Savoy, left her again a widow after three years of
wedded life.