We can see at once what was the position of France thus surrounded. And we must always remember that it was the day of despotic monarchy, when the king could make war or peace at his own pleasure and regarded the lands over which he was king as his own private property. Especially of this despotic kind was the monarchy of Francis. He appears in {39} history as a brilliant figure, ambitious, eager for deeds of arms, without depth of character or fixed principles. He came to the throne as a young man and at once was attracted by the lure of Italy. At first his arms had a rapid success, and he defeated the combined forces of Spain, the Papal states, and Venice--Venice being then in alliance with the Pope. He was thus victorious over Italy in arms, but the culture of Italy and of the Renaissance made a complete conquest of him. A new combination of Swiss, German, and Spanish arms drove the French out of Italy, and Francis returned, strongly influenced by that new light of art and letters which he had there found. From that invasion of Italy by the French we may date the beginning of the Renaissance in France, whence it spread to other nations of Europe. [Sidenote: The "Cloth of Gold"] It was in the year 1516 that Charles succeeded to the throne of Spain and to the possession of all the wealth that the Spanish ships had begun to bring in from the New World. Three years later he was elected Emperor, giving offence thereby to Henry VIII. of England, as well as to Francis, since both had sought to be Emperor. Their common cause of offence led to their famous meeting known as the "Field of the Cloth of Gold" by reason of the magnificence of the decorations, the gay and splendid tents, and so on. But it all ended in nothing, or indeed less than nothing, except an exchange of compliments, for almost immediately afterwards we find Henry, under the influence of the great Cardinal Wolsey, pledged to support Charles. In the shifting alliances of the time it was nearly always against France that England was engaged, notwithstanding that Henry's sister had married Francis' predecessor on the throne of France. Charles, on the other hand, was Henry's nephew. But France was constantly giving aid to Scotland, whether {40} secretly or openly, in her continual fight with England. Scotland, however, had just been beaten to her very knees in the battle of Flodden, and had little fighting left in her for the moment. With such forces as these opposed to France the wonder really is that she maintained her power undiminished. It is yet more wonderful that, under Francis, she should have been ready for still further adventures in Italy. Yet she did so adventure, and though she and her king met with grievous disaster there--especially at the battle of Pavia where Francis was made prisoner and whence he was taken to Madrid--we have to notice that at the death of Francis, shortly before the middle of