CHAPTER V.

THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II.  AND MAXIMILIAN I.

From 1477 to 1500.

Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.—­Proposed Alliance with the Duke of
Burgundy.—­Mutual Distrust.—­Marriage of Mary.—­The Age of
Chivalry.—­The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to declare
War.—­Death of Frederic ii.—­The Emperor’s Secret.—­Designs of the
Turks.—­Death of Mahomet ii.—­First Establishment of standing
Armies.—­Use of Gunpowder.—­Energy of Maximilian.—­French
Aggressions.—­The League to expel the French.—­Disappointments of
Maximilian.—­Bribing the Pope.—­Invasion of Italy.—­Capture and
Recapture.—­The Chevalier De Bayard.

Adversity only developed more fully the weak and ignoble character of Frederic.  He wandered about, recognized Emperor of Germany, but a fugitive from his own Austrian estates, occasionally encountering pity, but never sympathy or respect.  Matthias professed his readiness to surrender Austria back to Frederic so soon as he would fulfill the treaty by paying the stipulated money.  Frederic was accompanied in his wanderings by his son Maximilian, a remarkably elegant lad, fourteen years of age.  They came to the court of the powerful Duke of Burgundy.  The dukedom extended over wide realms, populous and opulent, and the duke had the power of a sovereign but not the regal title.  He was ambitious of elevating his dukedom into a kingdom and of being crowned king; and he agreed to give his only daughter and heiress, Mary, a beautiful and accomplished girl, to the emperor’s son Maximilian, if Frederic would confer upon his estates the regal dignity and crown him king.  The bargain was made, and Maximilian and Mary both were delighted, for they regarded each other with all the warmth of young lovers.  Mary, heiress to the dukedom of Burgundy, was a prize which any monarch might covet; and half the princes of Europe were striving for her hand.

But now came a new difficulty.  Neither the emperor nor duke had the slightest confidence in each other.  The King of France, who had hoped to obtain the hand of Mary for his son the dauphin, caused the suspicion to be whispered into the ear of Frederic that the Duke of Burgundy sought the kingly crown only as the first step to the imperial crown; and that so soon as the dukedom was elevated into a kingdom, Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, would avail himself of his increased power, to dethrone Frederic and grasp the crown of Germany.  This was probably all true.  Charles, fully understanding the perfidious nature of Frederic, did not dare to solemnize the marriage until he first should be crowned.  Frederic, on the other hand, did not dare to crown the duke until the marriage was solemnized, for he had no confidence that the duke, after having attained the regal dignity, would fulfill his pledge.