empire continued. For over half a century it was nominally ruled by
Frederick III (1440-1493), the lazy and feeble emperor who let Matthias
of Hungary expel him from Vienna, and never made any vigorous effort to
recover his capital. He was succeeded by his son Maximilian, a man of far
other temper, full of courage, energy, and hardihood. Maximilian has been
called "the last of the knights," and indeed his whole career may well
exemplify the changing times. The one achievement of his life was the
recovery of Vienna from the Hungarians, and in that he was successful
only because the heirs of Matthias were being overwhelmed by the Turks.

The remainder of his career was spent in learning bitterly how little
real power he had as emperor. He attempted to bring the Swiss once more
under the imperial dominion, but the little armies he could scrape
together against them were repeatedly defeated.[7] He was always
declaring war against this kingdom or that, and summoning his great
lords to aid him in upholding the glory of the empire. They persistently
declined; and he was helpless. At one time having pledged his alliance to
the English king, Henry VII, against France, he preserved his knightly
word by going alone and serving as a volunteer in Henry's army, whither
his people would not follow him. Instead they stayed at home and demanded
from him constitutions and courts of law and other internal reforms,
uninteresting matters about which the gallant soul of Maximilian cared
not a straw and which he gave his subjects under protest.

To the westward of him a far subtler monarch, by far subtler means, was
strengthening the power of France and making smooth her way toward that
supremacy over European affairs which she was later to assert. Louis XI
(1461-1483) is called the first modern king, though it is little flattery
to modern statecraft to compare its methods with his, and perhaps our
recent governments have truly outgrown them. Louis was no warrior,