He miscalculated the strong position and personal valor of the rival with whom he would have to measure swords.

Charles of Austria was but nineteen, and Francis I.
was twenty-three, when they entered, as antagonists, into the arena of European politics.

Charles had as yet gained no battle and won no renown; while Francis I.was already a victorious king and a famous knight.

But the young archduke's able governor, William de Croy, Lord of Chievres, "had early trained him," says M.Mignet, "to the understanding and management of his various interests; from the time that he was fifteen, Charles presided every day at his council; there he himself read out the contents of despatches which were delivered to him the moment they arrived, were it even in the dead of night; his council had become his school, and business served him for books.

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