It founded a royal despotism which reached its height in Richelieu and finally plunged France into the gulf of the Revolution.
[Sidenote: The Imperial Alliance] Of these mighty issues little could be foreseen at the moment when Philip and Edward declared war.

But from the very first the war took European dimensions.

The young king saw clearly the greater strength of France.

The weakness of the Empire, the captivity of the Papacy at Avignon, left her without a rival among European powers.

The French chivalry was the envy of the world, and its military fame had just been heightened by a victory over the Flemish communes at Cassel.