Saturday, August 04, 2012
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
FRANCE......the heir was francis of augoulleme grandson of louis of orleans, who had been assassinated during wars between burgubdy + armagnacs in 1404, + great-great-grandson of charles V of france. he was still young, very eager to be king, full of far reaching schemes. few kings in history are more striking than the sudden change at this moment, from the rule of middle-aged men or (as men of 50 were then often called)old men, to the rule of youths, from sagacious, worldly, prudent kings, to impulsive boys, from Henry VII to Henry VIII, from LXII to francis I, from ferdinand to charles. on the whole, FI the worst. he was brilliant, "the king of culture", apt scholar in renaissance art + immorality; brave also + chivalrous, so long as chivalry involved no self-denial, for he was also thoroughly selfish (georgee), + his personal whims + ideals were mean(mitt). his reign was to be a fraction of LXII. FI should set the monarchy upright , + secure its autocratic development. he reversed his predecessors home policy, + was hailed w/ wild delight by the young nobles, who had found LXII to sparing og gifts. gifts they wanted now, not power; + preferred a prince who gave while he crushed them to one who prudently forbore to give while he allowed them to retain power. the reputation of FI, is infinitely beyond his desserts.; his reign wasa real misfortune for france, + led to the terrible waste + mismanagement w/ marks france's history thru the century. for FI was a shallow person. he could not read the character of his antagonist charles V, nor the meaning of the vast movement which was beginning to develop itself, + to take the place of the renaissance. he wanted all of France's energies on bootless foreign wars(rumsfeld); never has any land been so scarred against as France(WORST KING EVER!) her vast resources, her intelligent + thrifty people, her commanding central position, were all as nothing to her rulers in comparison to the wasteful suares, a spirited foreign policy.
