THE STYLE OF FRANCIS I. 45 



these brilliant auspices were realised. The society in which Francis 

 moved led a large and cultured existence, practising all courtly graces 

 and welcoming art and learning. The material circumstance of court 

 life was sumptuous and stately, costume rich and graceful, and wherever 

 Francis found himself the royal table was served with as much decorum 

 as at Fontainebleau, in contrast to the riotous orgies of his grandsons. 



Abroad Francis rather more than held his own. At home he found 

 a compact realm. The position of the royal power as arbiter in internal 

 struggles further increased its influence. The Reformation, in alliance 

 with the New Learning, spread rapidly and was not unfavourably 

 received at Court. Francis and the Duchess of Etampes were interested, 

 while his sister was its ardent supporter. The king defended the 

 humanists and pioneers of science against the scholastic authorities, 

 and promoted reforms in education. 



But there is another side of the picture. Francis had no serious- 

 ness of purpose. Self-indulgent, superficial and vacillating, though 

 capable of vigorous action on occasion, he was swayed by the 

 impulse or favourite of the moment. A bad education, flattery, and 

 irresponsible power intensified his weaknesses. Court life with its 

 endless round of Sittings from chateau to chateau, balls, tournaments 

 and hunting parties, varied by artistic and literary enjoyments, generated 

 a frivolous atmosphere in which State affairs and the fate of ministers 

 and generals often depended on the intrigues of dissolute women. For 

 the influence of heroes like Bayard, of statesmen like the du Bellays, 

 and virtuous princesses like Claude of France and Margaret of Navarre 

 prevailed little with Francis against that of his mother, the cultivated 

 but unprincipled Louise of Savoy, the royal mistresses, especially the 

 Duchess of Etampes, the unscrupulous and intriguing cardinals Duprat 

 and Tournon, and the intolerant and ambitious Constable, Anne de 

 Montmorency, whose incompetence eventually brought him into 

 disgrace. 



If the brilliant hopes of the reign failed of fulfilment, this was as 

 much due to the magnitude of the forces in play as to the inferiority of 

 the actors. The re-casting of European civilisation produced such dis- 

 integration in established ideas and institutions that confusion rather 

 than progress was the first result. In international politics Francis was 

 pitted against formidable rivals. He renewed the adventure of Italian 

 conquest and competed for the imperial crown. The electors preferred 

 Charles of Austria, who, with the Empire and his vast hereditary 

 possessions, threatened France on all frontiers. Only in the first war 

 were French arms entirely successful, but the conquest of Lombardy 

 was ephemeral. Defeated in the second before Pavia, Francis lingered 

 for many months a prisoner at Madrid. A third and fourth brought 

 exhaustion to both sides. 



