a little, and
he accordingly ordered all his troops to return to Italy. The holy
father, Paul III., even sent money to the Protestant Elector of Saxony,
to enable him to resist the emperor, and sent ambassadors to the Turks,
to induce them to break the truce and make war upon Christendom, that
the emperor might be thus embarrassed.
Charles thus found himself, in the midst of his victories, suddenly at a
stand. He could no longer carry on offensive operations, but was
compelled to prepare for defense against the attacks with which he was
threatened on every side.
Again, the kaleidoscope of political combination received a jar, and all
was changed. The King of France died. This so embarrassed the affairs of
the confederation which Francis had organized with so much toil and
care, that Charles availed himself of it to make a sudden and vigorous
march against the Elector of Saxony. He entered his territories with an
army of thirty-three thousand men, and swept all opposition before him.
In a final and desperate battle the troops of the elector were cut to
pieces, and the elector himself, surrounded on all sides, sorely wounded
in the face and covered with blood, was taken prisoner.
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