Emperor Charles V a7id his Vast Realms 571 It would be wearisome and unprofitable to follow the at- tempts of the French to get a foothold in Milan. Suffice it to say, that Charles VIII soon died and that his successor Louis XII laid claim to the duchy of Milan in the north as well as to Naples in the south. But he concluded to sell his claim to Fig. 206. Francis I Naples to Ferdinand of Aragon and centered his attention on holding Milan, but did not succeed in his purpose, largely owing to the opposition of the Pope. Francis I, who came to the French throne in 1 5 1 5 at the age of twenty, is one of the most famous of the French kings. He was gracious and chivalrous in his ideas of conduct, and his proudest title was " the gentleman king." Like his contempo- raries, Pope Leo X, son of Lorenzo de' Medici, and Henry VIII of England, he helped artists and men of letters and was interested in fine buildings (Fig. 207).
