But the country was too exhausted to meddle in the attack on Lewis which Charles, assured at any rate against English hostility, renewed in 1472 in union with the Dukes of Guienne and Britanny, and which was foiled as of old through the death of the one ally and the desertion of the other.

The failure aided in giving a turn to his policy, which was to bring about immense results on the after history of Europe.

French as he was in blood, the nature of his possessions had made Charles from the first a German prince rather than a French.

If he held of Lewis his duchy of Burgundy, his domain on the Somme, and Flanders west of the Scheldt, the mass of his dominions was held of the Empire.

While he failed too in extending his power on the one side it widened rapidly on the other.