The peace that had prevailed in Europe…

June 1519 CE

The peace that had prevailed in Europe after the Battle of Marignano had by 1518 begun to crumble.

The major powers (France, England, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire) are outwardly friendly, having pledged, by the Treaty of London, to come to the aid of any of the signatories that is attacked and to combine against any nation that broke the peace.

They are divided, however, on the question of the Imperial succession.

The Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, intending for a Habsburg to succeed him, had begun to campaign on behalf of his grandson Charles—now Carlos I of Spain— while Francis of France has put himself forward as an alternate candidate.

At the same time, the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire are forced to deal with the rising influence of Martin Luther, who finds support among some Imperial nobles, while Francis is faced with Cardinal Wolsey, who interposes himself into the quarrels of the continent in an attempt to increase both England's influence and his own.

Maximilian's death in January 1519 has brought the Imperial election to the forefront of European politics.

He has bequeathed to his grandson Charles the hereditary lands of the House of Habsburg with adjoining Burgundian lands as well as the disputed claim to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

To secure his essential investments in the House of Habsburg, the wealthy banker Jakob Fugger decides to support the election of the nineteen-year-old claimant to the throne.

In addition to Charles, Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, and Elector Frederick III of Saxony have announced their candidacies.

Pope Leo X, threatened by the presence of Spanish troops a mere forty miles from the Vatican, supports the French candidacy.

The prince-electors themselves, with the exception of Frederick of Saxony, who refuses to countenance the campaigning, promise their support to both candidates at once.

Before his death, Maximilian had already promised sums of five hundred thousand florins to the Electors in exchange for their votes, but Francis offers up to three million.

Francis had already secured the votes of the Archdiocese of Trier and the Electorate of the Palatinate as well as offering a sum of three hundred thousand guilders of election money.

The Prince-electors consist of the three archbishoprics of Mainz, Cologne and Trier in addition to the King of Bohemia, the Electorate of the Palatinate, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the Duke of Saxony.

Francis had already secured the votes of the Archdiocese of Trier and the Electorate of the Palatinate as well as offering a sum of three hundred thousand guilders of election money.

This is a difficult situation for Charles, who now relies on the financial capacity of Jakob Fugger to still be able to swerve the election in his favor.

Fugger transfers the enormous sum of more than eight hundred and fifty thousand guilders to the Prince-electors, out of which Fugger himself funds around five hundred and fifty thousand of the total sum, while another merchant house of Augsburg, the Welser family, contributes about one hundred and fifty thousand and three Italian bankers provide the rest.

What today would be seen as bribery is common practice in the election of the Emperor.

Exceptional, however, is the immense amount of money involved in this particular case, mainly due to the uncertainty in the outcome of the election.