ABSTRACT
Before his victory in the Imperial election, Charles V had entered into treaties with Francis I which could be considered humiliating, including agreeing to pay the king of France 100,000 ducats a year in recognition of his rights over the kingdom of Naples. The king was reluctant to acknowledge his new position, and was concerned that Charles would travel to Italy to be crowned emperor by the pope and take over more territory while he was there. Some blamed Leo for bringing about an escalation of the war between Charles and Francis, and for re-igniting the war in Italy, rather than acting as a peacemaker. The campaign began with attempts to see if the French could be expelled from Italy the easy way, by using exiles. Charles V, his advisers and agents in Italy were ready to claim authority over the states and fiefs of Italy that were considered part of the Empire.
