Book excerpt: Excerpt from Charles De Bourbon, High Constable of France, the Great Condottiere His eldest son Louis followed in his steps and greatly distinguished himself in the service of Louis XII. Was wounded at the siege of Capua and died in the prime of his noble youth. His younger brother, Charles, thus became the male heir of the Bourbon line; a position doubly assured to him later by his marriage with Suzanne de Bourbon, the heiress of the elder branch of the family. From his mother Chiara Gonzaga of Mantua, the young Prince inherited the warlike spirit and genius of a race of Condottieri at the early age of seventeen he followed Louis XII. To the siege of Genoa and already showed signs of the courage and skill which were to make him so famous in later days. At the height of his greatness and glory, we find Charles de Bourbon scarcely second in position to the King himself; holding his own Court and Parliament in the Capital of his great dominions, and so splendid in his magnificence that, at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Henry VIII. Is said to have exclaimed: If that noble were a subject of mine his head would not remain long upon his shoulders. The Duc de Bourbon was at the very summit of his pride and prosperity when he was smitten from his high estate, and there came upon him that great and terrible downfall - one of the most striking tragedies of history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.