He  had  promised  his  brother,  whose  fidelity  to  him  through  all  the  com-
plications of  his  Italian  affairs  had  been  unshaken, — who,  feeble  as  were  his
resources,  was  ever  ready  to  come  to  his  aid,  and  who  had  been  his  most
useful  ally, — to  confer  upon  him  the  dignity  of  king  of  the  Romans.  The
attempts  to  transfer  this  dignity  to  another  house — attempts  continually
renewed  and  not  without  danger — must,  he  said,  be  put  an  end  to.  The
fitting  moment  was  now  arrived  ;  they  must  take  advantage  of  this  full
tide  of  power  and  victory.
It  had  likewise  become  absolutely  necessary  to  take  effectual  measures
against  the  Turks.  Recent  events  had  shown  the  Germans  that  not
Hungary  alone,  but  their  own  Fatherland  was  at  stake  ;  the  imminence
of  the  danger  would  render  them  more  compliant.  This  was  an  indispen-
sable condition  to  the  stability  of  the  house  of  Austria.
Yet  he  distinctly  felt  that  this  state  of  things  would  not  be  permanent.
1  Protest  of  the  30th  July,  1530,  in  the  Coblentz  Archives.
2  Bucholtz,  iii.  92.     Note.
Chap.  IX.]  DIET  OF  AUGSBURG  595

During  his  stay  in  Italy,  a  pacific  demeanour — not  indeed  at  variance
with  his  disposition,  which  rather  inclined  that  way,  but  contrary  to  his
original  intentions — had  been  imposed  upon  him  by  the  state  of  things.
