James Edwin Thorold Rogers

“ Now what could a wild headstrong duke, who took counsel with nothing but his own passions, and turned everything to the objects of his personal ambition, do against this cool, crafty, perfidious monarch, on whom no law, human or divine, had any binding force, who saw so clearly through his rival’s designs and could turn even his successes against him? The French nobles stirred up the war of the Public good, and Charles took their part. ”

“ The end of no person in that age was more tragic. He seemed at one time to be the foremost man in Europe.
Louis the Crafty at once despoiled his daughter of her French possessions, and wished to get the guardianship of her and her patrimony in the Netherlands. But the Netherlanders knew the old fox too well by this time. They thought that they might recover their liberties from her; they knew that his rule would be even worse than that of Charles. ”

“ At first, Charles the Headstrong treated his Flemish subjects with greater kindness than any of their previous overlords. His father, as has been stated above, declared himself free from the obligations of his predecessors, and from the conditions under which he had entered into their inheritance. There is little doubt that the emissaries of Louis the Crafty stirred up the Netherlanders to demand the restoration of their privileges. He wished to find his most dangerous enemy employment, and to prevent him from meddling again in the affairs of France. But at first Charles disappointed him. ”