the hope of a holy resurrection? Do not value your lives, as do the impious who think evilly; how little is that which you are, for you were created and formed by God out of nothing, and later you will return to nothing as if you had never been.’
Somewhat later in the introduction Charles writes: ‘For you, my successors, I have carefully written these words, founded on wisdom and the fear of God, as far as by divine help my feeble power has rendered me capable of doing so. I wish now to write to you of my vain and foolish life (de vana et stulta vita mea), and of the beginning of my passage through this world, that these writings may furnish you an example; nor will I pass in silence the grace granted me by God and that love of study which I have tenaciously preserved in my heart. You may all the more hope for divine aid in your labours, because your fathers and predecessors have well instructed you.’
Of the autobiography of Charles, the earliest parts which deal with the Italian campaign, in which he figured as a leader at the age of seventeen, are the most picturesque. King John, whose warlike ardour induced him to court adventures in all parts of Europe, had, during a visit to the Tyrol, interfered in a quarrel between the citizens of Brescia and Mastino della Scala, lord of Verona, who endeavoured to subject Brescia also to his rule. In 1330, John, who was accompanied by his son Charles, entered Brescia and was enthusiastically received by the citizens. No doubt largely in consequence of the chivalrous personality of King John, numerous Italian cities, such as Bergamo, Cremona, Parma, Modena, and others, accepted him as their ruler; and even the powerful Azzo de Visconti,
