After Charles's election to the throne, Gattinara wrote to him: Sire, God has been very merciful to you: he has raised you above all the Kings and princes of Christendom to a power such as no sovereign has enjoyed since your ancestor Charles the Great.
Gattinara's own summation of his views included the final goal of laying the foundations for a policy that was truly imperial, leading to a general war on the infidel and heretic.