Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Totally Explained

Everything about Holy Roman Emperor Charles V totally explained

Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556.
   As the heir of four of Europe's leading dynasties – the Trastamara of the Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragon, the Burgundian Valois of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Habsburgs of Austria – he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western and Southern Europe, as well as Castilian colonies in the Americas and Philippines.
   As the first monarch to reign in his own right over both the Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragon (from 1555) he's often considered as the first King of Spain. Upon his retirement, he divided his realms between his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand.
   He was the son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna the Mad of Castile. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, whose daughter Margaret raised him. His maternal grandparents were Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, whose marriage had first united their territories into what is now modern Spain, and whose daughter Catherine of Aragon was Queen of England and first wife of Henry VIII. His cousin was Mary I of England, who married his son Philip.

Heritage and early life

Combining the heritage of the German Habsburgs, the House of Burgundy, and the Spanish heritage of his mother, Charles transcended ethnic and national boundaries. His motto was Plus Ultra, Further Beyond.
   Charles was born in the Flemish city of Ghent (Gent)in 1500. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life. He spoke five different languages: Flemish, German, Spanish, French, and Italian. He spoke French as his mother language and Flemish from his childhood years, later adding an acceptable Spanish (which was required by the Castilian Cortes as a condition for becoming king of Castile) and some German. Indeed, he's been attributed with saying "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse."
   From his Burgundian ancestors, he inherited an ambiguous relationship with the Kings of France. Charles shared with France his mother tongue (together with Flemish) and many cultural forms. In his youth, he made frequent visits to Paris, then the largest city of Western Europe.

   In his words: "Paris isn't a city, but a universe" (Lutetia non urbs, sed orbis). But Charles also inherited the tradition of political and dynastical enmity between the Royal and the Burgundian lines of the Valois Dynasty. This conflict was amplified by his accession to both the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of Spain.
   Though Spain was the core of his kingdom, he was never totally assimilated and especially in his earlier years felt like and was viewed as a foreign prince. He couldn't speak Spanish very well, as it wasn't his primary language. Nonetheless, he spent most of his life in Spain, including his final years in a Spanish monastery.
   In his youth, Charles was tutored by Adrian of Utrecht, later Pope Adrian VI. His three most prominent subsequent advisors were Lord Chièvres, Jean Sauvage and Mercurino Gattinara.

Marriage and children

On 10 March, 1526, Charles married his first cousin Isabella of Portugal, sister of John III of Portugal.
Their children included:

Philip II of Spain (1527 - 1598), the only son to reach adulthood.
Maria of Spain (1528 - 1603), who married her cousin Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Joan of Spain (1535 - 1573)

Charles also had several mistresses (courted them before and after his marriage to Isabella). Two of them gave birth to two future Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands:

Johanna Maria van der Gheynst bore Margaret of Parma and

Barbara Blomberg bore John of Austria.

Reign

Burgundy and the Low Countries

In 1506, Charles inherited his father's Burgundian territories, most notably the Low Countries and Franche-Comté, most of which were fiefs of the German empire, except his birthplace Flanders that was -on paper- still a French fief, a last remnant of what had been a powerful player in the hundred years war. As he was a minor, his aunt Margaret acted as regent until 1515 and soon she found herself in war with the regent of the king of France over the question whether Charles would have to do homage to the French king for Flanders as his father had done. The outcome was that France relinquished its ancient but empty claim on Flanders in 1528.
   Charles extended the Burgundian territory with the annexation of Tournai, Artois, Utrecht, Groningen and Guelders. The Seventeen Provinces had been unified by Charles' Burgundian ancestors, but nominally were fiefs of either France or the Holy Roman Empire. In 1549, Charles issued a Pragmatic Sanction, declaring the Low Countries to be a unified entity of which his family would be the heirs.. On the other hand, in 1502, the Aragonese Cortes gathered in Saragossa, alleged oath to his mother Joanna as heiress, but the Archbishop of Saragossa expressed firmly that this oath couldn't establish jurisprudence, that's to say, without modifying the right of the succession, but by virtue of a formal agreement between the Cortes and the King. So, with the death of his grandfather, the king of Aragon Ferdinand II on January 23 1516, his mather Joanna inherited the Crown of Aragon, which consisted of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia; while himself, he became General Governador. Nevertheless, the Flemings wished that Carlos assumed the royal title, and this was supported by his grandfather the emperor Maximilian I and the Pope Leo X, this way, after the celebration Ferdinand II's obsequies on March 14 1516, he was proclaimed as king of Castile and of Aragon jointly with his mother. Finally, the Castilian regent, Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros accepted the fait accompli, he acceded to Charles's desire to be proclaimed king, and he imposed his statement along the kingdom. Thus, the cities were recognizing Charles as king jointly with his mother.
   For the first time the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united in same kings, since Isabella wasn't sovereign queen in Aragon.
   Charles arrived in his new kingdoms in autumn of 1517. His regent Jiménez de Cisneros came to meet him, but fell ill along the way, not without a suspicion of poison, and died before meeting the King.
   Due to the irregularity of assuming the royal title, when his mother, the legitimate queen, was alive the negotiations with the Castilian Cortes in Valladolid (1518) proved difficult, and in the end Charles was accepted under the following conditions: he'd learn to speak Castilian; he wouldn't appoint foreigners; he was prohibited from taking precious metals from Castile; and he'd respect the rights of his mother, Queen Joanna. The Cortes paid homage to him in Valladolid in February 1518. After this, the king departed to the kingdom of Aragon, and he managed to submit the resistance of the Aragonese Cortes and Catalan Cortes also, and finally he was recognized king of Aragon jointly with his mother.
   Charles was accepted as sovereign, even though the Spanish felt uneasy with the Imperial style. Spanish monarchs until then had been bound by the laws; the monarchy was a contract with the people. With Charles it would become more absolute, even though until his mother's death in 1555 Charles didn't hold the full kingship of the country.
   Soon resistance against the Emperor rose, because of the heavy taxation (funds that were used to fight wars abroad, wars most Castilians had no interest in) and because Charles tended to select Flemings for high offices in Spain and America, ignoring Castilian candidates. The resistance culminated in the Castilian War of the Communities, which was suppressed by Charles. After this, Castile became integrated into the Habsburg empire, and would provide the bulk of the empire's military and financial resources.

America

During Charles' reign, the territories in New Spain were considerably extended by conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, who caused the Aztec and Inca empires to fall in little more than a decade. Combined with the Magellan expedition's circumnavigation of the globe in 1522, these successes convinced Charles of his divine mission to become the leader of a Christian world that still perceived a significant threat from Islam. Of course, the conquests also helped solidify Charles' rule by providing the state treasury with enormous amounts of bullion. As the conquistador Bernal Diaz observed: "We came to serve God and our Majesty, ... and also to get rich."

Humanism and Reformation

As Holy Roman Emperor, he called Martin Luther to the Diet of Worms in 1521, promising him safe conduct if he'd appear. He initially dismissed Luther's idea of reformation as "An argument between monks". He later outlawed Luther and his followers in that same year but was tied up with other concerns and unable to take action against Protestantism. 1524 to 1526 saw the Peasants' Revolt in Germany and in 1531 the formation of the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League. Charles delegated increasing responsibility for Germany to his brother Ferdinand while he concentrated on problems elsewhere.
In 1545, the opening of the Council of Trent began the Counter-Reformation, and Charles won to the Catholic cause some of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1546, he'd the outlawed the Schmalkaldic League (which had occupied the territory of another prince). He drove the League's troops out of southern Germany and at the Battle of Mühlberg defeated John Frederick, Elector of Saxony and imprisoned Philip of Hesse in 1547. At the Augsburg Interim in 1548 he created an interim solution giving certain allowances to Protestants until the Council of Trent would restore unity. However, Protestants mostly resented the Interim and some actively opposed it. Protestant princes, in alliance with Henry II of France, rebelled against Charles in 1552, which caused Charles to retreat to the Netherlands.

Health

Charles suffered from an enlarged lower jaw, a deformity which got considerably worse in later Habsburg generations. He struggled to chew his food properly and consequently experienced bad indigestion for much of his life. As a result, he usually ate alone. He suffered from epilepsy and joint pain, presumed to be gout, according to his 16th century doctors. In his retirement, he was carried around the monastery of St. Yuste in a sedan chair. A ramp was specially constructed to allow him easy access to his rooms..
Charles died on 21 September, 1558 from fatal malaria. Twenty-six years later, his remains were transferred to the Royal Pantheon of The Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Titles

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Titular Duke of Burgundy as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Duke of Brabant as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Duke of Limburg as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Duke of Lothier as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Duke of Luxemburg as Charles III

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Margrave of Namur as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count Palatine of Burgundy as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Artois as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Charolais as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Flanders as Charles III

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Hainault as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Holland as Charles II

25 September 1506–16 January 1556: Count of Zeeland as Charles II

12 September 1543–16 January 1556: Duke of Guelders as Charles III

12 September 1543–16 January 1556: Count of Zutphen as Charles II

14 March 1516–16 January 1556: King of Castile and Leon as Charles I (with Joanna, 14 March 1516 – 12 April 1555)

14 March 1516–16 January 1556: King of Aragon and Sicily as Charles I (with Joanna, 14 March 1516 – 12 April 1555)

14 March 1516–1554: King of Naples as Charles IV (with Joanna, 14 March 1516 – 12 April 1555)

: 28 June 1519–24 February 1530: King of the Romans and Holy Roman Emperor elect

12 January 1519–1521: Archduke of Austria as Charles I

Arms

Charles V in literature and popular culture There are few figures about whom as many traces have survived half a millennium, in both literature and living minds. Those traces comprise a large number of legends and folk tales that can often be attributed to phantasy, as well as the literary renderings of historical events connected to Charles' life and romantic adventures, his relationship to Flanders, and his abdication.

In De heerelycke ende vrolycke daeden van Keyser Carel den V, published by Joan de Grieck in 1674, the short stories, anecdotes, citations attributed to the emperor, and legends about his encounters with famous and ordinary people, depict a noble Christian monarch with a perfect cosmopolitan personality and a strong sense of humour. Converesely, in Charles De Coster's masterpiece Thyl Ulenspiegel (1867), Charles V is after his death consigned to Hell as punishment for the acts of the Inquisition under his rule, his punishment being that he'd feel the pain of anyone tortured by the Inquisition. De Coster's book also mentions the story on the spectacles in the coat of arms of Oudenaarde, the one about a paysant of Berchem in Het geuzenboek (1979) by Louis Paul Boon, while Abraham Hans (1882–1939) included both tales in De liefdesavonturen van keizer Karel in Vlaanderen.

Lord Byron's Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte refers to Charles as "The Spaniard".

Ernst Krenek's opera Karl V (opus 73, 1930) examines the title character's career via flashbacks.

In the third act of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Ernani, the coronation of Charles as Holy Roman Emperor is presented. Charles (Don Carlo in the opera) prays before the tomb of Charlemagne. With the announcement that that he's elected as Carlo Quinto he declares an amnesty including the eponymous bandit Ernani who had followed him there to murder him as a rival for the love of the soprano. The opera, based on the Victor Hugo play, portrays Charles as a callous and cynical adventurer whose character is transformed by the election into a responsible and clement ruler.

In another Verdi opera, Don Carlo, the final scene implies that it's Charles V, now living the last years of his life as a hermit, who rescues his grandson, Don Carlo, from his father Philip II and the Inquisition, by taking him with him in his hermitage at the monastery in Yuste.

In The Maltese Falcon, the title object is said to have been an intended gift to Charles V.

A well known Flemish legend about Charles being served a beer at the village of Olen, as well as the emperor's lifelong preference of beer above wine, led to the naming of several beer varieties in his honor. The Haacht Brewery of Boortmeerbeek produces Charles Quint, while the Het Anker Brewery at Mechelen produces Gouden Carolus.

In the episode of The Simpsons, Margical History Tour, Homer Simpson portrays Henry VIII who, wanting to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon said "I can't cut off her head because her dad's the King of Spain." This is a reference to why the real Henry VIII couldn't behead his first wife. In real life, Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon, not Charles V, the then King of Spain.

Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor (Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer) is a beer by Brouwerij Het Anker in Mechelen, Belgium. It is brewed once a year on Charles V's birthday.

In the 2003 film Luther, he's portrayed by Torben Liebrecht.Further Information

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