Charles V (1500-1558)

Charles V was born in Ghent, in the Low Countries, in 1500. Son of Philip I le Beau, and Jeanne la Folle, he inherits an immense empire which makes him simultaneously Germanic Emperor, Prince of the Low Countries, King of Spain and King of Sicily. In fact, his maternal grandparents, best known under the name of the Catholic Kings, bequeath to him Aragon, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia, as well as Grenada, Castille, Navarra and the West Indies. On the paternal side, he receives from his grandmother Marie de Bourgogne, the major part of the Netherlands and Franche-Comté, and from his grandfather Maximilian of Hapsburg, Austria, Tyrol, Carinthia, Alsace and the title of Emperor of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. Through his own conquests he adds Milan, Tunis, Mexico, Peru, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia to this considerable inheritance, and reigns for nearly forty years over one of the greatest empires that ever existed. However, this immense territory is a continuous source of multiple problems and contradictions. Indeed, how is he to protect the eastern part of his Empire against the Turks of Suleiman the Magnificent, and also defend Spain against North Africa at the opposite extremity of Europe?
How can he be both King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Empire? How can the Spanish people accept him as monarch, when he speaks mainly French and Flemish? Finally, how can he be the herald of the Catholic religion while reigning, at the same time, over a large Protestant population?
Faced with the complexity of the situation and such geographical realities, Charles V opts for a roving Court and becomes as much a stranger in Spain as in Germany.
He spends the major part of his reign fighting in favour of religious unity within the boundaries of this sprawling Empire, the only means of bringing homogeneity to such a disparate territory. However he does not succeed in this task because of strong local diversities and numerous conflicts.
Finally, his power, judged excessive by many, is his greatest weakness and he abdicates two years before his death dividing his Empire between his brother, Ferdinand I and his son, Philip II. This is the origin of the two Hapsburg lineages, one reigning over Austria and Germany with Ferdinand I, and the other over Spain and the Low Countries with Philip II. The latter, unlike his father, is deeply Spanish and finally establishes a permanent court and government in this country. During his reign it will know its great political and economic Golden Century.