Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles I of Spain

24.2.1500 - 21.9.1558

Emperor in 1519-56, Spanish king in 1516-56, from the Habsburg dynasty. In 1506 he inherited Burgundy and the Netherlands from his father Philip the Fair (son of Maximilian I), in 1516 from his grandfather Ferdinand the Catholic - the Spanish crown, and in 1519 he was elected emperor. Charles V subordinated his entire policy to the implementation of the reactionary program of creating a “worldwide Christian monarchy,” making militant Catholicism his banner. The absolutist policy of Charles V in Spain and the Netherlands gave rise to a number of uprisings (the Revolt of the Comuneros of 1520-22 and others in Spain, the Ghent Uprising of 1539-40 in the Netherlands). Charles V fought numerous wars with France, the Habsburgs' main rival in Europe, as well as with the Ottoman Empire. Having stopped the advance of Turkish troops into the Habsburg possessions in the war of 1532-33, he took Tunisia from the vassal of the Ottoman Empire in 1535, but was defeated in Algeria (1541). Under him, Spanish possessions in America were also significantly expanded. In Germany, in the fight against the Reformation, he issued the Edict of Worms 1521 against Luther. He defeated the German Protestant princes in the Schmalkalden War of 1546-48, but in a new war that began in 1552, he suffered a severe defeat and was forced to conclude the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555; then renounced the Spanish crown (he handed over the Spanish throne and the Netherlands to his son Philip II) and the imperial throne (in favor of his brother Ferdinand I).

Charles V of Habsburg was born in 1500 into the family of Philip of Burgundy and the Spanish Infanta Juana. The father of the future emperor, heir and son of Mary of Burgundy, spent most of his time in his Spanish possessions, while the growing Charles lived in the Netherlands. When Philip I the Fair died in 1506, and his wife Juana went mad, young Charles was entrusted to be raised by his aunt Margaret of Austria. At the age of 15, Charles assumed his first official title - the title of Duke of Burgundy in the Netherlands.

Charles V had a huge state at his disposal even at a tender age. Thanks to the merger of dynastic lines, the emperor inherited most of the Netherlands (Brabant, Holland, Zealand and Burgundy) from his father; Spain from grandmother Isabella of Castile; Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples - from the grandfather of Ferdinand II of Aragon. In addition, Charles became the owner of the territory of the Holy Roman Empire - from his paternal grandfather Maximilian I.

Charles V is considered the largest statesman in Europe in the first half of the 16th century, because. under his hand, the territories that belonged to Isabella (Castile) and Ferdinand II (Aragon) were united for the first time into a single state. Charles V is also the last formally proclaimed Roman Emperor.

After the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1516, Charles inherited not only the Aragonese possessions, but also custody of Castile. On March 14, 1516, he proclaimed himself king of Castile and Aragon, which immediately caused a revolt - the uprising of the comuneros in Castile. The rioters reminded the arrogant emperor that his mother Juana, who was declared incompetent and lived in a monastery, had more rights to govern the state. Karl agreed with the opinions of the protesters in order to drown out the riot. Subsequently, despite the fact that he owned all of Spain, he was officially considered the king of Aragon, and in Castile - the regent of his mother. Only his son, Philip II, was the first to bear the title “King of Spain”.

On June 28, 1519, Charles was unanimously elected emperor by the college of German electors in Frankfurt, and on October 23, 1520, he was proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor and crowned in Aachen. One of the notable achievements of the new emperor was that during his reign one of the most complete codes of criminal legislation of the 16th century was compiled. The Criminal Code, approved by Charles V and subsequently called the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, was adopted in 1532. It was a procedural code, because. 77 of 219 articles were devoted to substantive criminal law. Due to the particular cruelty of the punishments, the Code ceased to apply by the end of the 18th century.

Military policy

France

The first ill-wisher towards Charles V, who concentrated too large territories in his hands, was France. The constant opposition between the emperor and his neighbors resulted in a war for influence in Italy. The bloodshed began with France, which put forward its dynastic claims to Milan and Naples in 1522. After a couple of years of tense atmosphere and unfriendly negotiations with Charles, the latter’s troops crossed the Alps and invaded Provence, besieging Marseille. In 1525, two 30,000-strong armies met in the south of Milan, in opposition to which Charles V defeated the French and even captured King Francis I. On January 14, 1526, Francis was forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid, according to which Charles was the sole ruler Italy, as well as the feudal overlord of Artois and Flanders.

Two sons of the French king remained hostages in Charles's army. Despite this, as soon as Francis received his freedom, he immediately declared the Treaty of Madrid invalid, and already on May 22, 1526 he organized the League of Cognac against the enemy, which was joined by Florence, Milan, Venice, the Pope and England. Francis's active actions provoked a new military conflict in Italy. After Charles's many victories, the imperial army sacked Rome in May 1527. This forced Charles to make peace with King Henry VIII of England and, in 1529, with Pope Clement VII. According to the Treaty of Cambria, Francis had to pay 2 million gold ecus for the ransom of his two sons, of which 1.2 million had to be paid immediately.

Ottoman Empire

Nicknamed “God’s Standard Bearer,” which corresponded to the image of Charles V, the defender of Christianity, the emperor fought with Turkey. At the end of 1529, Türkiye landed its troops in Vienna, already having conquered Hungary behind it. However, unfavorable climatic conditions forced the Turkish army to retreat empty-handed. Taking advantage of the break in the war, the Holy Roman Emperor sent a fleet to the shores of Tunisia in 1535. Charles's fleet took the city without much effort, freeing thousands of enslaved Christians. A Spanish garrison was left here and a fortress was erected to protect against attacks from the Turks. In 1538, Christians were again confronted by the Turkish fleet, built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, which meant complete Turkish control over all ships in the Mediterranean. When Charles tried to take Algeria in 1541, his ships were scattered across the sea by a sudden storm. Having failed to achieve a final victory for the Christians, Charles signed a truce with the Ottoman Empire for a period of 5 years. At this time, the Habsburgs had to pay tribute to Suleiman the Magnificent, since he continued to threaten Charles's possessions in Spain, Italy and even Austria.

Germany

Guided by a high purpose To restore the religious unity of the empire, Charles periodically intervened in the affairs of the German rulers. A clear sign of the collapse of the state was the War of Knights of 1522-1523, marked by an attack by Lutheran aristocrats on the lands that belonged to the Trier archbishop and elector. An unexpected blow for Germany was the Peasants' War in 1524-1525, in which Charles fought mercilessly with the Lutheran League of Schmalkalden. A year after the death of Martin Luther, on April 24, 1547, on the Elbe, Charles's troops under the command of the Duke of Alba won a major victory.

Abdication

Realizing the futility of the idea of ​​​​building a pan-European empire, Charles V in 1555, after the conclusion of the Augsburg religious peace, abandoned the Netherlands in favor of his son Philip. On January 16 of the following year, also in favor of the heir, he renounced the Spanish crown and gave up his possessions in Spain, Italy and the New World. After Charles' abdication, the electors elected Ferdinand emperor only in February 1558. Around this time, the former emperor retired to a monastery, where he spent the rest of his days. After himself, Charles left a son, King Philip II of Spain, and two daughters, Maria of Spain (wife of Emperor Maximilian II) and Juana of Austria. They were all children of Charles V by his cousin Isabella of Portugal, whom the emperor married in 1526. Due to the fact that the marriage was one of the first incestuous marriages in the dynasty, it led to the degeneration of the Habsburg family. After Isabella's death, Charles did not marry again, although he had many mistresses, from whom the future ruler of the Netherlands, Margaret of Parma, and another son of Charles, Juan of Austria, were born.

Hero Swords:

Charles V is the last emperor to be officially crowned by the Pope, and he is also the last emperor to celebrate a triumph in Rome.

Spanish Carlos I (V), lat. Carolus V, Dutch Karel V, German Karl V.
Spanish king and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Emperor October 23 (self-proclamation) - August 27
Coronation	24 February
Predecessor	Maximilian I
Successor	Ferdinand I
King of united Castile and Aragon January 27 - January 16 (under the name Carlos I)
Coronation	March 4
Predecessor	Juana I the Mad
Successor	Philip II
Archduke of Austria January 12 - April 28 (under the name Charles I)
Predecessor	Maximilian I
Successor	Ferdinand I
Religion	Roman Catholic Church
Birth	24 February
Death	September 21(58 years old) Juste, Kingdom of Castile and Leon
Burial place	Royal crypt in the monastery of El Escorial [d] Escorial
Genus	Habsburgs
Father	Philip I the Fair
Mother	Juana I the Mad
Spouse	Isabella of Portugal
Children	Philip II, Mary of Spain and Juana of Austria
Autograph
Awards
Charles V at Wikimedia Commons

Origin

Lands of Charles V

Thanks to the crossing of dynastic lines, Charles inherited vast territories in Western, Southern and Central Europe, which had never been united until now:

• from father, Philip: Burgundian Netherlands, Luxembourg, Artois, Franche-Comté
• from mother, Juana the Mad: Castile, Leon, Andalusia, Canary Islands and West Indies
• from maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon: Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Roussillon, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Balearic Islands
• from paternal grandfather Maximilian I: Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol.

In addition to the hereditary ones, he also annexed the following lands: Geldern, Lombardy, Tunisia, New Granada, New Spain, Peru and a number of other lands.

None of the European monarchs, either before or after, had so many titles. Charles alone formally had more than a dozen royal crowns - he was simultaneously the king of Leon, Castile, Valencia, Aragon, Galicia, Seville, Majorca, Granada, Navarre, Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Croatia, etc., as well as the king of Germany, Italy and others. Burgundy and titular king of Jerusalem.

Early life and first titles

Duke of Burgundy

He called himself complex: “The elected Emperor of Christendom and Rome, ever Augustus, as well as the Catholic King of Germany, Spain and all the kingdoms belonging to our Castilian and Aragonese crowns, as well as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the Indies, the Antipodes of the New World, land in the Sea-Ocean, the Straits of the Antarctic Pole and many other islands of both the Far East and the West, and so on; Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Geldern and others; Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy, Count Palatine of Gennegau, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Roussillon, Cerdanya, Zutphen, Margrave of Oristania and Gotziania, Sovereign of Catalonia and many other kingdoms in Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa, lord and so on.”

Election of the Emperor, reforms

Wars and foreign policy of Charles

With France

France feared the concentration of vast territories in the hands of Charles. Charles and King Francis I of France had a lot of controversial issues. Charles laid claim to the Duchy of Burgundy and demanded the return of Milan to the Sforza family. Francis patronized the king of Navarre and unofficially supported him in the war for the lost Navarrese territories. All these private mutual claims, however, only expressed the desire of both countries for hegemony on the European continent.

Open confrontation began in 1521, when imperial troops invaded northern France and the French moved their troops to the aid of the Navarrese king. The Spanish army defeated the Navarrese and regained Pamplona. In northern France, after the destruction of several small towns and the capture of Tournai by the end of the year, Charles still had to retreat. Charles's main achievement, however, was a diplomatic victory: he managed to persuade the Pope and the English king to an alliance. In November 1521 the French were driven out of Milan, and in April of the following year they were completely defeated at Bicocca. At the same time, the British attacked Brittany and Picardy. In 1523, Venice, an ally of France, withdrew from the war. The French kingdom found itself in a difficult situation.

After the death of Francis I, his son, Henry II, entered into an alliance with German Protestants and attacked Lorraine, conquered Toul and Verdun, and occupied Nancy. Thus, hostilities against France continued until Charles’ abdication of the throne. The peace treaty of Cateau-Cambresis was signed already during the reign of Philip II.

With the Ottoman Empire

In the guise of a defender of Christianity (for which Charles was nicknamed “God’s Standard Bearer”), he fought against Turkey. At the end of 1529, Turkish troops besieged Vienna, already having conquered Hungary behind them. But the coming winter forced them to retreat. In 1532, the Turks also left the Köszeg fortress in western Hungary with nothing. Taking advantage of the break in the war, Charles sent a fleet to the shores of Tunisia in 1535. Charles's fleet took the city and freed thousands of enslaved Christians. A fortress was erected here and a Spanish garrison was left there. However, this victory was negated by the outcome of the Battle of Preveza (in Epirus) in 1538, when the Christians were confronted by the Turkish fleet rebuilt by Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent. The Turks now once again dominated the Mediterranean (until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571).

In 1541, Charles tried to take Algeria with the help of the fleet, but the ships were scattered across the sea by a sudden storm. Taking advantage of the Turkish-Persian conflict, in 1545 Charles signed a truce with the Sultan, and then peace (1547) for a period of five years. The Habsburgs even had to pay tribute to Suleiman, since he constantly threatened Charles's possessions in Spain and Italy, as well as in Austria.

In Germany

Trying to restore the religious unity of his empire (Martin Luther expressed his ideas back in 1517), Charles actively intervened in the affairs of the German rulers. Signs of the collapse of the First Reich were: the so-called. The War of Knights of 1522-1523, when an alliance of Lutheran aristocrats attacked the lands belonging to the Archbishop of Trier and the Elector, and the Peasants' War of 1524-1525. Charles fought with the Lutheran League of Schmalkalden. On April 24, 1547 - a year after Luther's death - at Mühlberg (on the Elbe), Charles's troops, commanded by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, won a major victory. However, forced to spend people and money on the Italian wars and many other matters, the emperor was unable to stop the growth of separatism in Germany, the spread of Protestantism there and the looting of the property of the Catholic Church by Protestants. His brother Ferdinand was forced to conclude the Peace of Augsburg with the Protestant princes.

Navigation and exploration of America

Spain under Charles V continued to play a leading role in the Great Discovery, organizing Magellan's expedition in 1519 to find a western route to spice-rich Southeast Asia. During his reign, the most important events of the Conquista took place - the conquest of Mexico by Cortez and the Inca Empire by Pizarro. From the mid-16th century, the flow of precious metals brought across the Atlantic from the mines of Chile and Mexico became an important support for the policies of Charles V and his Spanish heirs, making it possible to pay for numerous wars.

Retirement

Disillusioned with the idea of ​​​​building a pan-European empire, after the conclusion of the Religious Peace of Augsburg, Charles abandoned the Netherlands on October 25, 1555 in favor of his son Philip. On January 16, 1556, he, also in favor of Philip, resigned the Spanish crown, including giving Spain possessions in Italy and the New World. Although Charles expressed a desire to renounce imperial power as early as 1556, the electors accepted his abdication and elected Ferdinand emperor only in February 1558. The former emperor retired to the Yuste monastery near Cáceres (Extremadura), where he spent the rest of his life. He was buried in the royal tomb of Escorial.

Marriage and offspring

• Philip II (21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598), King of Spain
• Maria (June 21, 1528 - February 26, 1603) - wife of Emperor Maximilian II from 1548.
• Isabella (1529)
• Ferdinand (November 22, 1529 – July 13, 1530)
• stillborn son (29 June 1534)
• Juana (June 26, 1535 - September 7, 1573) - wife from 1552

Charles was the son of Duke Philip of Burgundy and the Spanish Infanta Juana. He was born in his father's domain, in the city of Ghent. The father, who inherited the Castilian crown from his mother-in-law, spent a lot of time in the Spanish possessions. Karl remained to live in the Netherlands. Soon Philip died and Juana went crazy. Until the age of 17, Karl lived under the patronage of his aunt, Margaret of Austria, ruler of the Netherlands. Until his death, he maintained a tender relationship with her. He was sick.

Lands of Charles V

Thanks to the crossing of dynastic lines, Charles inherited vast territories in Western, Southern and Central Europe, which had never been united until now:

• from paternal grandfather Maximilian I: crown of the Holy Roman Emperor, Austria, Styria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Western Austria, Tyrol, Istria, etc.
• from father, Philip: Brabant, Holland, Zealand, Burgundy, Franche-Comté and so on.
• the lands annexed by him: Tunisia, Luxembourg, Artois, Charolais, Piacenza, New Granada, New Spain, Peru, the Philippines and a number of other lands.
• from mother, Juana Mad: Castile, Leon, Granada, Canaries, Ceuta and the West Indies
• from maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon: Aragon, Lombardy, Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Morea and Roussillon

Early life and first titles

Duke of Burgundy

At the age of 15 (1515), Charles, at the insistence of the Burgundian states, assumed the title of Duke of Burgundy in the Netherlands.

King of Spain

In fact, Spain was first united under the hand of Charles. A generation earlier, it was divided into territories belonging to two rulers, Isabella (Kingdom of Castile) and Ferdinand II (Kingdom of Aragon). The marriage of these two monarchs did not unite Spain, each part retained its independence, and each sovereign ruled it independently, but the foundation for the future unification was laid. Isabella of Castile died in 1504. After her death, Castile did not go to her husband, but went to her daughter, Juana the Mad, mother of Charles. Since Juana was incapacitated, her husband Philip ruled for her, and after Philip's death, her father, Ferdinand II, ruled as regent.

Ferdinand died in 1516. Charles inherited from his grandfather both his Aragonese possessions and custody of the Castilian territories (Juana the Mad was still alive. She would die in the monastery only three years before Charles). However, Charles did not declare himself regent of Castile, but preferred full power. On March 14, 1516, he proclaimed himself king of Castile and Aragon.

An attempt to confront the country with a fait accompli caused a revolt (the so-called uprising of the Comuneros in Castile, 1520-1522). A meeting of the Castilian Cortes in Valladolid reminded him that a mother imprisoned in a monastery has more rights than a son. In the end, Charles reached an agreement in negotiations with the Cortes. Juana formally remained Queen of Castile.

De facto, Charles was the first ruler of a united Spain in 1516-1556, although only his son Philip II was the first to bear the title “King of Spain”. Charles himself was officially king of Aragon (as Charles I, Spanish Carlos I, 1516-1556), and in Castile he was regent for his mother Juana the Mad, declared incompetent after the death of her father Charles, Archduke Philip (1516-1555) and then king for one year (1555-1556).

He called himself complex: “The elected Emperor of Christendom and the Roman, ever Augustus, as well as the Catholic King of Germany, Spain and all the kingdoms belonging to our Castilian and Aragonese crowns, as well as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the Indies, the Antipodes of the New World, land in the Sea-Ocean, the Straits of the Antarctic Pole and many other islands of both the Far East and the West, and so on; Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Geldern and others; Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy, Count Palatine of Gennegau, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Roussillon, Cerdanya, Zutphen, Margrave of Oristania and Gotziania, Sovereign of Catalonia and many other kingdoms in Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa, lord and so on.”

Election of the Emperor, reforms

On June 28, 1519, the college of German electors in Frankfurt unanimously elected Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor. On October 23, 1520, Charles was crowned in Aachen. During the reign of Charles V, a criminal code was drawn up, which later became known as the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (C.C.C.; German. Peinliche Gerichtsordnung Karl's V- P.G.O.).

Constitutio Criminalis Carolina is one of the most comprehensive codes of criminal law of the 16th century. It was adopted in 1532. It is a procedural code, 77 of its 219 articles are devoted to substantive criminal law. In its content, Caroline occupies a middle ground between Roman and German law. The Code was distinguished by its particularly cruel punishment. Operated until the end of the 18th century.

Charles's Wars

With France

France feared the concentration of vast territories in the hands of Charles. Their confrontation resulted in a struggle for influence in Italy. The confrontation began with France, which put forward dynastic claims to Milan and Naples in 1522. The claims were backed up by troops. In 1524, imperial troops crossed the Alps, invaded Provence and besieged Marseille. In 1525, two 30,000-strong armies met at Pavia (south of Milan). Charles defeated the French army and even captured the French king Francis I. Charles forced the captive king to sign the Treaty of Madrid (January 14, 1526), ​​which recognized Charles' claims to Italy, as well as his rights as a feudal overlord to Artois and Flanders. Francis's two sons remained hostage. However, as soon as the king managed to gain freedom, he declared the treaty invalid and on May 22, 1526 founded the Cognac League against Charles (including Florence, Milan, Venice, the Pope and England). Again the conflict took place in Italy. After Charles's victories, the imperial army sacked Rome in May 1527. In 1528, Charles made peace with King Henry VIII of England, and in 1529 with Pope Clement VII. According to the Treaty of Cumbria in May 1529, the ransom for the two French princes was set at 2 million gold ecus, of which 1.2 million were to be paid immediately.

With the Ottoman Empire

In the guise of a defender of Christianity (for which Charles was nicknamed “God’s Standard Bearer”), he fought with Turkey. At the end of 1529, the Turks besieged Vienna, already having conquered Hungary behind them. But the coming winter forced them to retreat. In 1532, the Turks also left the Köszeg fortress in western Hungary with nothing. Taking advantage of the break in the war, Charles sent a fleet to the shores of Tunisia in 1535. Charles's fleet took the city and freed thousands of enslaved Christians. A fortress was erected here and a Spanish garrison was left there. However, this victory was negated by the outcome of the Battle of Preveza (Epirus) in 1538, when the Christians were confronted by the Turkish fleet rebuilt by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Now the Turks again controlled the movement of ships in the Mediterranean Sea (until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571).

In 1541, Charles tried to take Algeria with the help of the fleet, but the ships were scattered across the sea by a sudden storm. Taking advantage of the Turkish-Persian conflict, a truce was signed with the Ottoman Empire in 1545, and then peace (1547) for a period of five years. The Habsburgs even had to pay tribute to Suleiman, since he constantly threatened Charles's possessions in Spain and Italy, as well as in Austria.

In Germany

Trying to restore the religious unity of his empire (Martin Luther expressed his ideas back in 1517), Charles actively intervened in the internal affairs of the German rulers. Signs of the collapse of the power were the so-called. The War of Knights of 1522-1523, when an alliance of Lutheran aristocrats attacked the lands belonging to the Trier archbishop and elector, and the Peasants' War of 1524-1525. Charles fought with the Lutheran League of Schmalkalden. On April 24, 1547 (a year after Luther's death) at Mühlberg (on the Elbe), Charles's troops, commanded by the Duke of Alba, won a major victory.

Abdication and return to Spain

Disillusioned with the idea of ​​​​building a pan-European empire, after the conclusion of the Religious Peace of Augsburg, Charles abandoned the Netherlands on October 25, 1555 in favor of his son Philip. On January 16, 1556, he, also in favor of Philip, resigned the Spanish crown, including giving Spain possessions in Italy and the New World. Although Charles expressed a desire to renounce imperial power as early as 1556, the electors accepted his abdication and elected Ferdinand emperor only in February 1558. The former emperor retired to a monastery.

Death

Legends

Charles V in art

In literature

Charles the Fifth, under the name Don Carlos, is one of the main characters in the play Hernani by Victor Hugo.

Quotes

• “I speak Latin with God, French with women and German with my horse.”

• “The blood of the grape suits me much less than the daughter of barley.”

• “You need to be the master of yourself to be the master of the world”

• “French is the official language, the only one suitable for big things”

Marriage and offspring

In 1526, Charles married Isabella of Portugal. She was his cousin (their mothers Juana and Maria were sisters). This was one of the first inbreeding marriages in the dynasty, which ultimately led the Spanish Habsburg family to collapse and degeneration.

• Juana of Austria
• Philip II (King of Spain)
• Maria of Spain - wife of Emperor Maximilian II

At the age of 36, Isabella died. Karl never remarried. But he had many mistresses, two of whom bore him children:

• Margaret of Parma - ruler of the Netherlands.

• John of Austria

Portrait of Charles V of Habsburg (1519-1520, Museum of Fine Arts Cesky: Budapešt)

Charles V of Habsburg(Spanish Carlos I (V), Latin Carolus V, Dutch Karel V, German Karl V., French Charles V; February 24, 1500, Ghent, Flanders - September 21, 1558, Yuste, Extremadura) - king of germany(Roman king) from June 28 1519 By 1520 years, Holy Roman Emperor With 1520 year (crowned on February 24 1530 year in Bologna by Pope Clement VII), king of spain(Castile and Aragon) from January 23 1516 year (under the name Charles I). The largest statesman in Europe in the first half of the 16th century, who made the greatest contribution to history among the rulers of that time. Charles V is the last person ever formally proclaimed Emperor of Rome, and he is also the last person to celebrate a triumph in Rome.

Karl was born in Ghent. His childhood and youth were spent in Flanders, which he used to consider his homeland. His father Philip, Archduke of Austria, who died suddenly when Charles was barely six years old, was the son of Emperor Maximilian and Mary, the only daughter of Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy. Charles's mother Juana, second daughter of Ferdinand, King of Aragon, and Isabella, Queen of Castile, went mad shortly after her husband's death. It was believed that her son resembled her in many character traits and appearance. He was of average height, had a pale face with a high forehead and blue eyes, which simultaneously expressed profundity and melancholy. The development of Karl's physical and mental strength was slow and difficult. As a child, he suffered from seizures that resembled epileptic seizures. With age, they gave way to excruciating headaches. By the age of thirty, Karl felt the first attacks of gout, which later plagued him until his death. Nevertheless, despite the weaknesses of his physique, he early acquired a rare skill in all physical exercises. At first he distinguished himself in tournaments, and later, in order to please the Spaniards, he appeared in the arena and killed a bull. Karl's successes in science were less noticeable. However, possessing a cool and clear mind, he gradually acquired the necessary knowledge in order to become a sound and insightful sovereign.