Charles V

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Charles V

1500-1558

Holy roman emperor

A Royal Inheritance. One of the most significant political figures of the sixteenth century, Charles V was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1519-1556) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516-1556). A member of the Hapsburg family, Charles was the son of Philip I the Handsome, the Duke of Burgundy and ruler of the Netherlands, and grandson of Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy. His mother, Joan the Mad, was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. He was raised by his aunt, Margaret of Austria, who was regent of the Netherlands. Upon the death of his father in 1506, Charles inherited the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the Franche-Comte. When his maternal grandfather died in 1516, and his mother was deemed mentally unsound, he became king of Castile, as well as of the Indies, Aragon, Navarre, Sicily, Sardinia, and Naples. When his paternal grandfather died in 1519, Charles inherited the House of Austria and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. The total amount of land under Charles’s direct and indirect control was staggering—placing him at the center of two conflicts that defined his life: dynastic struggles with Francis I of France and religious controversies stemming from the teachings of a resident of the Holy Roman Empire, Martin Luther.

Spanish Connections. Charles’s political career began and ended in Spain, despite the fact that he spoke no Spanish when he first traveled there in 1517. Although Charles claimed his inheritance, the Spaniards were not happy to be ruled by an Austrian who was surrounded by Burgundians. The comuneros, a group of Castilian cities that opposed the government and were led by Juan de Padilla, revolted from 1520 to 1521 while Charles was in Germany. The uprising was put down, the leaders were executed, and Charles’s authority was reestablished. After receiving his crown as emperor and presiding over the condemnation of Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521), Charles returned to Spain in 1522 and stayed for seven years. He learned Spanish and began to place Castilians in advisory positions formerly held by Burgundians. Charles established a new Council of the Indies, which controlled colonial policy for all of Spain’s New World possessions. He put into place a law code for the Americas (New Laws: Ordinances for the Government of the Indies and Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians) that, although unenforceable, sought to legislate control and protect subjects. Charles became well respected by his Spanish subjects, who reportedly joked that Charles spoke French with his diplomats, Italian with his lovers, German with his grooms, but Spanish with God.

Struggles with France. Charles’s career was largely defined by conflicts with Francis I of France. This Valois versus Habsburg rivalry was inherited by both men as the two dynasties fought over control of territories in Italy. France had invaded Italy in 1494 and again in 1499. Italy bore the brunt of fighting between Charles and Francis until the Treaty of Combrai, signed in 1529, finally settled the conflict. The animosity between the two rulers was also fueled by the fact that both had attempted in 1519 to be elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The competition was expensive, as both men attempted to bribe the seven electors. Charles won, thanks to his grandfather’s anticipation of the election and funding from the Fuggers, a banking family that lived in Augsburg. Other rulers in Europe feared that either candidate would consolidate too much power in one family’s hands. From the French perspective, the Habsburgs were attempting to encircle France and limit its power. The French went so far as to make alliances with the non-Christian Turks who were threatening Habsburg lands. Henry VIII and Francis I were at war with each other during most of their reigns. The king of England and the papacy used this rivalry to bolster their own power by supporting first one and then the other side of the conflict.

Luther and the Protestants. Charles was a deeply religious man who sought above all to protect the Roman Catholic faith. He supported the Inquisition in Spain and attempted to introduce it into his other territories. When he went to Spain in 1522 he apparently believed that his condemnation of Luther would stifle the spread of the reformer’s teachings. Charles returned to the Holy Roman Empire seven years later, but he was greeted with the Augsburg Confession (1530), which clarified Lutheran beliefs and solidified a Protestant opposition to his policies—manifested in the newly formed Schmalkaldic League. Moreover, he had missed the Knight’s Revolt of 1523 and Peasants’ War of 1525, two defining moments in the history of Germany. Further hampering his anti-Protestant wishes, war with Francis I kept him from Germany from 1532 until 1541, by which time Protestantism was a formidable force. Conflicts between Protestants and supporters of Charles clashed for another decade until the league of German princes pushed his troops from Germany in 1552. Later that year the Treaty of Passau attempted to establish a religious division of the Holy Roman Empire, based on a principle whereby the local prince could determine the religion in his territory. This treaty led to the Peace of Augsburg on 25 September 1555, which divided his lands into Catholic or Protestant. Charles found this agreement unacceptable and considered it a personal failure. He began to withdraw from politics immediately thereafter.

Medieval View of Empire. Before Charles had reached the age of twenty-one, he had obtained a lifetime of experience in diplomacy in the Spanish unrest and the religious conflict in the Holy Roman Empire. Charles’s youthful reliance on his Burgundian advisers almost cost him control of Spain, and his early experiences with Luther undoubtedly influenced his lifelong efforts to maintain Catholicism. Charles left several treatises on statecraft and a memoir of the first fifty-one years of his life. In 1532 he issued the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, an imperial criminal code that safeguarded the rights of the innocent. The Carolina standardized criminal procedures and strengthened the role of central government. His New Laws attempted to control the Spanish colonies and protect his subjects, particularly native populations, abroad. Despite these two law codes, Charles’s views were more medieval than modern. For instance, Charles challenged Francis I to personal combat to determine control of Burgundy and Milan, and he offered Luther a promise of safe-conduct to and from Worms (Emperor Sigismund did not honor a similar promise to Jan Hus at the Council of Constance in 1415). His medieval mind-set was broader than mere chivalry, however, as he believed that world peace could be maintained only through a strong emperor. Charles may not have wanted a universal monarchy—he certainly did not view Spanish colonies on the same terms as his European lands—but he wanted a strong Holy Roman Empire that was based on Roman Catholicism. Humiliated and disgusted that he had not been able to maintain the Catholicism in his empire, he refused to accept the legal recognition of Protestantism and opted instead to abdicate.

Last Years. In 1555 Charles turned the Netherlands over to his son Philip and the next year he abdicated to Philip the kingdom of Spain, his Italian lands, and the colonies. Philip proceeded to have a glorious reign as Philip II of Spain. Charles retired to a country home near a remote Hieronymite monastery at San Jeronimo de Yuste. There he continued to monitor political developments, went fishing, and pursued his religious devotion until his death two years later.