Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles
V (1500-1558) Holy Roman Emperor 1519-1556 and king of Spain as Charles
I (1516-1556), founder of the Habsburg dynasty. He inherited the Spanish
throne in 1516 after the death of his maternal grandfather Ferdinand of
Aragon and the crown of Germany in 1519 after his paternal grandfather
Maximilian I's death. In 1520 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Aachen,
having defeated Francis I of France for the election, and became the most
powerful monarch in Europe at the age of 19. The ensuing years were dominated
by virtually continuous wars with France for possession of Italy, and by
series of fruitless attempts to achieve religious unity in Germany. In
1525 Francis I was defeated at the battle of Pavia and taken prisoner,
but repudiated the subsequent treaty as soon as he was released. Charles
invaded Italy and in 1527 captured and sacked Rome. The Treaty of Cambrai
(1529) brought a temporary peace, and Charles made a triumphal procession
through Italy and in 1530 was crowned by the pope as emperor and king of
Italy. The war broke out again in 1536, when Francis I invaded Savoy, and
again in 1542, until a final truce was arranged through the Treaty of Crepy
(1544). Charles also beat off an attack by the Ottoman empire with the
siege of Vienna by the sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. On the religious
front Charles worked hard to try to cope with the tide of Protestantism
which threatened to split his empire. Charles extended Spanish dominions
in the New World by the conquest of Mexico by Cortes and of Peru by Pizarro.
In 1527 he married Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), by whom he had a son
Philip, future Philip II of Spain.
See: Titian. Portrait
of Charles V. Portrait
of Isabella of Portugal. Portrait
of Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg. Portrait
of Emperor Charles V Seated.
Lucas Cranach the Elder. Portrait
of Charles V.
Anthony van Dyck.
Portrait of Charles V on Horseback.
