The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

CHARLES V

Charles V (also known as Charles I of Spain) was emperor of Germany. He was born in 1500 at Ghent and died in 1558. He was the eldest son of Philip, archduke of Austria, and of Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Charles was thus the grandson of the Emperor Maximilian and Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, last duke of Burgundy, and inherited from his grandparents on both sides the fairest countries in Europe, Aragon, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Castile, and the colonies in the New World, Austria, Burgundy, and the Netherlands.

On the death of Ferdinand, his grandfather, Charles V assumed the title of King of Spain. In 1519 he was elected emperor, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle with extraordinary splendour. The progress of the Reformation in Germany demanded the care of the new emperor, who held a diet at Worms. Luther, who appeared at this diet with a safe-conduct from Charles, defended his case with energy and boldness. The emperor kept silent; but after Luther's departure a severe edict appeared against him in the name of Charles, who thought it his interest to declare himself the defender of the Roman Church.

A war with France, which the rival claims of Francis I in Italy, the Netherlands, and Navarre made inevitable, broke out in 1521. Neither side had a decided success until the battle of Pavia in 1525, where Francis was totally defeated and taken prisoner. Charles treated his captive with respect, but with great rigour as regarded the conditions of his release. A league of Italian states, headed by Pope Clement VII, was now formed against the overgrown power of Charles; but their ill-directed efforts had no success. Rome itself was stormed and pillaged by the troops of the Constable of Bourbon, and the pope made prisoner.

Nor was the alliance of Henry VIII of England with Francis against the emperor any more successful, the war ending in the treaty of Cambray in 1529 of which the conditions were favourable to Charles. A war against the Turks by which Solyman was compelled to retreat, and an expedition against the Dey of Tunis by which 20,000 Christian slaves were released, added to the influence of Charles, and acquired for him the reputation of a chivalrous defender of the faith. In 1537 he made truce with Francis, and soon after, while on his way to the Netherlands, spent six days at the court of the latter in Paris. In 1541 another expedition against the African Moors, by which Charles hoped to crown his reputation, was unsuccessful, and he lost a part of his fleet and army before Algiers without gaining any advantage.

A new war with France arose regarding the territory of Milan. The quarrel was patched up by the peace of Crespy in 1545. The religious strife was again disturbing the emperor. Charles, who was no bigot, sought to reconcile the two parties, and with this view alternately courted and threatened the Protestants. At length in 1546 the Protestant princes declared war, but were driven from the field and compelled to submit. But the defection of his ally, Maurice of Saxony, whom Charles had invested with the electoral dignity, again turned the tide in favour of the Protestants. Maurice surprised the imperial camp at Innsbruck in the middle of a stormy night, and Charles with great difficulty escaped alone in a litter. The Treaty of Passau was dictated by the Protestants. It gave them equal rights with the Catholics, and was confirmed three years later by the diet of Augsburg in 1555. Foiled in his schemes and dejected with repeated failures, Charles resolved to resign the imperial dignity, and transfer his hereditary estates to his son Philip.

In 1555 he conferred on Philip the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and on January the 15th, 1556, that of Spain, retiring himself to a residence beside the monastery of Yuste in Estremadura, where he amused himself by mechanical labours and the cultivation of a garden. He still took a strong interest in public affairs, though latterly he was very much of an invalid, his ill health being partly caused by his high living.

Charles V (Charles The Wise) was king of France. He was born in 1337 and died in 1380. He was the son of King John. His father being taken prisoner by the English at Poitiers, the management of the kingdom devolved on him at an early age. With great skill and energy, not free, however, from duplicity, he suppressed the revolt of the Parisians and a rising of the peasants, kept the King of Navarre at bay, and deprived the English of a great part of their dominion in France. He erected the Bastille for the purpose of overawing the Parisians.
Research Charles V