Charles V was an instrumental figure in sixteenth-century Europe. A powerful emperor whose influence traversed countries and cultures, he famously stated that he only spoke German to his horse1, but who was he, and how did he gain such a position? Let's find out about Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor!
Rise to power
Let's examine Charles' rise to power until 1530 when the pope legitimised his rule.
Hegemony
The uniting of disparate states under a single ruler or government.
As we will find out later, it was largely due to his family that Charles had the ability to rule such a large kingdom.
| Date | Event |
1515 | At the tender age of 15, Charles held his first position. He became the Duke of Burgundy, which included the low countries (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands). |
1516 | In Spain, Ferdinand II died, leaving behind the issue of Spanish succession. With his mother Joanna of Castile, he became Charles I of Castile and Aragon (the two most prominent Spanish kingdoms). |
1517 | Charles went to live in Spain, with little command of the language. He filled the positions of government with officials from Burgundy and thus struggled to endear himself to his Spanish subjects. |
1519 | From the seat of the Habsburg family and his grandfather Maximilian I, Charles was well-positioned to rule the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected by a small council and became Charles V. |
1522 | Charles returned to Spain a few years wiser. He improved his Spanish and used Castilian subjects in court. It was here, with the Spanish conquistadors, that he amassed much of his riches from the New World. Charles also began to gain favour in Rome when his teacher from Utrecht became Pope Adrian VI. |
1526 | Charles had a threat from the east to contend with. The Ottomans were victorious at the Battle of Mohacs in Hungary. In an astute tactical move, Charles married Isabella of Portugal. She was the daughter of the deceased Portuguese king Manuel I. |
1527 | Seeking to create a stronger hegemony in Europe and with the aid of German mercenaries who were embittered by their treatment by the Pope, Charles and his Spanish forces participated in the Sack of Rome. They rebelled against French and Italian forces (the League of Cognac) and looted Rome, leaving the Pope to go into hiding. |
1530 | In a weak position and despite previous misgivings, Pope Clement VII had no choice but to crown Charles V Holy Roman Emperor at Bologna, leaving Charles at the peak of his powers. |
Charles enjoyed a special level of legitimacy given that he was the final Holy Roman Emperor to be formally recognised by the pope. In a religiously charged Europe, this could not be underestimated.
Conquistador
The Spanish word to describe a conqueror that is usually applied to the Spanish forces that conquered Mexico and Peru in the 16th century.
New World
A term coined in the 16th century to refer to the hitherto undiscovered Americas in the Western Hemisphere.
Charles V Holy Roman Emperor Biography
It was no accident that Charles V came to hold power over so many lands and territories. Born in 1500, his mother was Joanna of Castile and his father was Philip I of Burgundy. Charles grew up in that part of the world, learning Catholic doctrine from his tutors.
Fig, 1 - Charles V portrait
In addition, Philip's father, and grandfather of Charles, was Maximilian I - the Holy Roman Emperor.
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor was the elected leader of the Holy Roman Empire. During Charles' time, it spanned across Europe including modern-day Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium and parts of Italy and France.
Through his relation to Maximilian, Charles was a Habsburg, the Austrian family that held a monopoly over Germany, Austria and Spain. They were distinguishable for their pronounced lower jaw, a deformation caused by generational inbreeding to maintain their power. Before he was an adult, Charles gained his first title. After that, his ascent would only continue.
Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor
The spectacle of Charles V's coronation at Bologna is given special significance by historian Konrad Eisenbickler. For him, it represented a watershed moment and a synthesis of Renaissance and Catholic ideals.
Renaissance
A term use to describe the rebirth of classical art and literature that spanned from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The invention of the printing press allowed knowledge to be spread and developed. Self-fashioning also became popular, this was the construction of a personality based on the needs of society.
Charles was no longer simply a Habsburg; he had stamped his political and religious authority across the continent.
Reality and fiction had easily blended and had refashioned a man and a city:
Charles V had become Holy Roman Emperor, San Petronio had turned into St Peter's, San Domenico into St John's Lateran and Bologna had briefly become Rome. Perception had conquered reality and Renaissance self-fashioning had carried the day."
- Konrad Eisenbickler, 'Charles V in Bologna: the self-fashioning of a man and a city', 19992
He was now a hybrid of different power structures.
Fig. 2 - Charles V fighting a bull in Valladolid
The Counter Reformation
The reign of Charles V coincided with the Protestant Reformation. It began when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. Here, he outlined his disdain for the corruption rife within the Catholic Church and urged for reform. As Holy Roman Emperor and a bastion for the Catholic religion, Charles had a profound influence on the Counter Reformation (the Catholic response). When the meeting known as the Diet of Worms expelled Luther from the church in 1521, Charles followed this with the Edict of Worms, persecuting anyone who endorsed or spread his ideas. However, Charles was suspicious of the Pope wielding too much power and spared Luther from execution.
Charles V and the English Reformation
Charles V also had links to the English Reformation. He was the nephew of Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine, a staunch Catholic, was unwilling to accept Henry's desire for a divorce after he became infatuated with Anne Boleyn. However, when Henry broke from the Catholic Church in 1534 and married Anne in secret, he declared himself the leader of the church. Charles V was powerless to stop him and there is little evidence to suggest that he had a close relationship with Catherine.
Charles was largely able to halt Protestant growth in his territories, but he could do little to stop it from spreading in nations that he did not control, particularly England, France and Switzerland.
Charles V Holy Roman Emperor Map
Here is a map detailing the power of Charles V in Europe by 1530. By this point, the hegemony he craved was within his grasp. Now he had one of the biggest empires in history, rivalled only by the likes of Genghis Khan and the Mongols centuries before. Below is a visual representation of his European might.
Charles V benefitted enormously from Spanish conquests of the New World. The Spanish war machine was too advanced for the indigenous people of the Americas. Their first significant victory came in Mexico, against the Aztec people, when the fiercely uncompromising Hernan Cortes gained control of the natives in 1521. Francisco Pizarro also completed his subjugation of the Inca people in Peru in 1533.
Adding to their formidable naval reputation, these victories provided the bedrock for the Spanish colonisation of the Americas and crucially funnelled wealth back to Charles V. On top of this, Charles colonised the Philippines in 1529. Exotic spices and precious minerals including gold and silver cemented Spain's position as a worldwide pioneer and allowed Charles to throw money at his military campaigns.
Coat of Arms of Charles V Holy Roman Emperor
Let's reinforce the power and prestige of Charles V by examining his coat of arms. It was an amalgamation of his different roles and kingdoms. Initially, you can notice the double-headed eagle, representative of the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany and Austria, among other regions). Next, on the crest are the Spanish kingdoms to which he was Charles I including Castile and Aragon. Finally, the coat of arms incorporated the low countries and Burgundy.
An interesting element is the Classical columns and the inscription, the Latin 'plus ultra' meaning 'further beyond'.
Charles aspired not merely to reach the columns... but to go beyond them to the new ends of the earth.3
- Earl Rosenthal, 'Plus Ultra, Non plus Ultra, and the Columnar Device of Emperor Charles V', 1971
This epitomised Renaissance notions of looking back and then innovating and, for Rosenthal, demonstrated Charles' ambition.
Charles V Holy Roman Emperor Accomplishment
Since Charles V was involved in so much during his reign from 1519 to 1556, it makes sense to summarise his reign as Holy Roman Emperor into a brief, but detailed list of accomplishments.
| Accomplishment | Explanation |
Empire | Charles V had an empire that is unparalleled in modern European history. He was temporarily very powerful and had the legitimacy of the Pope. From his background and upbringing, it was almost as if he were pre-ordained to have such a stranglehold on Europe. In many ways, he was the right man at the right time, who greatly profited from the wealth accrued from the New World. Charles V was also able to preserve his empire against the growing Ottoman threat in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. |
Religion | During his reign, Charles regularly helped add clout and political action to the decision-making of the Catholic Church in Rome. He set up the Edict of Worms to outlaw Luther's ideas in 1521 after the church had expelled him. When he sacked Rome and was recognised by the Pope in 1530, Charles gained a special legitimacy as the final Holy Roman Emperor who the Pope crowned. |
Personal | Despite the cultural sensitivities and differences between his different subjects, Charles V was, for a time, a successful figurehead for a large empire. He could flex his muscles in battle and established the Spanish nation as a colonial pioneer. Regardless of his initial hesitancy with Spanish, Charles combated the challenges of ruling so many people by mastering the languages. |
The light-hearted approach that Charles attempted to bring to governing such a diverse set of states can be summarised in this tongue-in-cheek quotation.
I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse.4
- Charles V, quoted by Dell G. Hitchner, 'Political Science and Political Culture', 1968
It wasn't all roses, however, and ruling such a vast empire took its toll, eventually leading to the relinquishing of all of his assets.
Abdication
Charles' health problems stemmed from the Habsburg inbreeding of his ancestors. Not only was he cursed with an enlarged jaw which gave him difficulty when chewing his food, but he also had chronic digestive issues. To add to the list of maladies were his epileptic fits and, in later life, he developed severe gout. The latter caused him to gradually abdicate his titles, starting with Sicily and Naples to his son Philip in 1554.
Abdication
The surrender of the throne by a ruler.
Finally, in 1556, he gave up the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor to his brother Ferdinand, whose claim was accepted in the same year of Charles' death: 1558. In the same year, Charles V died quietly in a Spanish monastery, succumbing to malaria.
Charles V Holy Roman Emperor Legacy
His legacy will remain a complicated one. We have listed his immense achievements above, but there is still a sense that Charles squandered much of the wealth gained from the New World. He also failed to maximise the potential of raising a singular army for his large empire or creating a unified system of taxes to counterbalance his spending. Regardless of this, we must not be too harsh on Charles V. His office was always temporary and doomed from the start. It was too vast and diverse to govern effectively and create a long-term dynasty, but he still managed to do so for a period.
References
- Dell G. Hitchner, 'Political Science and Political Culture', The Western Political Quarterly Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec 1968), pp. 551-559.
- Konrad Eisenbickler, 'Charles V in Bologna: the self-fashioning of a man and a city', Renaissance Studies Vol. 13, No. 4, Special Issue: Civic Self- Fashioning in Renaissance Bologna: historical and scholarly contexts (Dec. 1999), pp. 430-439
- Earl Rosenthal, 'Plus Ultra, Non plus Ultra, and the Columnar Device of Emperor Charles V', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes Vol. 34 (1971), pp. 204- 228
- Dell G. Hitchner, 'Political Science and Political Culture', The Western Political Quarterly Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec 1968), pp. 551-559
Charles V Holy Roman Emperor - Key takeaways
- Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ruled over much of Europe including Germany, Austria, Spain, and parts of France and Italy.
- He was from the Habsburg family and his royal heritage meant that he was destined for many of the roles he held.
- Charles was successful in many ways. He oversaw Spanish conquests of the New World and gained absolute power when the Pope crowned him in 1530.
- Charles waged many wars within Europe because of the riches earned from his colonies. He managed to keep his biggest threat, the Ottomans at bay.
- Despite his declining health and his eventual abdication, Charles will be remembered as a powerful ruler who did well to create a hegemony among disparate nations with different cultures, tongues and beliefs.
Explanations 
Exams 
Magazine 
