King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V is the Holy Roman Emperor. Lands of Charles V

Charles V came from the Habsburg dynasty. He was born on February 25, 1500 in Ghent, in Flanders. Charles Quint (quint in Old French means fifth) was Duke of Brabant from 1515 to 1555 under the name Charles II. From 1516 to 1556 he was King of Spain and Spanish America under the name Charles I and King Charles IV of Sicily. Charles of Habsburg was Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 to 1556. Charles the Fifth, he went down in history.

Such an amount high titles is explained by the fact that Charles the Fifth was a descendant of several ruling houses of Europe, and he bore his titles by right - he was the legitimate heir to vast territories. Karl Habsburg dreamed of becoming the new Charlemagne, the unifier of Europe. However, what Charlemagne succeeded in, Charles the Fifth was prevented from doing, in particular by the French kings Francis the First and Henry the Second. The Lutheran schism of 1517 forced Charles V to finally abandon his intention to become the unifier of Europe. Disappointed and, according to historians, "tired of constant labors, the emperor" renounced his numerous crowns and in September 1558 went to the monastery of Juste in Spain.

Karl Habsburg was born on February 25, 1500 in Ghent. And already on August 10, 1501, a marriage contract was signed in Lyon between him and Claude of France, the daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany. Until the age of 17, Karl was brought up in the Netherlands. His first tutor was Guillaume de Croy. When the boy grew up, Adrian Florence, the future pope Adrian the Fourth, was appointed his mentor. Karl and his aunt, Archduchess Margarita of Austria, spent a lot of time. Charles received his first crown at the age of six, in 1506, after the death of his father, Philip the First of Castile. Charles inherited the Netherlands and Franche-Comté.

Ten years later, in 1516, Charles' maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon died, and the sixteen-year-old ruler of the Netherlands became king of Castile. He ruled Castile with his mother Joan. Upon the death of his grandfather, Karl inherited other lands - Aragon, Upper Navarre, Grenada, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Malta and Spanish possessions in South America. And upon the death of his other grandfather, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian the First, Karl becomes the heir to the Austrian possessions of the Habsburgs. Then he was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The rival of Charles the Fifth was the French king Francis I.

So, in 1518, Charles received the first crown - he became the Spanish king Charles the First. Even before the coronation, certain conditions were set for the future ruler of Spain. The native language of the Spanish monarch was French, and Charles was required to learn Castilian. He also had to undertake not to take on the service of foreigners. He also undertook to give his insane mother the proper care of a crowned lady. Charles of Habsburg was the first representative of the Austrian dynasty on the Spanish throne. Habsburg rule over Spain lasted almost 200 years. Then they were replaced by the Bourbons. The current king of Spain is Juan Carlos from the Bourbon dynasty.

Before the young monarch had time to feel confident on the Spanish throne, an uprising broke out in Castile in 1520. The Castilians refused to accept Adrian Florence of Utrecht, appointed by the king to their province, and his Flemish court. And although Charles the First managed to suppress the uprising - the Castilians, led by Juan Paddilsky, lost the decisive battle of Villalar, the Spanish monarch made a wise decision - he recalled the Flemings from Castile. Adrian of Utrecht only benefited from this - rather quickly, thanks to the efforts of his former pupil, he was elected Pope under the name Adrian the Fourth. The Castilians also won - they received the right to create a local government.

During the reign of Charles Quint, the conquest continued South America- New World, started by the Catholic Monarchs Isabella of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon. Starting in 1521, the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés conquered a huge area called New Spain. These were vast lands from modern Mexico to Central America and the southern United States. Another conquistador, often referred to simply as an adventurer, Francisco Pizarro subjugated the Inca empire and founded Lima. Gonzalo Ximénez de Quesada conquered for the Spanish crown part of modern Colombia - then this territory was called New Granada. In 1522 the Basque Juan Sebastian Elcano completed the first trip around the world started by the great Magellan. Elkan hoisted the Spanish flag in the Philippine and Mariana Islands. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, was founded in 1536 by the famous conquistador Pedro de Mendoza. The colonization and catholization of new lands was carried out with all the cruelty of the conquerors. Spain under the rule of Charles the First became a powerful power.

Charles V of Habsburg(Latin Carolus V, Dutch Karel V, German Karl V., French Charles V; February 24, 1500, Ghent, Flanders - September 21, 1558, Yuste, Extremadura) - King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) under the name Carlos I (Spanish Carlos I) from January 23, 1516, King of Germany (Roman King) from June 28, 1519 (crowned in Aachen on October 23, 1520) to 1556, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 (crowned on February 24, 1530 in Bologna Pope Clement VII). largest statesman Europe in the first half of the 16th century, who introduced largest contribution in history among the rulers of that time. Charles V is the last emperor officially crowned by the pope, he is also the last emperor to celebrate a triumph in Rome.

Origin

Charles was the son of Duke Philip of Burgundy and the Spanish Infanta Juana. He was born in the domain of his father, in the city of Ghent. The father, who tried to inherit the Castilian crown from his famous mother-in-law, spent a lot of time in Spanish possessions. Karl remained to live in the Netherlands. His native language was French, knowledge of other languages ​​in his youth was modest. After his accession to the Spanish throne, he learned Castilian. By the end of his life, he already had a good command of many languages.

Father Philip I the Handsome

Mother - Juana I the Mad

Grandmother Isabella I of Castile

Maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon

Paternal grandfather - Maximilian I

Paternal grandmother - Mary of Burgundy

Philip died in 1506 and Juana went mad. Karl until the age of 17 lived under the auspices of his aunt, Margaret of Austria, the ruler of the Netherlands. Until his death, he maintained a tender relationship with her.

Margaret of Austria (1480-1530)

Lands of Charles V

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

From father, Philippe: Burgundian Netherlands, Luxembourg, Artois, Franche-Comté

From mother, Juana the Mad: Castile, León, Andalusia, Canary Islands, Ceuta and West Indies

From maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon: Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Roussillon, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Balearic Islands

From the paternal grandfather Maximilian I: Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol.

In addition to hereditary, he also annexed the 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 had formally more than a dozen royal crowns alone - he was simultaneously the king of Leon, Castile, Valencia, Aragon, Galicia, Seville, Mallorca, Granada, Navarre, Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Croatia, etc., as well as the king of Germany, Italy and Burgundy and titular king of Jerusalem.

Carl with sisters

Carl as a child

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.

Young Charles V

King of Spain

In fact, Spain first united under the scepter of Charles. A generation earlier, it was divided into kingdoms 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 passed by will to her daughter Juana the Mad, Charles's mother, but in fact Castile was ruled by her father Ferdinand II as regent.

Testament of Isabella of Castile

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

Bernart van Orley. Young Charles V. Louvre

An attempt to present the country with a fait accompli provoked a revolt - the so-called uprising of the comuneros in Castile in 1520-1522. The meeting of the Castilian courts in Valladolid reminded him that a mother imprisoned in a monastery had more rights than a son. In the end, Charles reached an agreement in negotiations with the Cortes. Juana formally remained Queen of Castile.

Queen Juana I the Mad imprisoned in Tordesillas with her daughter Infanta Catalina

Title

De facto, Charles was the first ruler of a unified Spain in the years 1516-1556, although only his son Philip II was the first to wear the title "King of Spain". Charles himself was officially the king of Aragon (as Charles I, Spanish Carlos I, 1516-1556), and in Castile he was the regent of his mother Juana the Mad, who was declared incompetent after the death of Charles's father, King Consort Philip (1504-1506) - and then one year as King of Castile (1555-1556).

European possessions of Charles V in 1555

He called himself complexly: “Elect Emperor of Christendom and Rome, always 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 extreme East and 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 Gotzania, sovereign of Catalonia and many other kingdoms in Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa, master and others.

Charles V

Charles V

Charles V

Election of the emperor, reforms

On June 28, 1519, the College of German Electors in Frankfurt unanimously elected Charles V as King of Germany (the official title is King of the Romans). On October 23, 1520, Charles was crowned in Aachen. At the same time, Charles V proclaimed himself the "elected" emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, thus depriving the papal throne of the prerogative of appointing and coronating emperors. He achieved general recognition for this title later, after victories over France and Rome. As a result, he was nevertheless officially crowned emperor in 1530 by Pope Clement VII in Bologna. This was the last occasion for the coronation of emperors by popes. The title of Emperor subsequently became inextricably linked with the elective title of King of Germany.

During the reign of Charles V, a penal code was drawn up (adopted in 1532), later called the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (C.C.C.; Peinliche Gerichtsordnung Karl’s V - P.G.O.). It is a procedural code, 77 of its 219 articles are devoted to substantive criminal law. In its content, Carolina occupies an intermediate position between Roman and German law. The code was notable for the special cruelty of punishment measures and was valid until late XVIII century.

Titian, Portrait of Charles V, with his dog, 1532-33. Oil on canvas, Prado Museum, Madrid

Charles V

Charles V

Wars and foreign policy Karla

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 contentious issues. Charles made claims 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 territories of Navarre. 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 returned Pamplona. In the north of France, after the ruin of several small towns and the capture of Tournai, Charles still had to retreat by the end of the year. The main achievement of Charles, 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 utterly 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 was in a difficult position.

In 1524, imperial troops crossed the Alps, invaded Provence and besieged Marseille. In 1525, at Pavia, south of Milan, two 30,000-strong armies met. Carl smashed 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's claims to Italy, as well as his feudal overlord's rights to Artois and Flanders. The two sons of Francis were held hostage. However, as soon as the king managed to gain freedom, he declared the treaty null and void and on May 22, 1526, convened the League of Cognac against Charles (Florence, Milan, Venice, Genoa, the pope and England entered).

Bernart van Orley. Tapestry "Pavia" (circa 1531)

Battle of Pavia

Again the conflict took place in Italy. After the victories of Charles, the imperial army sacked Rome in May 1527. In 1528, Charles made peace with King Henry VIII of England, and the Genoese went over to his side, in 1529 the Treaty of Cambrai was concluded with France and peace with Pope Clement VII. In 1530, the last opponent of Charles, the Florentine Republic, was completely defeated. According to the Treaty of Cambrai in August 1529, the ransom amount for two French princes was set at 2 million gold ecu, of which 1.2 million had to be paid immediately, and the Habsburgs got Milan and ousted the French from the Apennine Peninsula, establishing their presence there for many centuries . This, perhaps, was one of the main achievements of Charles, although the devastated and impoverished Italy was far from being such a valuable trophy as before. Francis started two more wars against Charles (1536-1538 and 1542-1544), but could not change the situation.

Charles V

Clement VII

In 1544, a peace treaty was concluded in Crepi, according to which Francis I renounced his conquests in Italy, in particular from the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples belonging to Spain. Charles V, in turn, renounced his claims to Burgundy. In addition, Francis promised Charles military assistance in the fight against the Turks. The conclusion of the treaty allowed Charles to concentrate his forces in the fight against the Schmalkaldic League and the Turks.

Charles V and Francis I

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, the Turkish troops laid siege to Vienna, already having conquered Hungary behind them. But the coming winter forced them to retreat. In 1532, the Turks also with nothing left the fortress of Köseg in western Hungary. Using a break in the war, Charles in 1535 sent a fleet to the shores of Tunisia. Charles's fleet took the city and freed thousands of enslaved Christians. A fortress was erected here and a Spanish garrison was left. However, this victory was nullified by the outcome of the battle of Preveza (in Epirus) in 1538, when the Christians were opposed by the newly built Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent Turkish fleet. Now the Turks once again dominated the Mediterranean (until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571).

Charles V

Titian

Battle of Preveza

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, as he constantly threatened Charles' possessions in Spain and Italy, as well as in Austria.

"Charles V Surrounded by Defeated Enemies"

In Germany

Trying to restore the religious unity of his empire (Martin Luther expressed his ideas as early as 1517), Charles actively intervened in the affairs of the German rulers. Signs of the collapse of the I Reich were: the so-called. The Knights' War 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. Karl fought with the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League. On April 24, 1547 - a year after Luther's death - at Mühlberg (on the Elbe), Charles's troops, commanded by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo Duke of Alba, won a major victory. However, forced to spend people and money on the Italian wars and many other things, the emperor could not stop the growth of separatism in Germany, the spread of Protestantism there and the plundering of the property of the Catholic Church by Protestants. His brother Ferdinand was forced to conclude the Peace of Augsburg with the Protestant princes.

Titian "Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg"

Navigation and exploration of America

Spain under Charles V continued to play a leading role in the Great geographical discoveries, organizing Magellan's expedition in 1519 in order to find a western route to Southeast Asia rich in spices. During the years of his reign, major events Conquista - the conquest of Mexico by Cortes and the Inca Empire - Pizarro. From the middle of the 16th century, the flow of precious metals brought across the Atlantic from the mines of Chile and Mexico became an important support for the policy of Charles V and his Spanish heirs, which made it possible to pay for numerous wars.

Charles V and Philip II

Charles V

Charles V

Charles V

Charles V

Retirement

Disillusioned with the idea of ​​building a pan-European empire, after the conclusion of the Augsburg religious peace, on October 25, 1555, Charles abandoned the Netherlands in favor of his son Philip. On January 16, 1556, he, also in favor of Philip, resigned the Spanish crown, including giving possession of Spain 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 monastery of Juste near Cáceres (Extremadura), where he spent the rest of his life. He was buried in the royal tomb of Escorial.

Eugene Delacroix. Charles V in the Monastery of Juste

Marriage and offspring

In 1526 Charles married Isabella of Portugal. She was his cousin (their mothers Juana and Maria were sisters). It was one of many consanguineous marriages in the dynasty that eventually brought the Spanish Habsburg lineage to physical degeneration in 1700.

Titian

Charles V and Isabella of Portugal

Sculpture of Isabella by Pompeo Leoni, 1572

Their children:

Philip II(Spanish Felipe II, May 21, 1527 - September 13, 1598) - King of Spain from the Habsburg dynasty. The son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (aka Charles (Carlos) I of Castile and Aragon), Philip from 1554 was the king of Naples and Sicily, and from 1556, after the refusal of his father from the throne, he became the king of Spain, Duke of the Netherlands and the owner of all overseas possessions of Spain. In 1580, he also annexed Portugal and became its king (as Philip I, port. Filipe I).

The king was married four times (and survived all his wives) - to Mary of Portugal (his cousin twice - on his father and mother), on Mary, Queen of England (his father's cousin), on Elizabeth of Valois, on the daughter of the Austrian emperor Anna (his own maternal niece and the daughter of his paternal cousin).

Philip II in ceremonial armor

Philip II

Philip II

Biography of Emperor Charles V

Charles V (born February 24, 1500 - death September 21, 1558) Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Spanish king from the Habsburg dynasty. The last Emperor officially crowned by the pope. Under the banner of Catholicism, he tried to create a "world Christian power."

What is known about Charles V

King Carlos I of Spain, better known as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, was the last of the European monarchs to rule over a vast territory that in many ways surpassed the empire of Charlemagne. In his submission was Spain with its American and Italian possessions, the Netherlands and the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. No wonder his proud statement is widely known: "The sun never sets in my state."

The future emperor, who received his name in honor of Charlemagne, was born on February 24, 1500 in Ghent and was the grandson of the famous Spanish couple: Kings Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, whose marriage made Castile and Aragon united Spain. When the boy was six years old, his father, King Philip I the Handsome, son of Emperor Maximilian I, died. Mother, Juana, who was distinguished by an unstable psyche, after the death of her beloved husband, completely lost her mind and was declared incapable of governing the state.

Childhood. Youth

Little Karl was raised by his aunt Margarita in the Netherlands. Being very young, in 1515, at the insistence of the Burgundian states, he became the Duke of Burgundy, that is, he received the so-called "Burgundian inheritance", covering the Netherlands, the Duchy of Luxembourg, the Franche-Comté region. And a year later, after the death of his grandfather Ferdinand, the duke took the Spanish throne and began to be called Carlos I of Spain.

Beginning of the reign

1517, September 17 - Charles's fleet moored to the Spanish coast in Tasones, and with it his entire court arrived, which the proud Spanish grandees did not like. The new king was also a disappointment for them: he did not speak Spanish, did not know the customs and traditions of the country. In addition, he also placed the Flemings in the highest government positions, who behaved arrogantly and irritated the Spanish aristocracy, which had been pushed aside from power. As a result, part of the local nobility began to prepare a rebellion.

The estate Cortes, who had the right to approve taxes, also opposed the monarch. Their representatives told Charles: "Sir, you must know that the king is only a servant of the nation on a salary"; they also demanded that the king not leave Castile, not take gold out of the country, remove foreigners from high government posts and provide Spain with an heir.

The young sovereign, striving for absolute power, was not going to fulfill these requirements. Moreover, the circumstances were such that he simply had to leave: the emperor Maximilian had died, and the election of a new emperor was coming. 1520, May - Charles urgently left for Germany, leaving the Archbishop of Utrech, Cardinal Adrian, in whom the Spaniards saw a stranger, to rule the country.

Emperor Charles V (young and mature)

Holy Roman Emperor

The elections ended successfully for the Spanish king. Under the name of Charles V, he became Holy Roman Emperor, that is, political leader the Christian world. Now, in addition to the Spanish and Dutch possessions, the German principalities and the Czech Republic were subordinated to his authorities. But in Spain itself, immediately after his departure, an uprising of free commune cities broke out, which was therefore called the uprising of the communeros.

11 such cities formed the Union of the "Holy Junta", which was joined by part of the nobility. Adrian fled, the royal council in Valladolid ceased to function. However, soon the royal troops defeated the rebel groups. Their remnants were destroyed in the summer of 1522 with the help of German landsknechts, who were brought with him by the returned king-emperor. 290 rebels were executed, the power of the Cortes came to an end, the ancient liberties of the Spaniards were destroyed, and Charles received absolute power over his subjects.

Some conclusions the king still made. He learned Spanish, appointed the Spaniards to the highest government posts and married Isabelle of Portugal, whom he loved very much. But in Spain, Charles still lived periodically, for several years, and spent the rest of the time in wars and traveling around his vast possessions.

Wars and foreign policy

Having received support in Spain, the emperor began to fight for the creation of a worldwide Christian monarchy. His main rival in the struggle for hegemony in Europe was King Francis I of France. Despite the fact that on May 13, 1516, Charles signed an agreement with France on the transfer of Navarre to King Jean d'Albret, he decided in 1520 to return the disputed area to himself and declared war. The military actions of the emperor were successful: on June 30, 1521, the French suffered a crushing defeat near Esquir, and Navarre finally went to Spain. And in 1522, Charles defeated the French army near Pavia and was able to capture Francis himself.

Even during the wars, Charles V did not disregard the fair sex. Despite his love for the queen, he had many amorous adventures, which contributed to the increase in his offspring, while Karl did not forget about illegitimate children. In 1521, for example, during the siege of Tournai, the emperor fell in love with the beautiful daughter of a weaver, Catherine van der Geinst, who lived in a nearby village. The result of this passionate passion was a daughter, whom he named Margarita and gave to his sisters Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary to be raised. They spoiled the niece and took care of her education. In the future, under the name of Margaret of Parma, she had to play a certain role in the Dutch Revolution, since the heir of Charles, Philip II, made her the ruler of the Netherlands.

The Mediterranean ports were in the sphere of Spanish interests, therefore Charles also conducted military operations in Italy and North Africa. One of the Italian campaigns has become notorious. 1527, May - the troops of Charles V approached Rome. Most of the soldiers were German Lutheran mercenaries who had not been paid salaries for a long time. They rebelled and ruthlessly sacked the city. The facts of vandalism that became known shocked Europe.

Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg

On the first day, 7 or 8 thousand inhabitants were killed, churches and palaces were plundered, and the Spanish Catholics, trying to find out the places where gold and jewelry were hidden, subjected the captives to severe torture. Even Pope Clement VIII had a chance to move to Bologna. However, he quickly reconciled with the emperor: at the end of June 1529, they signed the Treaty of Barcelona, ​​and the illegitimate daughter of the emperor, already known to us, Margarita, was engaged to the pope's nephew Alexander Medici.

The idea of ​​a "global Christian power" in the mind of the emperor was associated with Catholicism. Therefore, he became the main enemy of the Protestants. The emperor fought against heresies, seeing in them crimes against divine and human spiritual power, while using brutal violence. Protestants were especially strong in the Netherlands, where most of the population professed Lutheranism, Calvinism or Anabaptism. The emperor savagely suppressed all these currents. He gave the Dutch bishops the special rights of inquisitors to search for and eradicate heresies and issued a series of special decrees, which were called posters. Particularly cruel was the poster of 1550, which threatened death penalty to all those who did not profess Catholicism. Men were beheaded with a sword, and women were buried alive in the ground. Burning at the stake was also widespread. The property of heretics and those who not only helped, but were simply seen in conversation with them, were confiscated.

The wars of Charles V laid an unbearable burden on the peoples of the lands subject to him. Taxes constantly began to increase, and the Spanish troops behaved in the Netherlands like conquerors. All this paved the way for the Dutch Revolution, which the heir had already had the chance to disentangle. But in spite of everything, the inhabitants of the Netherlands remained loyal to their emperor. In Ghent, for example, on the Pyatnitsky market, after the revolution, a monument to the emperor was erected.

1539, April - Empress Isabelle died at the birth of her seventh child. This was a shock to the monarch. Strength gradually began to leave him. And several military failures in the fight against the Protestants and the death of part of the Spanish fleet during the landing in Algiers on October 25, 1541 broke the spirit of the emperor. So, having ordered to lift the siege of Metz, he sadly exclaimed: “Happiness is a depraved woman: she caresses only young men!”

Children

1546 - while in Regensburg, the aged and gloomy emperor again experienced something similar to love for the young girl Barbara Blomberg. Already after his departure, she became the mother of the last son of Charles, Juan of Austria, who was destined to become the stadtholder (heir) of the Netherlands in the future. Carl's mother was no longer interested, but he followed the fate of his son, took him to Spain and handed him over to be raised by a certain Donna Magdalene Ulloa, who considered him the bastard son of her husband. The secret was revealed only after the death of Charles V, who mentioned Juan in his will. Philip II ordered to bring his brother to the court and began to raise him along with his own son.

Charles V and his son Philip II of Habsburg

Abdication

Years passed, and the health of the monarch was completely upset. Due to gout, which had tormented him for more than 20 years, Karl could not stay in the saddle. And he could walk only leaning on a stick. The affairs of state did not fascinate the emperor. He devoted more and more time to religious reading. After much deliberation, Charles abdicated on September 12, 1555 in Brussels.

It should be noted that an important role in the fate of the inheritance of Charles and the success of his reign was played by external circumstances that determined his defeat in the struggle against the Protestant princes of Germany. Back in 1520 to power in Ottoman Empire came Suleiman 1 the Magnificent, who conquered the Kingdom of Hungary and began to threaten Europe. 1521, September 21 - the Turkish army approached the walls of Vienna, and only the courage of the besieged and the approach of winter forced Suleiman to retreat.

In subsequent years, the emperor had to demand large monetary contributions from the German princes to repel the Turkish invasion. Those, in turn, put forward their own demands, which forced the monarch in 1532 to sign a peace treaty with them. And this, as he claims famous historian E.B. Chernyak, “It made it easier for the Protestant princes to unite in the Schmalkaldic Union.” As a result, Charles V was forced, upon abdication, to abandon the idea of ​​transferring the imperial crown to his son Philip. The prince received Spain, Sicily, the Netherlands and the lands of the New World, and the crown of the Holy Roman Empire was transferred to Charles's brother, Archduke Ferdinand, who had resisted the Ottoman invasion two decades earlier.

After the abdication, the former emperor went to Spain, where he decided to spend the rest of his life. Along the way, festivities were held in the cities on the occasion of his arrival. However, Karl was not pleased with such a manifestation of feelings. A magnificent meeting in Valladolid was arranged for the sister queens accompanying him - Isabella of France and Mary of Hungary. Karl himself quietly entered the capital the next day.

Carl's death

There is a legend, accepted by many biographers as an indisputable fact, that the former emperor ended his days as a monk. This is not so: the last residence of Charles was San Jeronimo de Yuste in Extremadura. This place in the mountains was famous for its fresh air and rich hunting grounds. But autumn here was foggy and rainy. Doctors did not advise Karl to live there. But he did not listen to anyone and, surrounded by 50 close associates, settled in Extremadura.

A year later, Charles caught a severe cold and died on September 21, 1558. Here he was buried, but in 1574, by order of King Philip II, the remains of the emperor were transferred to the royal pantheon of Escurial.

Charles V was by far the biggest ruler medieval Europe. Placed at the head of a vast state by a game of dynastic connections, he was able to achieve relative calm in the territories subject to him with a stick and a carrot. But towards the end of his reign, the emperor clearly understood that his son Philip, whom he had chosen to take his place, could not keep the empire in subjection. The huge inheritance had to be divided, and Philip was forced to increase the tyranny in the management of the possessions that had gone to him.

Emperor Charles V.
School of Paul Rubens after Titian, first quarter of the 17th century.

Charles I (24.II.1500 - 21.IX.1558) - Spanish king (1516-1556), emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire" in 1519-1556 under the name of Charles V.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 7. KARAKEEV - KOSHAKER. 1965.

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Charles I/V, b. 02/24/1500 in Ghent, from 1515 Duke of Burgundy, from 01/23/1516 King of Spain (Charles I). 06/28/1519 elected King of the Holy Roman Empire. 10/23/1520 coronation in Aachen. On February 24, 1530, Pope Clement VII crowned him emperor (Charles V). 01/16/1556 abdication of the Spanish throne, 09/07/1556 - from the imperial rank. He died on September 21, 1558 in San Jeronimo de Yuste, and was buried on September 26 of the same year. Since 1574, the grave has been in the royal pantheon in Escorial.

Father: Archduke Philip the Handsome (1478-1506), Duke of Burgundy, King of Spain (1504-1506). Mother: John the Mad (1479-1555). Siblings: Isabelle (1501-1526); Fernando (1503-1564), Charles' successor as emperor (1556-1564); Leonora (1498-1558); Maria (1505-1558); Catalina (1507-1578).

Marriage with Isabelle of Portugal (1503-1539) 10.03. 1526 Married children: son Philip II(1527-1598), Spanish king (1556-1598); daughter Maria (1528-1603), wife of Emperor Maximilian II; Juan (1537-1573). Illegitimate children: from a connection with Katerina van der Geinst, a daughter Margaret of Parma(1522-1586); from a connection with Barbara Blomberg son Don Juan of Austria (1547-1578).

Alfred Kohler. Charles I/V (1516-1556). (Spanish kings. Rostov-on-Don, 1998).

Other biographical material:

Literature:

Baumgarten H., Geschichte Karls V, Bd 1-3, Stuttg., 1885-92;

Morel-Fatio A., Historiographie de Charles-Quint, P., 1913;

Armstrong E., The emperor Charles V, v. 1-2, L., 1910;

Rassow P., Die Kaiseridee Karls V, B., 1932;

Brandi K., Kaiser Karl V, 5 Aufl., Münch., 1959;

Babelon, J., Charles-Quint, P., 1947;

Tritsch W., Charles-Quint empereur d "occident, P., 1947;

Lucas-Dubretoh J., Charles-Quint, P., 1958;

Drion du Chapois F., Charles-Quint et l "Europe, Brux., 1962.

historical portrait

King Charles of Spain I

Charles I/V, Holy Roman Emperor

Emperor in 1519-56, Spanish king in 1516-56, from the Habsburg dynasty. In 1506 he inherited from his father Philip the Fair (son of Maximilian I) Burgundy and the Netherlands, in 1516 from his grandfather Ferdinand the Catholic - the Spanish crown, and in 1519 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 caused a number of uprisings (the uprising of the comuneros of 1520-22 and others in Spain, the Ghent uprising of 1539-40 in the Netherlands). Charles V waged numerous wars with France - the main rival of the Habsburgs in Europe, as well as with the Ottoman Empire. Stopping the advance in the war of 1532-33 Turkish troops into the possession of the Habsburgs, took in 1535 Tunisia from the vassal of the Ottoman Empire, but was defeated in Algiers (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 in 1521 against Luther. He defeated the German Protestant princes in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546-48, but in a new war that began in 1552, he suffered a severe defeat, was forced to conclude the Augsburg religious peace of 1555; then he abdicated the Spanish crown (transferred the Spanish throne and the Netherlands to his son Philip II) and the imperial throne (in favor of his brother Ferdinand I).

Life under the motto: Plus ultra

Among the Spanish kings, Charles I/V seems to be an exception in many respects: more than under all kings before and after him, other kingdoms left their mark on this reign. The fact that Charles is commonly referred to as Carlos V demonstrates the significance of his dominion that extended beyond Spain. This is consistent with studies of his policies in the Spanish kingdom. In fact, Karl's contemporaries were already interested in only some stages: the question of his coming to power (1517) and the subsequent uprisings of the comuneros "". Perhaps behind this lies only the expression of "national-historical" interests. For all their complete internationalism, previous studies nevertheless showed quite clearly that it was impossible to drive this ruler into the narrow framework of national-historical criteria. Only on a European scale can one assess his personality and rule. It is all the more understandable that Charles V is attracted by the unusualness of his life and deeds.

In his royal destiny an extraordinary role was played by chance, the play of dynastic forces, thanks to which Charles was able to get at his disposal huge and hitherto never united spheres of domination in Western, Southern and Central Europe. After him, they were never part of a single empire again. Charles V owned the Netherlands and, in addition to the most important counties (Brabant, Holland, Zeeland, etc.), he also owned the county of Burgundy, the Spanish kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula with the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily and Naples as vassals of the Aragonese crown. During his reign, the conquest, colonization and Christianization of the lands of Central and South America took place, an unprecedented process of Europeanization, costing the indigenous population of these lands huge sacrifices, the consequences of which are felt to this day.

The expression, eagerly used in connection with Charles V, "In my realm the sun never sets," expresses the fullness of the emperor's power, and his own motto "Plus ultra", meaning "further, beyond this", combined with the image of the Pillars of Hercules, symbolizes walking in the unknown paths leading beyond the boundaries of antiquity, then revered as a measure of things. It was hardly a solvable problem to create a single state out of these, in the state-legal, social, economic and church-religious terms, to the highest degree different subject territories, to solve the organizational problems of communication and coordination. And the fact that Charles had such intentions is evidenced by his own reflections, which he shared at the end of his reign, during his abdication in Brussels (1555). Karl stated the following: “Any of you remember that on January 5, 1555, it was forty years since the day when here [in Brussels], in the same room, at the age of fifteen, I received from my paternal grandfather, Emperor Maximilian , supreme authority over the Belgian provinces. After the death of my maternal grandfather, King Ferdinand the Catholic, which soon followed, an inheritance was placed under my care, which my mother's health was too weak to manage. At the age of seventeen I thus went across the sea to take possession of the kingdom of Spain. At the age of nineteen, after the death of the emperor, I ventured to claim the imperial crown, not in order to expand my possessions, but in order to be able to act even more effectively for the good of Germany and my other kingdoms, namely the Belgian provinces, and in the hope of maintaining peace between the Christian nations and unite their armed forces to defend the Catholic faith against the Turks."

Charles I of Spain. Childhood, dynastic perspectives

Born on February 24, 1500 in Ghent and baptized in honor of Charlemagne, the boy immediately after birth was considered the future heir to a vast state scattered throughout Europe. Unpredictable circumstances were in his favor due to the high mortality in the house of Trastamar, with whom Charles's father, Philip the Handsome, the son of Emperor Maximilian I, became related by marriage. As part of a double marriage project, Philip in 1496 married Joanna, the daughter of the Catholic kings Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Juan, the only heir of the House of Trastamar, in 1497 married Margaret of Austria, Philip's only sister. Juan died during their honeymoon; his sister Isabella, who became his heiress, married to Portugal, died in 1498 while giving birth to her son Miguel, who, in turn, died in 1500. So Joanna, the next oldest daughter of the Catholic royal couple, became the heir to the Spanish throne.

Before her son Charles opened an unexpected opportunity to inherit a huge power. Since Charles's father, Philip, died early (in 1506), and his mother, Joanna, who lived in Spain, went crazy and was recognized as incapable of governing the state, Charles was brought up in the Netherlands by aunt Margaret, in the spirit of chivalrous ideas about the nobility of late medieval Burgundian culture , which was dominated by knightly tournaments and hunting. Spiritual education received little attention. At the insistence of the Burgundian states, in 1515 Charles assumed the title of Duke of Burgundy in the Netherlands. Then relations with the French crown, whose first vassals were traditionally Burgundian dukes, were still good. This good-neighborly relationship, inherited from his father, Philip, seems to have been maintained mainly in order to enter the Spanish inheritance without interference. When this happened, Charles's relationship with France cracked. Unlike his father, shortly after his accession to the Spanish throne (1517), he took an anti-French position.

Charles I. Proclamation as king of Spain in Brussels

After the death of Queen Isabella (1504), a difficult situation developed in the Kingdom of Castile. Prior to that, the queen ruled, who didn't really rule, as everyone knew. On her behalf, Philip the Handsome first ruled, and then Ferdinand. After the death of Ferdinand, the regent, Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros, warned the young Charles: “The death of Ferdinand, your grandfather, does not give you any rights to Castile; any change may cause a revolt in the country and offend the feelings of those who, although involuntarily recognized the queen as incapable of governing, did not dare to deprive her of the right. Therefore, at the Brussels court, they sought to signal the succession of Catholic sovereigns by proclaiming Charles king of Castile and Aragon (March 14, 1516). This attempt to present everyone with a fait accompli caused a riot - Perez sees in it a "coup d'état." The meeting of the Castilian Cortes in Valladolid back in 1518 reminded that a mother has more rights than a son.

After the election of Charles as emperor (1519), another problem was added, since imperial rank was higher than the royal and therefore, when listing titles, it was called first. And yet in Castile they still had to put the name of the queen before the name of the king. For official texts, the following compromise was found: "Charles, by the grace of God, King of Rome, Joanna, by the grace of God, Queen of Castile." After the suppression of the uprising of the comuneros in 1521 (that is, the uprising of a number of Castilian cities), the name of Joanna, whom her son survived for only three years, disappears completely.

Before sending Charles to join the Spanish inheritance, the chief adviser, the senior chamberlain Guillaume de Croix, seigneur Chievre, took all conceivable measures, the need for which was explained international position Burgundy and respectively the Netherlands. For the Burgundian politician, smooth relations with France were extremely important, especially since the prestige of Francis I after his victory in Italy, at Marignano, on September 13/14, 1515, rose extremely. After negotiations with England to ensure trade interests, on August 13, 1516, Chevre concluded the Treaty of Noyon with France. It was based on an agreement on the marriage union of Charles with Louise, the one-year-old daughter of King Francis I, who was supposed to bring Naples (which he already de facto owned) as a dowry to Charles, and this in return for a high annual tribute and concession of Navarre. In the event of the death of Louise, another, not yet born daughter of the French king, was to take her place, otherwise - Rene of France.