Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V ruled more of the world than any European since Charlemagne and abdicated everything at fifty-five. Born at Ghent in 1500, he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands from his father at six, Spain and its American empire from his mother's parents at sixteen, and the Austrian lands and the imperial title in 1519, bought with Fugger money against Francis I. He spoke French and Dutch, learned Spanish late, and spent his reign travelling: he calculated that he had made forty journeys and had been at war for most of it. He fought Francis I in four wars over Italy, capturing him at Pavia in 1525, and his unpaid troops sacked Rome in 1527 and besieged the pope. He faced the Ottomans under Suleiman, who besieged Vienna in 1529 and dominated the Mediterranean; Charles took Tunis in 1535 and failed at Algiers in 1541. He presided at the Diet of Worms in 1521, heard Luther refuse to recant, and declared him an outlaw — and then could never enforce it, because he needed the German princes against France and the Turks and because Germany was too large and too divided. He defeated the Protestant Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg in 1547 and still had to concede the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, allowing each prince to determine his territory's religion. American silver from Potosí and Zacatecas funded the wars and was consumed by them; Spain defaulted repeatedly. He abdicated between 1555 and 1556, giving Spain and the Netherlands to his son Philip and the empire to his brother Ferdinand, and retired to a monastery in Extremadura. He died in 1558.
- Lived: 1500 CE – 1558 CE
- Nationality: Spanish
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
