Biography of Charles V
"The sun never sets on my empire»
24 February 150019 September 1558
He was born in Ghent, in Flanders, in 1500, and died in San Jerónimo de Yuste in 1558. Carlo was descended from some of the most illustrious houses of European nobility: in fact, he was the son of Philip of Habsburg, the fair (therefore grandson of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg) and Joan called la Pazza (daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile). In 1516, after the death of Ferdinand the Catholic, Charles (who, upon his father's death in 1506, had already inherited the Netherlands), became King of the unified Kingdom of Spain, which, on the one hand, with the possession of the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands, already occupied a central position in the Mediterranean; on the other, with recent conquests on the shores of the American continent, was projected to the oceans, contending the Portuguese Dominion of new lands.
Having gone in Spain, failed, however, to obtain the consent of the Cortes which convened, claimed their independence, denying him the credits required. He died in 1519, when Maximilian of Habsburg, he went to Germany to put his candidacy to the Imperial Crown, leaving Neilson of Utrecht as Regent in Castile.
Immediately blazed the uprising, known as the comuneros; Charles, returned in 1522, he reestablished the order showing clemente toward the rebels and confining itself to execute the principal chiefs, but was this the first sign of the contradictions between regional interests and European policy that plagued all his realm. Meanwhile, in 1519, despite the opposition of the King of France Francis I, Charles, buying voters thanks to the loan of a large sum of money granted to him by German bankers of Augusta Fugger and Welser, had managed to be crowned Emperor in Aachen, under the name of Charles V: his power stretched, now, on an immense territory, which, in addition to the Empire, included the Burgundian possessions dynastic Habsburg possessions, and the Spanish Crown, with the American colonies, so you could actually say that hers was "an empire on which the sun never set" (according to his own words).
Francis I, King of France, who had asked unsuccessfully for his candidacy, reacted to the territorial encirclement that it was visited by Charles V with the war. In 1521 descended into Italy, claiming the Duchy of Milan, already won by Louis XII, and starting a fight that, through four stages, ended only in 1544, with the Treaty of Crépy, with which he achieved peace based on the status quo. Faced with the problems raised by the reform, the position of Charles was very cautious for fear of bumping into the German princes. At the diet of Worms (1521), Luther, who had not recanted, he was left free and in fact was persecuted even after the announcement. At the diet of Speyer (1526) was sanctioned the legality of Lutheran until the next Council decisions; and when, at the second diet of Speyer (1529), Carlo, who had reconciled with the Pope, attempted to settle the matter by force, Protestant reactions (Schmalkaldic League and protest of Augsburg, 1530) did return to a position of conciliating.
There was meanwhile more and more severe the Turkish issue: in 1534 Khair ad-Din, known as Barbarossa, freed Tunis to Berber King Moulay Hassan, they served as a basis for the raids of his pirates. Carlo organized an expedition which was attended by all European countries, excluding Venice. Tunis was returned to Mulay Hassan and the pirates suffered a heavy defeat. In 1545 the Council of Trent had opened and Carlo had been convinced that he was now Protestant may resolve the problem by force.
An alliance with Maurice de Saxe, led a campaign on the Danube, in which Paul III took part with men and equipment and that ended with the victory of Muhlberg (1547), in which the Protestant army was destroyed and many leaders were taken prisoner. But the situation quickly capsized, and Charles was forced to sign the Treaty of Passau (1552), with which the Protestant princes were liberated prisoners and was restored in Germany freedom of worship. Tired of long struggles, in 1556 he abdicated in favour of his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand, which divided the vast domains.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.