The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain
from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555.
He was heir to and then head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th
century.

born: February 24, 1500

Died: September 21, 1558,  Spain
Children: Philip II of Spain, John of Austria, Margaret of Parma, MORE
Deposed date: 1556
Grandparents: Isabella I of Castile, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Maximilian I, Mary of Burgundy
Parents: Juana I of Castile, Philip I of Castile
Grandchildren: Philip III of Spain, Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, 

Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke

of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as
titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. He was heir to and then head of the rising House of
Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century. His dominions in Europe included the Holy
Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian
hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of
the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia.
Why was it called the Holy Roman Empire?

- Because its rulers believed themselves to be the successors of the ancient Roman Empire.
- It was holy because it was Christian, the first emperor, Charlemagne crowned by the pope
in Rome in 800.
- The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 by Napoleon.

Spanish Family Tree of Charles V

Map of Spain in the sixteenth century
Charles was born to Habsburg Archduke Philip the Handsome, and Joanna of Castile. The
political marriage of Philip and Joanna was first conceived in a letter sent by Maximilian to
Ferdinand in order to seal an Austro-Spanish alliance, The heir of his four grandparents, Charles
inherited all his family dominions at a young age. After the death of his father Philip in 1516, he
inherited the Habsburg Netherlands, of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon,
the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.  At the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian in 1519, he
inherited Austria and was elected to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor. He adopted the
Imperial name of Charles V.

Charles V revitalized the medieval concept of universal monarchy. The Spanish inheritance,

resulting from a dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, included Spain as well as
the Castilian possessions in the Americas (the Spanish West Indies and the Province of Tierra
Firme) and the Aragonese kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia.  Joanna inherited these
territories in 1516.

 Because Joanna was mentally ill. Charles, therefore, claimed the crowns for himself jure matris,
thus becoming co-monarch with Joanna with the title of Charles I of Castile and
Aragon or Charles I of Spain. Castile and Aragon together formed the largest of Charles's
personal possessions,

After the death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian, in 1519, Charles inherited the Habsburg
monarchy. He was also the natural candidate of the electors to succeed his grandfather as Holy
Roman Emperor. (He defeated the candidacies of Frederick III of Saxony, Francis I of France,
and Henry VIII of England in the 1519 Imperial election.)  On 24 February 1530, he was
crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII in Bologna,

Due to Charles V's difficulties in coordinating between the Austrian, Hungarian fronts and his
Mediterranean fronts in the face of the Ottoman threat, as well as in his German, Burgundian and
Italian theatres of war against German Protestant Princes and France, the defense of central
Europe, as well as many responsibilities involving the management of the Empire, was
subcontracted to Ferdinand. Charles abdicated as emperor in 1556 in favor of his brother
Ferdinand; however, the Imperial Diet did not accept the abdication, Charles continued to use the
title of emperor.

Wars with France

Conflicts with the Ottoman Empire

Protestant Reformation

In 1526, Charles married Isabella and formed an alliance with Portugal. The marriage was
originally a political arrangement, The marriage lasted for 13 years until Isabella's death in 1539.

Between 1554 and 1556, Charles V gradually divided the Habsburg empire and the House of
Habsburg between a Spanish line and a German-Austrian branch.

Philip II (21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598), also known as Philip the
Prudent (Spanish: was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of
Naples and Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He was also jure uxoris  (by right of his
wife) King of England and Ireland from his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in
1558. The son of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal, Philip inherited his
father's Spanish Empire in 1556 and succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1580. Philip saw
himself as the defender of Catholic Europe against the Ottoman Empire and the Protestant
Reformation. 

His rule was filled with troubles since his war against the Dutch Republic was expensive and
unsuccessful, and his Spanish Armada was defeated and destroyed, which caused him to be harsh
to his subjects.

Philip wanted to marry an English queen, Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was Protestant. He

did not marry her, as she wasn't catholic and she also rejected his proposal. Instead, he married
her Catholic half-sister, Queen Mary I of England in 1554. The marriage made him King
Consort while she lived. 

On January 16, 1556, Philip became King of Spain when his father gave up the throne, but Philip
chose to stay out of the country until his father died.

Phillip II died in 1598.