I highly recommend this excellent biography. From
New York Journal of Books:
In writing a new biography of Emperor Charles V, who in the mid-16th
century ruled Spain, Germany, parts of the Netherlands, parts of Italy,
served as the Holy Roman Emperor, and ruled over the first transatlantic
empire in the Americas, historian Geoffrey Parker undertook a
monumental task. He learned several languages, read hundreds of previous
biographies of Charles, consulted numerous primary sources, and visited
the many places where Charles lived and traveled to during his lengthy
and eventful reign. The result is an exhaustive biography of the remarkable Habsburg
ruler coupled with important insights into the birth of the modern state
system of Europe that only fully emerged after the Peace of Westphalia
in 1648.
Charles was born in 1500. His father Archduke Phillip of Austria died
six years later. Charles’ grandfather Maximilian was head of the House
of Habsburg, and Charles’ mother was the daughter of Isabella of Castile
and Ferdinand of Aragon. Parker notes that it was Maximilian who “laid
the foundation for four centuries of Habsburg domination in central
Europe.”
Maximilian’s goal, Parker writes, was to rebuild “a Christian world
empire.” He sought to neutralize France, renew a crusade against the
Turks, and “reform the chaotic central government of the Holy Roman
Empire.” Charles V would follow closely in his footsteps. The Habsburgs extended their fiefdoms by what Parker calls
“matrimonial imperialism” and war. Royal marriages were arranged to
further dynastic goals. The more lands the Habsburgs acquired, the more
they had to defend. This proved costly in monetary and human terms and
also produced reactions from other European powers. This was an early
example of how the “balance of power” would operate in Europe for the
next four centuries.
Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor was also a defender of the Roman
Catholic faith, second only to the Pope. In the 16th century, Popes were
equally religious and political leaders, and Charles V often clashed
with them over European politics but also joined with them in struggles
against the Ottoman Turks. Parker details Charles’ personal religious
beliefs and practices, as well as his efforts (which proved
unsuccessful) to undermine Lutheranism in Germany.
Throughout Charles’ lengthy reign (he ruled in his own right from
1517 to 1555), war was a constant companion. He was very much a
warrior-emperor, often leading his troops into battle and exposing
himself to enemy fire. For example, during the war against the Lutheran
Schmalkalden League in 1546, Charles led a force of more than 34,000
troops at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and was described as “immobile as a rock”
as enemy artillery and bullets rained down all around him. Parker quotes a Venetian ambassador of that time about Charles and
war: “[He] cannot conceal the pleasure he takes in war. He is happy
then, he comes alive.” Some biographers would later say the same thing
about Winston Churchill.
Charles’ military campaigns included a long war against France in the
1520s (France’s King Francis I was a perennial opponent); fighting in
North Africa in 1535 and 1541; fighting in Italy; crusading against the
Turks in the 1530s; fighting in Germany in the 1540s, and again against
France in the 1550s. Like Louis XIV a century later, Charles V drained
his treasury by waging war too often and for too long.
He frequently engaged in what is now called summitry, meeting and
negotiating with, among others, England’s Henry VIII, Francis I of
France, and the Pope and other Italian leaders. In running his empire and fighting his wars, Charles benefitted from
the efforts of talented statesmen such as Mercurino Arborio de Gattinara
(his grand chancellor) and shrewd military men such as the Duke of
Alba.
Charles V also ruled the first global empire after his Spanish
subjects (Cortes and Pizarro most famously) conquered territory across
the Atlantic in America. Indeed, he used gold, silver and other
resources from America to help fund his European and North African wars.
Remarkably, Parker notes, Charles issued more than a thousand
legislative acts to “regulate the economy, society and administration of
the New World,” including acts establishing universities, some of which
exist to this day.
He believed that God would watch over him, protect him from serious
harm, and help him achieve success on the battlefields and elsewhere.
Charles’ deep religious faith affected every aspect of his public and
private life. That did not mean that he was always pious and always acted
consistent with Christian principles. He had a ravenous sexual appetite
that he repeatedly satisfied, Parker notes, and fathered several
children with women other than his wife. He effectively imprisoned his
mother for a time and frequently neglected his wife. He could be cruel,
self-righteous, and inflexible.
Yet as Parker notes, “[t]hroughout his life he performed daily
devotions and he retired to a monastery each Easter and also after his
abdication.” And Parker believes that Charles truly cared for the
downtrodden, including the native peoples in America. Near the end of his reign, Charles wrote a “political testament” for
his son and successor Phillip II. Written in 1548, it is a remarkable
document filled with sage political and religious advice.
He urged Phillip to defend the Catholic faith and to “submit all your
desires and actions to the will of God.” He lamented the costs of his
wars and urged Phillip to avoid them if at all possible. But he also
cautioned that successful diplomacy must be backed by force. It was necessary, Charles wrote, “to understand the actions of other
states and rulers, and maintain friends and informants in all areas.” He
urged Phillip to maintain good relations with the Pope, something
Charles did not always do. (Read more.)
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| Holy Roman Emperor Charles V |
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| Isabella of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress |
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