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throughout the country. He was also eager
to defend and expand the long-neglected
Portuguese colonies in Africa. His overseas
projects were, however, a threat to British
and German ambitions, and his inability to
meet the challenge of these powerful rivals
diminished him in public esteem at home.
In addition, Charles was the inheritor of
decades of bad government, for the corrupt
deals made between liberals and conserva-
tives during the preceding reign had stimu-
lated a republican movement. Attempting
to take a strong line against his critics,
Charles supported the repressive tactics of
Prime Minister João Franco, but this merely
provoked a revolutionary upsurge culmi-
nating in 1908 with the assassination of
the king.
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1519,
he put down the disturbances with military
force but also paid attention to the sensi-
bilities and traditions of his Spanish sub-
jects. Remaining in Spain for the next
seven years, he became thoroughly famil-
iar with the land and its culture and devel-
oped bonds of mutual affection between
himself and the Spaniards. His identifica-
tion with the Iberian Peninsula intensified
when he married Princess Isabella of Por-
tugal (1526), and their growing family
was brought up exclusively in this corner
of his dominions.
Charles, for all that he was king of
Spain, could not remain there for any
extended period after 1529. He was con-
stantly pursuing the demands of interna-
tional politics, which included an ongoing
war with France (fought everywhere from
Italy to the Low Countries), the challenge
posed by the Protestant Reformation in his
German territory, and the constant men-
ace of Turkish expansion both in the Bal-
kans and the Mediterranean. At times
Charles took personal charge of military
operations in North Africa or diplomatic
negotiations such as those with England or
the Scandinavian kingdoms. Through mar-
riage alliances he was linked to most of the
dynasties of Europe and took his obliga-
tion seriously, whether in supporting his
niece's claim to the Danish throne or seek-
ing to protect the remnant of Hungary
after his brother-in-law, the king, was
killed during the Turkish invasion.
While Charles, whom even his Spanish
subjects came to call simply “the emperor,”
was preoccupied with European affairs, his
concerns were global as well. The New
World discovered under the patronage of
his grandmother, Queen Isabella, and
Charles I (Carlos I, Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V)
(1500-1558)
king of Spain
Born in Gent (now in Belgium), he was the
son of J
OANNA
, heiress and later queen of
Castile, and Archduke Philip of H
ABSBURG
,
later P
HILIP
I). He was, thus, the grandson
of F
ERDINAND
V and I
SABELLA
I, the Spanish
monarchs, and of the Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I and Duchess Marie of Bur-
gundy. As the ultimate inheritor of his
grandparents' realms, he was destined to
become the ruler of much of Europe.
Charles paid his first visit to Spain in 1517
following the death of Ferdinand in order
to take formal possession of Castile and
Aragon. His high-handed manner and the
rapacious arrogance of the Burgundian
advisers who accompanied him created
antagonisms that burst forth in a series of
popular revolts after his departure. When
Charles returned in 1522, having become
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