



resided 



CIIAHLKS V. OF CKK.MANV 



119 



for -nine time at Holyrood again, and after- 

 wards at Prague, taking no part in tin- political 

 'lies and attempts of the Duchess de Berri. 

 II-- died of cholera at Gttrz on 6th Noveml>er 



I'liarlrs V., emperor of Germany, by the 



it of his dominions and by virtue of lii's own 

 genius the greatest European potentate of the 

 li'.ili century, was horn at (Jhent in l.~>00. From 

 his father Philip, the son of the Emperor Maxi- 

 milian and Mary of Burgundv, he inherited the 

 dominion of the Low Countries, the county of 

 iii.lv, and a strong claim to the imperial 

 crown ; from his mother, Joanna, the daughter of 

 Ferdinand and Isalxdla, he also inherited the king- 

 doms of Spain and Naples, and the Spanish 

 acquisitions in America. Charles's education was 

 intrusted to Adrian of Utrecht, afterwards pope 

 under the title of Adrian VI., and William de 

 < Yoy, an experienced politician, who early initiated 

 hi- pupil into the arts of government, and gained 

 mi ascendency over him which determined Charles's 

 policy during the early years of his rule. To 

 Adrian Charles owed little, and to the end his 

 scholastic acquirements were but meagre. His 

 grandfather, Ferdinand, died in 1516, and the 

 iif\t year Charles left the Netherlands for Spain, 

 where he was acknowledged joint ruler with his 

 mother Joanna, who was incurably insane. On 

 tin- death of his grandfather, Maximilian, in 

 I.") Ill, he was elected to the imperial crown from 

 a number of competitors, little, however, to the 

 satisfaction of his Spanish subjects, who saw in 

 this honour a blow at their own interests and 

 Importance. The following year Charles was 

 crowned emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle, and a few 

 months later ( 1521 ) presided at the famous Diet of 

 Worms. The main question he had here to settle, 

 the question of the respective claims of the 

 Catholics and the followers of Luther, was to the 

 end of his reign the great problem which Charles 

 ha<! to settle in Germany. At this his first diet, 

 he displayed the policy which, whenever it was in 

 his power, he ever afterwards pursued the restora- 

 tion of Germany to the papal see. The finding of 

 this diet was an edict against Luther and his 

 opinions, and by this edict Charles, at the outset of 

 hi> reign, leagued himself with Rome against the 

 national sentiment of Germany. 



The history of Western Europe during the next 

 quarter of the century is in large degree the history 

 of the rivalry of Charles and Francis I. of France. 

 According to their respective interests, Henry VIII. 

 of England and the successive popes now favoured 

 the one, and now the other ; and the result of the 

 conflicting interests of all these potentates was 

 almost continuous war during the whole of that 

 period. The Treaty of Madrid (1526), the Ladies' 

 Peace of Cambrai ( 1529), and the Peace of Crespy 

 (1544) may be regarded as marking the successive 

 steps in the struggle. The point - in dispute between 

 ( 'harles and Francis were these : Charles laid claim 

 t-i i lie duchy of Burgundy as having been unjustly 

 appropriated by Louis XL, and also to the duchy 

 "i Milan as a fief of the empire. Francis, on his 

 part, maintained his right to these territories, 

 demanded homage of Cliarles for Flanders and 

 Artois, and made it a ground of offence that 

 Spain had dispossessed Jean d'Albret of his king- 

 dom of Navarre. It was in Italy that the war 

 between the two monarchs was carried on most 

 rigorously ; and during the first period the result 

 was altogether in Charles's favour. Mainly at the 

 instance of Wolsey, Henry VIII. actively aided 

 the emperor, who was still further strengthened 

 by Francis' quarrel with his greatest subject, the 

 Constable Bourbon, who formed a league with 

 Charles and Henry VIII. for the complete subjuga- 



tion of France. In 1524 the troop* of Charle* drove 

 the French out of Italy, invaded Provence, and 

 unsuccessfully In-sieved Marseilles. Next year 

 Francis, in the endeavour to recover the duchy of 

 Milan, wa> defeated and taken primmer at Pavia, 

 and afterwards conveyed to Madrid. In 1526 he 

 was released after signing a treaty in which lie 

 yielded to Charles on all the point - at dispute be- 

 tween them. In this year Charles married Isabella, 

 sister of John III. of Portugal, to whom he was 

 much devoted. Meanwhile, there was a growing 

 alarm at the successes of Charles, and the Holy 

 League was formed against him by Pope Clement 

 VII., Henry VIII., Francis, and the Venetians. In 

 1527 a motley army of Spaniards, Italians, and 

 Germans, led by Boorbon, who fell in the assault, 

 sacked Rome, and imprisoned the pope, to the 

 horror of all Christendom. Charles was denounced 

 as the author of the sacrilege, and cartels of 

 defiance were sent to him by Henry and Francis. 

 He disclaimed all part in the affair ; yet it was 

 altogether in his interest that it should have 

 happened, as the pone was then the most active of 

 his enemies. The failure of Francis to seize the 

 kingdom of Naples led to the Peace of Cambrai 

 (1529), by which Charles was left master of Italy, 

 and was relieved from his homage for Flanders and 

 Artois. 



During all these years Charles had been resi- 

 dent in Spain, where, on his arrival from Ger- 

 many, he had found things in an extremely un- 

 settled state owing to certain encroachments lately 

 made on the privileges of the great cities. A 

 general insurrection had taken place during his 

 absence, which only after a protracted struggle 

 had been quelled by the help of the nobles. 

 Charles, by his tact and policy, succeeded in com- 

 pletely putting down the sedition ; and, while 

 largely increasing the power of the crown, con- 

 trived to render himself highly popular throughout 

 the country. All through his reign, however, he 

 had great difficulty in extorting from the Spanish 

 Cortes the funds necessary to carry on his foreign 

 schemes. In 1529 Charles' proceeded to Italy, and 

 at Bologna was crowned by the pope king of Lom- 

 bard y and emperor of the Romans. As Tie was on 

 his way to Germany, where the religious difficulty 

 was still the burning question, he urged the pope, 

 though unavailingly, to call a general council 

 which should settle once for all the points at issue. 

 At the Diet of Augsburg (1530) Charles confirmed 

 the Edict of Worms, and the Protestants ( now first 

 so called), in self-defence, formed the League 

 of Schmalkald. The threat of an invasion by the 

 Turkish sultan, however, forced Charles to make 

 important concessions, and with the supjiort of the 

 appeased Protestants he was enabled to take the 

 field against the Turks. No battle ensued, but the 

 sultan was forced to retire ; and Charles was again 

 at liberty to return to Spain by M-ay of Italy, where 

 once more he earnestly urged on the pope the 

 necessity of a general council. In 1535 Charles 

 achieved in person the most brilliant of all his 

 exploits the destruction of the jx)wer of the great 

 corsair Barbarossa, and the capture of Tunis. 

 Meanwhile, Francis was still in active hostility 

 against him; and in 1536 Charles himself once more 

 proceeded to Italy and invaded Provence with a 

 large army. By making the country a desert. 

 Francis forced his enemy to retire without effecting 

 any actual conquest. As another expedition into 

 Picardy had also miscarried at the same time, 

 this was the most disastrous year that Charles 

 had yet experienced. War, however, still pro- 

 ceeded ; and Francis, in desperation, and to the 

 disgust of Christian Europe, called in the aid of 

 the Turk. In 1538, both parties being now ex- 

 hausted, the pope (Paul III.), Francis, and Charles 



