CHARLES 



1277 



CHARLES 



CHARLES, in the history of the HOLY RO- 

 MAN EMPIRE, the name of seven monarchs who 

 bore the title Holy Roman emperor. In 

 theory the Holy Roman emperors were suc- 

 cessors of Charlemagne, but in fact they ruled 

 over the German dominions and Italy. Ex- 

 cepting Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 

 Charles V and Charles VI were the most im- 

 portant of the emperors who bore the name 

 of Charles. 



Charles V (1500-1558) was one of the most 

 powerful sovereigns of the sixteenth century. 

 Heir to the rich and populous provinces of the 

 Netherlands and to the dominions of Spain 

 and the Austrian House of Hapsburg, he be- 

 came king of Spain as Charles I in 1516, and 

 was crowned Emperor Charles V in 1520 as 

 successor to Maximilian I. His reign was 

 greatly disturbed by wars with Francis I of 

 France and Solyman the Magnificent, sultan 

 of Turkey. In his second war with Francis I 

 an imperial army plundered Rome and took 

 the Pope prisoner. Charles and Francis ended 

 their struggles in 1544, but in the meantime 

 the great Reformation movement had devel- 

 oped in the German dominions of the em- 

 peror. 



Had Charles been able at the beginning of 

 his reign to turn his attention to religious 

 matters in Germany, he might have prevented 

 the growth of Protestantism during his life- 

 time. When, in 1546, the year of Luther's 

 death, he began serious efforts to suppress the 

 movement, he found the Protestants too strong 

 for him, and by the Peace of Augsburg (1555) 

 it was agreed that the people of each German 

 state should adopt the religion, whether Prot- 

 estant or Roman Catholic, of the ruling prince 

 of that state. Charles began, however, the per- 

 secution of the Protestants in Spain and the 

 Netherlands that were continued by his son 

 Philip II of Spain. 



Wearied by his years of warfare and sad- 

 dened by his failure to make all of his subjects 

 think alike in matters of religion, the emperor 

 in 1555 and 1556 gave up to his son, Philip, the 

 crowns of the Netherlands and Spain, and to 

 his brother, Ferdinand, his imperial authority. 

 Charles VI (1685-1740), the last of the direct 

 male line of the House of Hapsburg, and the 

 second son of the Emperor Leopold I, was 

 Holy Roman emperor from 1711 to 1740. In 

 1700, on the death of Charles II of Spain, 

 Charles of Hapsburg claimed the Spanish 

 throne as the rival of Philip of Anjou. This 

 brought on the War of the Spanish Suc- 



cession, in which Great Britain and Holland 

 aided Charles. When he became emperor of 

 Germany in 1711, Charles was forced by his 

 allies to give up his claim to the Spanish 

 crown, but was permitted to retain the Spanish 

 possessions in the Netherlands and in Italy. 

 In 1713 he published the Pragmatic Sanction, 

 by which his daughter Maria Theresa was to 

 inherit all the possessions of the House of 

 Austria. Charles spent more than twenty years 

 of his reign trying to win the consent of the 

 European powers to the "Pragmatic Sanc- 

 tion." B.M.W. 



Related Subject*. The reader la referred to 

 the following important articles: 

 Charlemagne Reformation 



Hapsburg, House of Spain (History) 



Holy Roman Empire Succession Wars 

 Netherlands (History) Utrecht, Peace of 

 Pragmatic Sanction 



CHARLES [Sweden] the name of several 

 Swedish monarchs. 



Charles IX (1550-1611), third son of Gustavus 

 Vasa (see GUSTAVUS I), began his rule as regent 

 of the kingdom in 1592, on the death of his 

 brother John. In this position he gave his 

 support to the establishment of Protestantism 

 in Sweden. He was crowned king in 1604, 

 and during his reign engaged in wars with 

 Poland, Russia and Denmark. Charles was 

 the founder of the University of Gothenburg 

 and the author of a rhymed history of his 

 war with Poland. 



Charles X, GUSTAVUS (1622-1660), who 

 reigned from 1654 to 1660, was the nephew of 

 the great Gustavus II Adolphus (which see) 

 and successor of Queen Christina. Soon after 

 his accession he invaded Poland, and having 

 forced Frederick William, elector of Branden- 

 burg, to give him aid, defeated the Poles in 

 a famous battle at Warsaw (1656). During a 

 war with Denmark he secured for his own 

 kingdom the Danish provinces of Scania and 

 Holland, and laid siege to Copenhagen. The 

 Dutch then came to the help of the Danes, 

 and Frederick William turned against Charles, 

 so successfully that the Swedish forces were 

 defeated both on land and on sea. 



Charles XI (1655-1694) succeeded his father 

 Charles X in 1660, but the kingdom waa ruled 

 by his mother, Hedwig, until the boy king had 

 reached the age of seventeen. His reign began 

 with wars against the Germans, the Dutch and 

 the Danes. After the restoration of peace 

 Charles began a period of reform. He dimin- 

 ished the power of the nobles, cut down the 

 public debt, reorganized the army and navy 



