Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire built a vast empire through inheritance. As king of Spain, he faced rebellions from nobles upset by his appointments of Flemish advisers. His empire included Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and territories in Italy and the Americas. Charles fought wars against France to maintain control of European territories and against the Ottoman Empire along eastern borders. By 1556, he abdicated and divided his empire between his son Philip II and brother Ferdinand I.

1. THE RISE OF MODERN MONARCHIES. THE
HISPANIC EMPIRE: CHARLES I/V
María Jesús Campos
learningfromhistory.wikispaces.com
“I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women,
French to men, and German to my horse”

2. THE RISE OF THE HISPANIC EMPIRE: CHARLES V
 In 1516, Charles I became
king of “Spain”. The dynastic
union has been “completed”.
 He would become Charles I
of Spain and V of the Holy
Roman Empire.

3. CHARLES I-V: INDEX
1. Personal background and inheritance
2. Domestic Policy.
3. Foreign Policy
4. Abdication

4. CHARLES I’ PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND
INHERITANCE
 Charles was born in Ghent (Gante), a Flemish
city.
 Son of Queen Juana of Castile (Joanna the
Mad) and Philip I (Philip the Handsome).
 His grandparents were:
 The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and his wife,
Mary of Burgundy (paternal branch)
 The Catholic Monarchs: Isabel I of Castile and
Ferdinand of Aragon (maternal branch)

6.  After the death of his maternal grandparents,
since his mother was insane, he inherited:
 The Crown of Castile with the Americans’ and
Africans’ possesions
 The Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of
Naples.

7.  After his father’s death and the death of his
paternal grandparents, he inherited the
possesions of the German Habsburgs and the
House of Burgundy:
 The Low Countries
 The French-Comté
 Flanders
 Access to the Imperial Crown

9.  With this heritage, Chares built a huge
empire: the Hispanic Empire.

10.  Charles was born in
Ghent, so the culture
and courtly life of the
Low Countries were an
important influence on
his early life.
 Especially as he had not
been suposed to inherit
the territories in Spain.

11. CHARLES I OF SPAIN
 When, in 1516 Charles
was proclaimed King of
Castile and of Aragon
jointly with his mother, he
couldn’t speak Spanish
and he knew little about
Spanish culture or
customs.
 The dynastyc union
planned by the Catholic
Monarchs has been
achieved.

12. • To build a huge
empire uniting the
subjects on
common grounds
(Catholicism)
Domestic
Policy
(Charles I)
• To strengthen,
defend and
expand his empire
Foreign
Policy
(Charles
V)

13. DOMESTIC POLICY
1. The Revolt of the
Comuneros
2. The Germanías
3. Charles’ V Empire
4. The Lutheran’s Revolt
in the Holy Roman
Empire
5. America

14. THE CROWN OF CASTILE: THE REVOLT OF THE
COMUNEROS
 When Charles arrived to
Spain in 1517, he brought
many Flemish noblemen
with him and gave them
the most important
government positions.
 This angered Castilian’s
noblemen.

15.  When his grandfather
Maximilian died in 1519,
Charles became a
natural candidate to the
Holy Roman Empire’s
Crown.
 So, he spent large
amounts of Castilian
money (taxes) to bribe
the electors.
 This angered Castilian’s
cities (Comunidades).

16.  When Charles
travelled to the
empire to be elected,
he left his Flemish
noblemen to rule
Castile and Aragon.
 Supported by the
nobles, the cities or
“Comunidades de
villa y tierra”, started
the Revolt of the
Comuneros.
Adrian of Utrecht Regent / fut. Pope Adrian VI

17.  The rebels were
successful during the
first months of the
revolt.
 However, the king
later came to an
agreement with
Castilian nobles.
 The nobles
abandoned the revolt
and helped the king
fight the rebels.

18.  The Comuneros
were defeated in
1521 in the battle of
Villalar (Valladolid).
 The leaders of the
revolt, Juan de
Padilla, Juan Bravo
and Francisco
Maldonado, were
executed.

19.  It led to a change in Charles I approach to
the Crown of Castile. He paid more attention
to Castilian issues and he spent more time
here than in any other territory.
 Castilian nobles were appointed to the
highest government positions.
 Castile became integrated into the empire
and would provide the bulk of the empire’s
military and financial resources.
 The Comunidades lost almost all of their
power and from that moment on would have
little to say in governmental matters.
 Consequences of the Revolt of the
Comuneros:

20. CHARLES’V EMPIRE
 Made up of many
different territories, each
of them with their own
laws, institutions and
customs.
 Charles V had a lot of
power but not an
absolute power
(decisions about taxes
still needed the approval
of the
Parliaments/Cortes)

21. “Charles, by the grace of God, Holy Roman Emperor, forever August,
King of Germany, King of Italy, King of all Spains, of Castile, Aragon,
León, of Hungary, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, Navarra, Grenada, Toledo,
Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Sevilla, Cordova, Murcia, Jaén, Algarves,
Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, King of Two Sicilies, of Sardinia,
Corsica, King of Jerusalem, King of the Western and Eastern Indies, of
the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, Archduke of Austria, Duke
of Burgundy, Brabant, Lorraine, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Limburg,
Luxembourg, Gelderland, Neopatria, Württemberg, Landgrave of Alsace,
Prince of Swabia, Asturia and Catalonia, Count of Flanders, Habsburg,
Tyrol, Gorizia, Barcelona, Artois, Burgundy Palatine, Hainaut, Holland,
Seeland, Ferrette, Kyburg, Namur, Roussillon, Cerdagne, Drenthe,
Zutphen, Margrave of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgau, Oristano and
Gociano, Lord of Frisia, the Wendish March, Pordenone, Biscay, Molin,
Salins, Tripoli and Mechelen.”

22. CHARLES V’S COAT OF ARMS (1520)
Columnas de
Hércules con las
coronas imperial
y real y leyenda
“Plus ultra”
Casa de
Austria
Ducado de
Borgoña
Brabant
e
Flandes
Tirol
Toisón de oro
(orden de
caballería de
Borgoña fundada
en 1430)
Águila bicéfala
imperial
Corona
imperial
Cruz de S. Andrés (Ducado
de Borgoña)
Jerusalé
n
Nápoles
Navarr
a

23.  The court was
itinerant. There was
not a capital city.
 The king travelled in
person to problem
territories.
 Each territory had a
viceroy or governor,
who ruled in the
king’s name

24.  Most of the emperor’s
revenue came from
taxes, especially from
Castile.
 But taxes alone were not
enough to finance his
policies, so the emperor
had to ask for loans
which burdened
Castilian’s economy.
 Nevertheless it was a
huge empire. The biggest
empire history has ever
known.

25. THE LUTHERAN’S REVOLT IN THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE
 Although Charles tried to stop (Diet
of Worms) the expansion of
Lutheranism in the Holy Roman
Empire, German princes used
Lutheranism as a way to weaken the
emperor’s power.
 Although he was able to defeat the
Smalchaldic League (Lutheran
Princes), the division among
Lutheranism and Catholic did not
disspear.
 Finally, the Peace of Augsburg
(1555), solved the situation. It
established that each prince had a
right to choose his religion and his

26. AMERICA
 The territories in
America were
considerably extended
by conquistadors:
 Hernan Cortés
defeated the Aztec
Empire
 Francisco Pizarro
conquered the Inca
Empire

27.  Fernando de Magallanes and El Cano’s
expedition first circumnavigated the globe
in 1522.

28.  The expansion of the
empire provided the
state treasury with
enormous amounts
of bullions.
 America was treated
as an extension of
Spain, so the same
laws were applied
there.

29.  Indians were
considered Spanish
citizens.
 Charles I convened a
conference at Valladolid
to review the morality of
the force used against
the indigenous
populations. As a result,
the use of excessive
violence was forbidden.

30.  As a part of the
polisinodyal system,
a Council of Indies
was created to
advise the king on
matters of
government.
 The Casa de
Contratación was
in charge of
migration and trade
with America.

31.  To better govern and
control the territory, it
was divided into:
 The Viceroyalty of
New Spain
 The viceroyalty of
Perú

32. FOREIGN POLICY
 Charles’ V idea of
building a strong empire
united by Catholicism
led to many wars:
 France
 The Ottoman Turks

33. FRANCE
 France was the
emperor’s main rival for
supremacy in Europe.
 France was specially
interested in Charles’
Italian territories.
 Both countries were at
war during Charles’ V
reign although most of
the wars were won by
the emperor.

34. THE OTTOMAN TURKS
 The Ottoman Turks
were constant threats
in the Mediterranean
and along the eastern
boundary of the Holy
Roman Empire.
 Charles V kept a
constant fight against
the Turks but he was
not able to end the
problem.

35. CHARLES V ABDICATES
 Between 1554 and 1556,
Charles V abdicated
dividing his possesions:
 His son Philip II received
the Hispanic posessions:
Spain, America, Italy
(Naples, Sicily, the
Duchess of Milan,
Flanders…)
 His brother Ferdinand I
received the Holy Roman
Empire

36.  He retired to the
monastery of Yuste
(Extremadura) and
died in 1558.

40. Developed by María Jesús Campos
Chusteacher
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