CHARLES V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain (in the latter capacity he is called Charles I.), the eldest son of Philip, archduke of Austria, and of Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, born in Ghent, Feb. 24, 1500. Charles was the grandson of the Emperor Maximilan and Marys daughter of Charles the Bold, last duke of Burgundy, and inherited from his grandparents on both sides Aragon, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Castile, and the colonies in the New World, Austria, Bur gundy, and the Netherlands. On the death of Ferdinand, his grandfather, Charles assumed the title of King of Spain. In 1519 he was elected emperor, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle with extraordinary splendor. The progress of the Reformation in Germany de manded the care of the new emperor, who held a diet at Worms. Luther, who appeared at this diet with a safe-con duct from Charles, defended his case with energy and boldness. The emperor kept silent; but after Luther's departure a severe edict appeared against him in the name of Charles, who thought it his interest to declare himself the defender of the Roman Church. A war with France, which the rival claims of Fran cis I. in Italy, the Netherlands, and Na varre made inevitable, broke out in 1621. Neither side had a decided success till the battle of Pavia in 1525, where Fran 11U was unary aeieatea and tagen pris oner. Charles treated his captive with respect, but with great rigor as regarded the conditions of his release. A league of Italian states, headed by Pope Clem ent VII., was now formed against the overgrown power of Charles, but their ill-directed efforts had no success. Rome itself was stormed and pillaged by the troops of the Constable of Bourbon, and the Pope made prisoner. Nor was the alliance of Henry VIII. of England with Francis against the emperor any more successful, the war ending in a treaty (Cambray, 1529), of which the condi tions were favorable to Charles. A war against the Turks by which Solyman was compelled to retreat, and an expedition against the Dey of Tunis by which 20,000 Christian slaves were released, added to the influence of Charles, and acquired for him the reputation of a chivalrous defender of the faith. In
1537 he made truce with Francis, and soon after, while on his way to the Neth erlands, spent six days at the court of the latter in Paris. In 1541 another ex pedition against the African Moors, by which Charles hoped to crown his repu tation, was unsuccessful, and he lost a part of his fleet and army before Algiers without gaining any advantage. A new war with France arose regarding the territory of Milan. The quarrel was patched up by the peace of Crespy in 1545. The religious strife was again dis turbing the emperor. Charles, who was no bigot, sought to reconcile the two par ties, and with this view alternately courted and threatened the Protestants. At length in 1546 the Protestant princes declared war, but were driven from the field and compelled to submit. But the defection of his ally, Maurice of Saxony. whom Charles had invested with the elec toral dignity, again turned the tide in favor of the Protestants. Maurice sur prised the imperial camp at Innsbruck in the middle of a stormy night, and Charles with great difficulty escaped alone in a litter. The Treaty of Passau was dictated by the Protestants. It gave them equal rights with the Catholics, and was confirmed three years later by the diet of Augsburg (1555). Foiled in his schemes and dejected with repeated failures, Charles resolved to resign the imperial dignity, and transfer his heredi tary estates to his son Philip. In 1555 he conferred on him the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and on Jan. 15, 1556, that of Spain, retiring himself to a resi dence beside the monastery of Yuste in Estremadura, where he amused himself by mechanical labors and the cultivation of a garden. He died Sept. 21, 1558.