Charles V Holy Roman Emperor: Encyclopedia II - Charles V Holy Roman Emperor - Early life

Charles V Holy Roman Emperor - Early life

Charles was born in Ghent and brought up in the Low Countries until 1517, where he was tutored by Adrian of Utrecht, later Pope Adrian VI. His three most prominent subsequent advisors were Lord Chièvres, Jean Sauvage, and Mercurino Gattinara. In 1506, on the death of his father, Charles inherited the Low Countries and Franche-Comté. After the death of his grandfather Ferdinand in 1516, Charles became joint-king of Castile with his mother Joanna of Castile (who was insane), and also inherited Aragon, Navarre, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia from his grandfather, and Castilian dependencies Granada and Spanish America (in the latter overseeing the conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires in the Americas, led by the Spanish conquistadors). Upon arriving in Castile and dismissing the regent Cardinal Cisneros, he had to fight the Castilian War of the Communities against the cities and petty nobles who disliked his appointment of Flemings for Castilian offices. He eventually won and from then on Castilian Cortes were keen on conceding him the vast resources needed for the numerous wars he waged in Europe. After the death of his other grandfather, Maximilian, in 1519, he inherited Habsburg lands in Austria and was elected Holy Roman Emperor on June 28, 1519.

He married the Infanta Isabella in 1526, sister of John III of Portugal, who had shortly before married Catherine, Charles's sister.

He actually did not have a distinct nationality. He was: the Holy Roman emperor, archduke of Austria, duke of Milan, ruler of Franche-Comte; grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella on his mother's side and thus king of Spain (title there was Charles I); king of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, and ruler of all the Spanish possessions in the New World

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki