In AD 1500, at the dawn of
the 16th century, the Holy Roman Empire was approaching the
height of its power. Tracing its origins
all the way back to AD 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as King
of the Romans, both the Empire’s power and size had fluctuated. Usually, the Emperor ruled over much of what
we call Germany and Austria, parts of France and much of northern Italy. But he
found it hard to be a strong ruler because many of the dukes, counts and
bishops (who were allegedly his vassals) struggled against the
Emperor. Often, too, the Pope in Rome
and the Emperor had not cooperated and fought for control of Christian Europe
through the centuries.
Now, though, Emperor Maximilian had successfully overcome
much of the resistance against him.
Furthermore, he had strengthened his family, the Hapsburgs,
through alliances and marriages. His
son, Felipe the Handsome, became ruler of the Netherlands and married the
daughter of Fernando and Isabel, King and Queen of Spain, in 1496. (These are
the king and queen that sent Columbus to discover the New World). This daughter was known as Juana La Loca, or
Juana the Mad, because she developed mental problems after she grew up. Because she could not be trusted with the
government of Spain, this meant that Felipe would someday be king of Spain and
also have a good chance of being elected King of the Romans, just like his
father.
Juana gave birth to a son in 1500. She and Felipe named him Carlos. He was to become one of the great men of
history.
In 1506, Felipe became King of Spain after Fernando abdicated. Sadly, he died only a month later and
Fernando had to become King again because Felipe’s son, Carlos, was only six
years old. While Fernando waited for
Carlos to grow up and become the King of Spain, the little boy was raised by
his aunt, Margaret of Austria, and by a priest named Adrian of Utrecht, who was
a member of devotio moderna, a religious group dedicated to
helping regular people learn how to read.
This priest would someday become Pope Adrian VI.
In 1515, young Carlos became ruler of the
Netherlands. A year later, his
grandfather Fernando died, and Carlos was crowned as King of Spain. Besides what we now call Spain, the King of
Spain back then was also ruler of Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily. And he was just sixteen years old!
Three years later, Carlos’ other grandfather, Maximilian,
also died. The dukes, counts and bishops
of the Holy Roman Empire quickly elected him King of the Romans and he was
crowned in the city of Aachen, Germany. Since there had been four other
emperors named Carlos, or Charles, before him, he became Carlos V. In addition to all the territory he ruled as
King of Spain, he was now ruler over the Holy Roman Empire as well. As of AD 1519, he had become the single most
powerful man in all of Europe.
Carlos V would witness some of the most important moments
in the history of our Western civilization.
In the same year that he became Emperor, men from his own kingdom in
Spain would begin conquering Mexico, Central and South America. He would also be emperor when the Martin
Luther started the Reformation and divided Western
Christianity. During his reign King
Henry VIII of England would divorce himself from his first wife and divorce
his church from Rome, founding the Church of England. And religious strife between those who held
to tradition and the new Christians in France would tear that country apart.
But, for all the strife that would afflict his reign over
one of the most powerful empires in the world, Carlos V also enjoyed living at
the height of the Renaissance. He shared
the world with great painters and scientists, such as Michelangelo and Leonardo
Da Vinci, about whom we will hear and see more in the weeks to come.
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