Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-58), Holy Roman Emperor (1519-56). His vast empire included Spain and all its possessions, the Netherlands, Burgundy, Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and Austria. His reign was constantly troubled by wars with other European rulers, by the religious conflicts of the Reformation, and by the threat of invasion by Ottoman Turks. He fought a series of wars against Francis I of France, who finally took Burgundy. The Turks twice besieged Vienna but Charles was un-able to defeat them decisively because of other pressures. He also failed to reconcile or defeat the German Protestant princes and was eventually forced to accept their demands. Exhausted by these problems, he abdicated and spent the two final years of his life in a Spanish monastery. He was succeeded by his son Philip as king of Spain and by his brother Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor.
