19:20
It is safe to say that history has not always been fair. And while most people inherit very little, some, like Karl of Luxembourg, received a lot during their lifetime. Charles is better known to us as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. A title he held alongside many others, the most famous of which were King of Castile and King of Aragon. Charles was the most powerful ruler in Europe and had incredible influence across the continent, as well as leading the ever- growing Castilian Empire in the Americas. However, despite the immense power and wealth that his possessions gave him, when it came time to consider the question of succession, Charles decided to divide his
possessions, giving them all to his son Philip and bequeathing them to his brother Ferdinand, which raises a fairly obvious question: why? Why did Charles V divide his possessions, thereby reducing the power and influence of his son and heir? So, like most people, Carl began his life at birth. But unlike most of us, he did it in Ghent, in what was once the Habsburg Netherlands, in 1500. His parents were Philip the Fair, Lord of the Netherlands and son of the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Princess Joanna of Castile, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, co-monarchs of Castile and Aragon. Charles obviously had many heirs, but he had to wait his turn.
His mother had just ascended the Castilian throne as Queen Joanna. Now, fairly or not, Joan is known as Joan the Mad, and as such she was not allowed to rule on her own. Her father demanded that he be made regent, but the Castilians preferred her husband Philip, so they made him king. Just in time for him to die a couple of months later, leading to Ferdinand's awkward return. Philip's death meant that young Charles was now Lord of the Netherlands and next in line to the Castilian throne. Ferdinand remained regent there until his death in 1516, making Joanna the sole ruler of it all. However, her condition, either a genuine
problem with her sanity or a problem with her being a woman and thus undesirable to the nobility of her kingdoms, meant that someone else was needed there to rule. Now next in line was Charles, but the fact that he was not from Iberia meant that he was not universally welcome, and many in the region saw this Flemish-speaking Habsburg as the beginning of foreign rule. Many there were concerned that Charles would use the wealth and people of his kingdom to wage wars on behalf of his grandfather in his inevitable future conflicts with France. In fact, Ferdinand wanted Charles' younger brother, also named Ferdinand, who was born in Castile, to take the throne there to
allay these fears. However, that's not how inheritance works, and that's why it all happened to Karl. Fears that Charles would wage wars in his grandfather's name were unfounded, as Maximilian died in 1519. An expensive election was held, in which Charles, now also Archduke of Austria, borrowed money using Castilian taxes as collateral. He defeated his main rival, Francis I, King of France, becoming Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and giving him all of this, depending on how you feel about the influence of the Holy Roman Emperor. Within his new empire, Charles faced religious discord due to the ongoing Protestant Reformation. Charles, a devout Catholic who would certainly never do anything that would harm the papacy, and it's surprising that you even brought up
the issue, wanted to bring Protestants back into the Catholic community. He hoped to do this through dialogue, meaning he simply ordered Martin Luther to recant his views, which he obviously did not do, and hence: schism. In Charles' Iberian lands, their fears of being used by a distant, indifferent ruler multiplied, and a rebellion soon broke out there in the hope of restoring Joan to the throne as sole ruler. This, combined with religious unrest in the Holy Roman Empire, prompted Francis I to launch an invasion of the recently conquered Navarre, the Habsburg Netherlands, as well as Italy, to take advantage of Charles' problems.
The French were defeated in the north, and Charles returned to his Spanish lands in 1522. Rebellions there were soon suppressed, but as a concession, Charles appointed locals to leadership positions and promised to rule their kingdoms as separate entities . He returned to Iberia to learn the local languages, secure his rule, marry, oversee the expansion of the Castilian Empire into the Americas, and, importantly, defeat the French invasion of Navarre. He even stayed there for a full 7 years before he had to leave due to pressing problems in the Holy Roman Empire that required his direct intervention. And this highlights one of the problems Charles V had with governing an empire of this size.
Obviously, when he left the area, he should have put someone in charge. For the Holy Roman Empire, it was his brother Ferdinand, whom he made regent and ruler of the Archduchy of Austria, at least in part, in 1521. He did this because without official lands, Ferdinand would not have the authority to act in Charles's absence. Although Ferdinand soon managed to expand his possessions to include Bohemia and what remained of Hungary. In any case, Charles's troops defeated the French on all fronts, consolidating his control over the Italian and Iberian possessions. However, Pope Clement VII was now concerned about Charlemagne's growing power and so allied with France, Venice, and all these countries to expel the Holy Roman Empire from Italy. This did not
happen, and Karl won. But before that, his troops, who had not been paid for a long time, plundered Rome and surrounded the Pope, thereby imprisoning him. Clement had effectively bankrupted the papacy by securing his own dismissal, and so now lacked the funds to confront Charlemagne again, which meant that the emperor was now effectively the senior partner between the two of them. Charles left Spain for Italy to be officially crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the aforementioned Pope, after which he traveled to Augsburg to convene a Diet there. His main concerns were, first, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and second, the settlement of religious differences throughout the empire. To no one's surprise, Protestants did not simply change
their minds and return to Catholicism. Shortly thereafter, Charles secured the election of his brother as King of the Romans, a title which meant that Ferdinand was now next in line to the position of Holy Roman Emperor. This was done mainly because Ferdinand was already effectively in control of the country, and also, as King of Hungary and Bohemia, he had a solid base for rule. He also had an exceptionally good working relationship with the nobles of the empire, something Charles believed his son and heir Philip would never be able to maintain while doing the same in Castile and Aragon. Religious schisms in the Holy Roman Empire continued to deepen. Therefore, the Protestant states formed the Schmalkaldic League, a defensive alliance that sought to prevent
the Reformation from being stopped by force. This was obviously a threat to the internal stability of the empire, but Charles allowed it on the condition that the members of the league agreed to fight against the French and Ottomans if the need arose. This happened quickly, as Francis invaded Italy again after Charles inherited Milan. This time France achieved better results and captured it, but Charles retained Milan and, through legal machinations, secretly transferred it to his son so that the French would have no reason to invade again. Not that Francis needed it, for in 1542, after Charles' fleet failed to capture the port of Algiers from the Ottoman state, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent initiated a new Franco-Ottoman
alliance, and the French crossed the border again. After 4 years of fighting, the war ended in a stalemate and accomplished little except bankrupting all participants, which was unfortunate for Charles, as the previously mentioned Schmalkaldic League had started the war in response to the ongoing Counter-Reformation. Charles won and tried to achieve reconciliation, which only made the situation worse. And although Francis I had just died, his son, the new king Henry II, was happy to continue the family tradition of invading Italy, which coincided with another Protestant uprising. While these wars raged, Charles, whose health was deteriorating and his desire to rule fading, began to prepare the ground for his abdication. Although Charles had early on
groomed Ferdinand to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor, he eventually came to regret this decision. And now he hoped that Philip would succeed him in all his lands and titles. The problem was that it virtually impossible to undo what he had previously started. You see, when Ferdinand became King of Rome in 1531, it wasn't something Charles could simply undo. Even if he could have overturned it to strengthen Philip's position in the empire, Charles would have had to restore the Archduchy of Austria to Ferdinand; and there was no reasonable way for this to happen without causing a civil war, which would only serve as an opportunity for France and the Ottomans.
Furthermore, it seemed impossible to all involved that Philip, a foreigner and a devout Catholic, could be appointed to rule the now religiously divided Holy Roman Empire without devolving into complete bloodshed. However, to calm down, Charles pressured Ferdinand to recognize Philip as his heir. Ferdinand initially agreed, but soon changed his mind, demanding that his son Maximilian succeed him. And Philip actually agreed with this and supported Ferdinand's wishes, because he saw in the Holy Roman Empire a strange, complex, foreign entity with ill- defined powers of the ruler, while in Castile and Aragon there was no such confusion. Philip also argued that handing him the imperial
crown and Austria would only lead to the profiteering of enemies, while with Ferdinand at the helm, Castile and Aragon would be guaranteed a much more stable ally, which brings me to the main reason why Charles decided to divide his empire. All this was still bound to end up in the hands of the Habsburgs, whose interests would force them to unite against their common enemies. And so, with the decision made, Charles now had to decide what to do with the rest of his possessions. The kingdoms of Sicily and Naples were given to Philip, as they had previously been under the crown of Aragon. Furthermore, thanks to Spain's powerful navy and better access to the Mediterranean, Philip was better able to defend them. The real dilemma was who
to get to the Netherlands. Charles wanted his birthplace to pass to his son and heir, but Spain was not exactly nearby and the Habsburg Netherlands were still part of the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, it seemed wiser to give them to Ferdinand. Karl met with Philip and asked if he wanted the Netherlands and the possible problems it might cause, which he did. Charles soon arranged Philip's marriage to Queen Mary I of England, hoping to support Catholicism there and increase pressure on France from the north. In case of any problems with bypassing the French coast, Charles also decided to transfer the rest of his possessions here to Philip, which would allow overland access to the Netherlands from the Mediterranean, which soon became
known as the Spanish Way. And thus, the issue of succession was resolved, and Charles was given the right to abdicate his thrones, which he did by 1556. Philip's position weakened somewhat when his wife died, thereby removing his role in governing England, and soon half of the Habsburg Netherlands declared their independence. But even without that, his global empire was growing so rapidly that he certainly wouldn't have felt unnoticed by his uncle. And the two halves of Charles's former empire remained close allies until the early 18th century, when the Habsburgs lost Spain. But of course, the Habsburgs still ruled the Holy Roman
Empire, except for one man who ceased to exist in the early 19th century, meaning that partition was probably the best option. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Special thanks to my viewers: James Bisson, The Neth Sky Chappell, Katuicka, Gustav Swan, Anthony Beckett, Michael Holbert, Lester Diamond, Wyand Hockey, The McWopper, Alex Schwinn, Marvin Cassell, Respectable Level of Chaos, Andy McGehee, Robert K. Perkins, Castle Bravo, Captain Sci-Dog, Kumon Yun, Paul H., The Flying Deutschland, Rod D. Martin, Shu Wen Yin, Spencer Lightfood, Eric Lyndon, Dr.
Frederick, Dan Lehman, Radiology Ryan, D. Jim Stannon, Winston Caywood, Brady Arundel, Bonnie Bounds, Remko Huytsman, Jim Strongberg, Beth Cabot, Lord Beek, Huff Cook, and Air Firefly.
