Charles V also Charles I of Spain 1500-58
Holy Roman Emperor

He was born in Ghent, Belgium, the son of Philip the Handsome (count of Flanders, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and briefly King of Spain as Philip I) and Joanna, the Infanta of Spain ('Juana the Mad', daughter of Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon and Isabella of Castile). Charles's father died in 1506, and his mother, who was regarded as insane, was kept in confinement in Spain for the rest of her life by her father, who assumed control of Castile. Charles and his sisters were brought up in Flanders by their aunt, the Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who acted as Charles's regent in the Netherlands until 1515. In 1516 his maternal grandfather Ferdinand of Aragon died, and Charles inherited from him Spain, Naples and Spanish America. In 1519 his paternal grandfather, Maximilian, died, and from him Charles inherited the Crown of Germany. In 1519 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Aachen, having defeated Francis I of France for the election, and thereby became the most powerful monarch in Europe at the age of 19. The ensuing years were dominated by virtually continuous wars with France for possession of Italy, and by a series of fruitless attempts to achieve religious unity in Germany. The Treaty of Cambrai (1529) brought a temporary peace, and Charles made a triumphal procession through Italy and in 1530 was crowned by the pope in Bologna as emperor and King of Italy. In 1532 he defeated Sultan S�leyman the Magnificent at the Siege of Vienna. War broke out again in 1536, when Francis invaded Savoy, and again in 1542, until a final truce was arranged through the Treaty of Cr�py (1544). During the Reformation, Charles tried to restore unity of faith to protect his empire. In 1521 he presided over the Imperial Diet of Worms, where Martin Luther was given a hearing but declared an outlaw. He also called the Diets of Augsburg (1530) and Regensburg (1541) which, however, failed to reconcile the differences between Catholics and Lutherans. In 1547 he defeated the Lutheran princes (the League of Schmalkalden) at M�hlberg, and imposed the Augsburg Interim (1548) which condemned Lutheranism, but the harsh treatment of the Protestant prisoners only provoked a rebellious uprising in Saxony where Charles was worsted and was forced to grant Protestantism legal recognition through the Treaty of Passau (1552) and the Peace of Augsburg (1555). Elsewhere, Charles extended Spanish dominions in the New World by the conquest of Mexico by Hern�n Cort�s (1519-21) and of Peru by Francisco Pizarro (1531-35). Towards the end of his long reign, his health broken by gout, Charles devoted himself to consolidating his vast dominions for the benefit of his heirs. In 1527 he had married Isabella of Portugal, by whom he had a son, Philip (the future Philip II of Spain). In 1553 he renounced his imperial crown in favour of his brother, Ferdinand I (although his abdication was not formally accepted until 1558), and in 1555-56 he resigned his kingdoms of Spain, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Americas to his son Philip. Having abdicated all his powers he retired to live in seclusion in the monastery of San Geronimo de Yuste, in Estremadura.