Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Charles V. and Francis I. both pensioned Pietro Aretino at the same time, each hoping that he would do some mischief to the other. Aretino flattered both, but naturally attached himself more closely to Charles, because he remained master in Italy."-- The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1855) by Jacob Burckhardt |
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Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) from 1516, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506. As head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century, his dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and a unified Spain with its southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Furthermore, his reign encompassed both the long-lasting Spanish and the short-lived German colonizations of the Americas. The personal union of the European and American territories of Charles V was the first collection of realms labelled "the empire on which the Sun never sets".