About Charles V

Charles V – Karel V – Carlos Quinto (Primero) – Karl I

born February 24, 1500 in  Ghent, Belgium
died September 21, 1558 in San Jerónimo de Yuste, Spain

Holy Roman emperor (as Charles V, 1530–56), King of Castile and Leon, Aragon and Sicily (as Carlos Primero, 1516–56), King of Naples (as Charles IV, 1516-54), Archduke of Austria (as Karl I, 1519–21), King of the Romans (as Charles V, 1519-30), Count of Flanders (as Charles III, 1506-56), Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II, 1506-56), Duke of Brabant and Limburg (as Karel II, 1506-56), Duke of Lotryk (as Karel II, 1506-16), Duke of Luxembourg (as Charles III, 1506-56), Margrave of Namur (as Charles II, 1506-56), Count Palatine of Burgundy (as Charles II, 1506-56), Count of Holland, Zeeland, Charolais, Hainault, Artois (as Charles II, 1506-56), Duke of Gelderen (as Charles III, 1543-56).

As such, Charles V inherited a Spanish and Habsburg empire extending across Europe from Flanders and Spain to Austria and the Kingdom of Naples and reaching overseas to Spanish America, "on which the sun never set" .

It is difficult to say what nationality Charles was. He was a Hapsburg on his father's side, but he was not German: he famously said "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse." His first language was French, but he was a lifelong enemy of France.

Charles suffered from a long face, with midfacial hypoplasia and mandibular hyperplasia, a deformity which got considerably worse in later Habsburg generations. He struggled to chew food properly and consequently experienced bad indigestion for much of his life. As a result, he usually ate alone. He suffered from epilepsy and severe gout (some scholars think Charles V decided to abdicate after a gout attack in 1552). He died on September 21, 1558 from fatal malaria.

The mighty Habsburg emperor clad in armour, with his motto "PLUS ULTRA" ("more further, in the sense of "still greater achievement"). To his right is the imperial Austrian coat of arms with the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece. On his left is the royal coat of arms of Spain. The rolled map of the world in his hand symbolizes his far-flung empire "on which the sun never set".