Charles V

Full Name: Charles of Habsburg
Profession: Holy Roman Emperor

Nationality:

Biography: Charles V ruled over a vast territory that extended from the German low countries to the borders of the Ottoman empire, Spain, Italy and to the new expanding territories in central and south America.

Charles V became the Duke of Burgundy in 1506, King of Castile and Aragon through his mother in 1516, then the Habsburg crown in 1519. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor the same year and in 1530 was crowned by the Pope.

Charles V rule was marked by conflict; with France, his forces captured Francis I at the Battle of Pavia in 1525; with the encroaching Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent in Eastern Europe; and against the Protestant reformation in the low countries.

In appearance Charles V had a deformed lower jaw, a characteristic of many of the Habsburgs and in later life suffered from gout.

From 1554 Charles V abdicated his empire, giving over control to his son Philip II and brother Ferdinand I, retiring to a Spanish monastery where he died in 1558.

Born: February 24, 1500
Birthplace: Ghent, Flanders, Habsburg Netherlands
Star Sign: Pisces

Died: September 21, 1558 (aged 58)