Ep. 235: The Youth and Election of the Emperor Charles V (1520-1555)

About this episode

This episode explores the upbringing and election of Charles V, highlighting his mentors and the political landscape of his time.

Born during a ball in Ghent on 24 February 1500, Charles of Habsburg would grow up to rule an empire stretching from the Philippines to Prague and from Lima to Lauwersoog. But who was the man behind one of history's most powerful titles — and how did an unremarkable teenager come to be elected Holy Roman Emperor? In this episode, we explore the remarkable — and often dysfunctional — upbringing of Charles V. Raised like an orphan in the Burgundian Netherlands while his mother Joanna of Castile was confined at Tordesillas, Charles was shaped by two very different mentors: the theologian Adrian of Utrecht, who introduced him to Erasmus and laid the groundwork for his complex relationship with the Reformation, and William de Croy, Lord of Chièvres, who drilled into him the discipline of statecraft. We examine how Charles' worldview was rooted in Burgundian chivalric tradition, why his advisors kept him politically cautious in his early reign, and how the death of his grandfather Maximilian I in 1519 forced him to step up and fight for the imperial crown against the formidable Francis I of France. We also cover the extraordinary financial muscle of banker Jakob Fugger, the crucial…

People in this episode

Host: Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

Topics covered

• Charles V
• Holy Roman Empire
• Burgundian Netherlands
• Reformation
• political history
• statecraft
• financial influence

Keywords

• Charles V
• Holy Roman Emperor
• Burgundian tradition
• Reformation
• Maximilian I
• Jakob Fugger
• political advisors
• Henry VIII
• Francis I
• statecraft

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Ghent, Burgundian Netherlands, France, Philippines, Prague, Lima, Lauwersoog, Mechelen

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