Heraldry
Charles V of Spain was born to three of the most powerful houses in Europe, namely the Houses of Valois-Burgundy (Netherlands), Habsburg (Holy Roman Empire), and Trastámara (Spain & parts of Italy -crowns of Castile and Aragon). As a result of this heritage, in 1506 Charles inherited the title Lord of the Netherlands from his father. Later in 1516, with the passing of his maternal grandfather King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and at the behest of his paternal grandfather Emperor Maximilian I and the Pope Leo X, he became Emperor of Spain (along with the title King of Jerusalem), including all the American and Asian Spanish holdings. Finally in 1519 with the death of Emperor Maximilian I Charles became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the last to receive a coronation by a Pope.
Protestant Reformation
With the conquest of the America’s by Spanish conquistadors like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro and the completion of Magellan expedition’s, Charles was convinced of his divine mission to become the leader of Christendom. This led Charles to issued strict religious policies of uniformity for the Catholic Church, against the Protestant following Lutherans, Anabaptist ,and Calvinists, which he enforced through the Inquisitions through out his entire empire. This included the outlaw of Luther and his followers and the death penalty was introduced for all cases of unrepentant heresy. Ultimately leading to civil unrest, especially in the Netherlands and parts of Germany. While enforcement of these policies would eventually begin to dwindle, none-the-less, approximately 1300 protestants would be executed between 1523 and 1566 in the Netherlands alone. Charles term as Emperor, under these policies say many smaller wars with various prices of the Empire who had converted to some form of Protestantism. These policies would later be reinforced by his son Phillip and lead to the Eight Years War.
Abdications and Death
Towards the end of his life, Charles began to advocate his thrones. Spain, Netherlands, and the holdings of Aragon in Spain and Italy would go to Philip, while the Title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire would be passed to his brother Ferdinand in 1556. Charles died on 21 September 1558 from malaria.
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