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A review of "The Reign of Charles V" by William Maltby
I bought this book mostly on a whim a couple of years ago, and never really
read it. Now I have. I admit that it's an excellent introduction to the reign
of Habsburg Emperor Charles V. In fact, it manages to summarize most aspects of
his life and times in language suitable for the general reader.
To us northern Europeans, Charles V is mostly known as the bad guy sort-of-successfully challenged by Luther at the Diet of Worms (if we even remember his name). We usually don't think of him as the ruler of one of the largest empires in world history, spanning Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Peru and (nominally) the Philippines. Charles fought never-ending wars against France, the Protestant princes of Germany, and the Muslim Ottomans. He helped to launch the Catholic Counter-Reformation. In many ways, he is one of the most important historical characters of our time, since he lived during the crucial transition between "the Middle Ages" and the "modern period".
Yet, as a person, Charles remains strangely elusive, to a large extent because of conscious choice. His private letters almost never touch on personal matters, his public image was carefully grafted by royal propaganda, and he often acted in a seemingly low-key manner during negotiations with competing factions or powers. Thus, William Maltby's book says very little about Charles the man. Instead, the author deals with the emperor's wars, the imperial finances, the relations between emperor and pope, the system of government in various parts of the empire, and the shifting interpretations of Charles' reign after his death. Some information contained in the book is almost chilling, as the revelation that Naples was an over-sized city ruled by Mafiosi and corrupt politicians already 500 years ago! Change seems overdue there, I think. It was also interesting to learn that France, a Catholic power, allied itself with the Ottoman Empire against Charles, even to the point of inviting the Ottoman fleet to French ports. Thankfully, the Ottomans weren't strong enough to take decisive advantage of the constant wars between the European powers.
One issue not dealt with at any length is the cultural development during Charles' time. This is unfortunate, since the 16th century saw the rise of the Salamanca School in Spain, which combined support for the Catholic world order with abolitionism and a belief in "natural law". It also saw the rise of the Jesuits. A lengthier treatment of this would have been interesting and perhaps illuminating.
In the end, Charles V's reign comes across as a "magnificent failure". He didn't stop the Protestant Reformation (but then, I have no problem with that detail), Spain was pretty much bankrupt when he abdicated, the attempts to smash the Ottoman-supported Barbary pirates failed spectacularly, and the attempts to suppress slavery and other abuses in the Americas were derailed by the conquistadors and their henchmen.
Charles abdicated from all his royal positions in 1554-56 and retired to a Spanish monastery, where he died in 1558. The author believes the aged emperor was suffering from what we would today regard as a clinical depression. The most famous abdication took place in the Netherlands in 1555, when Charles was accompanied by a young William of Nassau, the future leader of the Dutch rebellion against Spain... The world, as they say, would never be the same again.
To us northern Europeans, Charles V is mostly known as the bad guy sort-of-successfully challenged by Luther at the Diet of Worms (if we even remember his name). We usually don't think of him as the ruler of one of the largest empires in world history, spanning Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Peru and (nominally) the Philippines. Charles fought never-ending wars against France, the Protestant princes of Germany, and the Muslim Ottomans. He helped to launch the Catholic Counter-Reformation. In many ways, he is one of the most important historical characters of our time, since he lived during the crucial transition between "the Middle Ages" and the "modern period".
Yet, as a person, Charles remains strangely elusive, to a large extent because of conscious choice. His private letters almost never touch on personal matters, his public image was carefully grafted by royal propaganda, and he often acted in a seemingly low-key manner during negotiations with competing factions or powers. Thus, William Maltby's book says very little about Charles the man. Instead, the author deals with the emperor's wars, the imperial finances, the relations between emperor and pope, the system of government in various parts of the empire, and the shifting interpretations of Charles' reign after his death. Some information contained in the book is almost chilling, as the revelation that Naples was an over-sized city ruled by Mafiosi and corrupt politicians already 500 years ago! Change seems overdue there, I think. It was also interesting to learn that France, a Catholic power, allied itself with the Ottoman Empire against Charles, even to the point of inviting the Ottoman fleet to French ports. Thankfully, the Ottomans weren't strong enough to take decisive advantage of the constant wars between the European powers.
One issue not dealt with at any length is the cultural development during Charles' time. This is unfortunate, since the 16th century saw the rise of the Salamanca School in Spain, which combined support for the Catholic world order with abolitionism and a belief in "natural law". It also saw the rise of the Jesuits. A lengthier treatment of this would have been interesting and perhaps illuminating.
In the end, Charles V's reign comes across as a "magnificent failure". He didn't stop the Protestant Reformation (but then, I have no problem with that detail), Spain was pretty much bankrupt when he abdicated, the attempts to smash the Ottoman-supported Barbary pirates failed spectacularly, and the attempts to suppress slavery and other abuses in the Americas were derailed by the conquistadors and their henchmen.
Charles abdicated from all his royal positions in 1554-56 and retired to a Spanish monastery, where he died in 1558. The author believes the aged emperor was suffering from what we would today regard as a clinical depression. The most famous abdication took place in the Netherlands in 1555, when Charles was accompanied by a young William of Nassau, the future leader of the Dutch rebellion against Spain... The world, as they say, would never be the same again.
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