charles v, 1500-1558, holy roman emperor and king of spain

Charles V, 1500-1558, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain

Inner court of the Charles V Palace in Granada

Charles V Trivia

• He suffered from an enlarged lower jaw, a deformity which got considerably worse in later Habsburg generations. He struggled to chew his food properly and consequently experienced bad indigestion for much of his life, As a result he usually ate alone.

• He was afraid of mice and spiders. • He was obsessed with clocks and instructed his

servants to take them apart and reassemble them in his presence.

• In his retirement, he was carried around the monastery of St. Yuste in a sedan chair. A ramp was specially constructed to allow him easy access to his rooms.

• He passed his time fishing from his window on the first floor and enjoying the smell of incense drifting on the breeze from the abbey church

Philip II, King of Spain

He inherited Spain, the Spanish

Netherlands, and all colonies in the

Americas from his father, Charles V,

when he died. When his uncle, the

King of Portugal died, he seized that kingdom too (which

included parts of Africa, India, and the East Indies

The American mines provided most of Spain’s wealth. By 1600 it supplied 339,000 pounds of gold, and between 1550 – 1650, 16,000 tons of silver (32 million pounds). The king’s share was between 20-25% of every shipload taken out of the New World

Because of this wealth, Spain kept a standing army of 50,000.

• Philip believed it was his duty to defend Catholicism against the Muslims and Protestants

• Philip was married to Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”), but he never stepped foot in England!

• When Mary, Queen of Scots, (a different Mary) was beheaded by Elizabeth, Philip sent his Armada to punish England, but was defeated by the quicker, more mobile English fleet. Only ½ of original 130 returned to Spain.

Drake playing bowls in Plymouth as the Spanish

Armada arrives

Philip’s palace, El Escorial

The Library

The ceiling of

the library

Tombs of all the Spanish Kings,

Queens, and many of their children

• Inflation was a problem during Philip’s reign.

• Because so much silver flooded the market, its value went down (so it took more silver than before to buy something.

• By expelling the Jews & Muslims (the Reconquista & Inquisition) they lost businesspeople that had been an important tax base. Also nobles didn’t pay taxes. Because the lower classes were shouldering this burden they could never get ahead to form their own businesses. Therefore, Spain never developed a middle class!!

• Goods manufactured outside of Spain were very popular. Consequently, much silver & gold left Spain to go to those countries.

• Wars were costly and even though Spain had lots of money coming in from the Americas, they needed to borrow large sums from lenders. 40% of all money spent by the crown went towards paying the interest!

• The economy was in such bad shape that 3 times Philip had to declare Spain bankrupt!

• Philip ruled the Netherlands. The economy was booming due to the expanding trade structure that had been developing in the Netherlands.

• Since they were Protestants, instituting a heavy tax against them wasn’t a hard thing to do.

• When the Protestants became resistive, Philip let loose the Duke of Alba. In one day in 1568, 1,500 Protestants were executed on suspicion of being rebels.

Armada arrives – so do the English

Sir Francis Drake

Goya, FranciscoSt Francis

Borja at the Deathbed

of an Impenitent

1788

Goya, FranciscoDuchess of

Alba1797

El GrecoThe

Burial of Count Orgasz1586

15 X 12 Feet

El GrecoSt. Louis, King of France

1587-973 x 4 Feet

El GrecoSt. Jerome,

cardinal1587-97 3 x 4 Feet

Diego Velazquez Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob 1630 7 x 8 Feet

Rembrandt – Self Portrait

Rembrandt van Rijn"The man with the golden helmet"c. 1650 19 x 25 inches

Rembrandt van Rijn

“The Slaughtered

Ox"c. 1650 19 x 25 inches

Jan VermeerView of

Delft1660

3 x 4 Feet

Jan VermeerThe Music Lesson 1662

2 x 2 ½ Feet

Jan Vermeer“Lady writing a letter with her maid”

167023 x 27 inches

Jan Vermeer“Lady

standing at a piano” 1670

17 x 25 inches

Jan VermeerGirl with the Pearl Earring

1665 15 x 18 inches

Frans HalsThe Laughing

Cavalier 1624

Saenredam, Pieter Jansz The Old Town Hall in

Amsterdam, 1657

Adriaen van OstadeAn Alchemist – 1664 13 x 17 inches

• Absolute Monarch – believed that all power within their state’s boundaries rested in their hands. Goal was to control all aspects of their society.

• Divine Right – God created the monarch and that the monarch acted as Gods rep on earth – answerable only to God