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101-787: Giuseppe Zamponi also Gioseffo Zamponi (or Zamboni , Samponi , c.1615 – February 1662) was an Italian composer best remembered for his opera Ulisse all'isola di Circe performed in Brussels in 1650, which was the first opera performed in the low countries , at the time part of the Spanish ruled Southern Netherlands. Zamponi was born in Rome , and was the organist at Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore , then known as San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, in Rome's Piazza Navona , from 1629 to 1638, substituting for Paolo Tarditi (c.1580-1661). From 1638 to 1647 he

202-593: A baby in 1500. Charles's mother went into labour at a ball in February 1500. He was named in honour of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, who had tried to turn the Burgundian State into a continuous territory. When Charles was born, a poet at the court reported that the people of Ghent "shouted Austria and Burgundy throughout the whole city for three hours" to celebrate his birth. Given the dynastic situation,

303-518: A conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice, to forestall the French, and prevent Allied air power from threatening the strategic Ruhr Area of Germany. It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied. Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics rapidly overpowered

404-745: A large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as the Burgundian Netherlands . After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the Low Countries were controlled by the House of Habsburg . This area was referred to as the Habsburg Netherlands , which was also called the Seventeen Provinces up to 1581. Even after the political secession of the autonomous Dutch Republic (or "United Provinces") in

505-437: A militarised frontier and contact point between Rome and Germanic tribes . The Low Countries were the scene of the early independent trading centres that marked the reawakening of Europe in the 12th century. In that period, they rivalled northern Italy as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe. Guilds and councils governed most of the cities along with a figurehead ruler; interaction with their ruler

606-645: A monastery. Indeed, his son and heir, later Philip II of Spain , was born and raised in Castile. Nonetheless, many Spaniards believed that their resources (largely consisting of flows of silver from the Americas) were being used to sustain Imperial-Habsburg policies that were not in the country's interest. Charles inherited the Austrian hereditary lands in 1519, as Charles I of Austria , and obtained

707-465: A surviving Trastámara heir to the throne, so Charles remained the heir presumptive to the Iberian realms. With his father dead and his mother confined, Charles became Duke of Burgundy and was recognised as Prince of Asturias (heir presumptive of Castile) and honorific Archduke (heir apparent of Austria). The Burgundian inheritance included the Habsburg Netherlands , which consisted of a large number of

808-734: A sword and a helmet, objects of Burgundian chivalric tradition representing, respectively, the instrument of war and the symbol of peace. The death in July 1500 of the young heir presumptive Miguel de Paz to the Iberian realms of his maternal grandparents meant baby Charles's future inheritance potentially expanded to include Castile, Aragon, and the overseas possessions in the Americas. In 1501, his parents Philip and Joanna left Charles in care of Philip's step-grandmother Margaret of York in Mechelen and went to Spain. The main goal of their Spanish mission

909-587: A young age. After his father's death in 1506, he inherited the Low Countries. In 1516 he became King of Spain as co-monarch of Castile and Aragon with his mother . Spain 's possessions included the Castilian colonies of the West Indies and the Spanish Main , as well as Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. At the death of his grandfather Maximilian in 1519, he inherited the Austrian hereditary lands and

1010-537: Is the blind poet Bernlef , from c.  800 , who sang both Christian psalms and pagan verses. Bernlef is representative of the coexistence of Christianity and Germanic polytheism in this time period. The earliest examples of written literature include the Wachtendonck Psalms , a collection of twenty five psalms that originated in the Moselle-Frankish region around the middle of

1111-633: Is to say, modify the right of the succession, except by virtue of a formal agreement between the Corts and the King. So, upon the death of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, on 23 January 1516, Joanna inherited the Crown of Aragon , which consisted of Aragon , Majorca , Catalonia , Valencia , Naples , Sicily and Sardinia , while Charles became governor general. Nevertheless, the Flemings wished Charles to assume

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1212-678: The Austrian Netherlands . The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again before it split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. During the early months of World War I (around 1914), the Central Powers invaded the Low Countries of Luxembourg and Belgium in what has been come to be known as the German invasion of Belgium . It led to

1313-633: The Battle of Pavia in 1525. To gain his freedom, Francis ceded Burgundy to Charles in the Treaty of Madrid , as well as renouncing his support of Henry II's claim over Navarre . When he was released, however, Francis had the Parlement of Paris denounce the treaty because it had been signed under duress. France then joined the League of Cognac that Pope Clement VII had formed with Henry VIII of England,

1414-470: The Battle of Pavia . In 1535, Francesco II Sforza died without heirs, and Charles V annexed the territory as a vacant Imperial state with the help of Massimiliano Stampa , one of the most influential courtiers of the late Duke. Charles successfully held on to all of its Italian territories, though they were invaded again on multiple occasions during the Italian Wars . In addition, Habsburg trade in

1515-525: The Burgundian Netherlands . Charles's mother Joanna was a younger daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile , the Catholic Monarchs of Spain from the House of Trastámara . The political marriage of Philip and Joanna was first conceived in a letter sent by Maximilian to Ferdinand to seal an Austro-Spanish alliance, established as part of the League of Venice directed against

1616-609: The Danube river. However, by 1541, central and southern Hungary fell under Ottoman control . Suleiman won the contest for mastery of the Mediterranean, in spite of Christian victories such as the conquest of Tunis in 1535. The regular Ottoman fleet came to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean after its victories at Preveza in 1538 and Djerba in 1560 (shortly after Charles's death), which severely decimated

1717-664: The Diet of Worms in 1521. The same year, Francis I of France , surrounded by the Habsburg possessions, started a war in Italy that led to the Battle of Pavia (1525). In 1527, Rome was sacked by an army of Charles's mutinous soldiers. Charles then defended Vienna from the Turks and obtained coronations as King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from Pope Clement VII . In 1535, he took possession of Milan and captured Tunis . However,

1818-467: The Duchy of Burgundy . At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural, and economic centre of Northern Europe , noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notably early Netherlandish painting , which is the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities of Bruges , Ghent , Mechelen , Leuven , Tournai and Brussels , all in present-day Belgium. Musicians of

1919-496: The Dutch Revolt . Each of the provinces had its own laws, customs and political practices. The new policy, imposed from the outside, angered many inhabitants, who viewed their provinces as distinct entities. It and other monarchical acts, such as the creation of bishoprics and promulgation of laws against heresy , stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of the Dutch Revolt . After the northern Seven United Provinces of

2020-652: The Franco-Flemish School were highly sought by the leading classes of all Europe. In 1477 the Burgundian holdings in the area passed through an heiress— Mary of Burgundy —to the Habsburgs . Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the States General and styled himself as Heer der Nederlanden ( lit.   ' Lord of the Netherlands ' ). He continued to rule

2121-561: The Holy Roman Empire , extending from Germany to northern Italy with rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and Burgundian Low Countries , and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples , Sicily and Sardinia . In the Americas, he oversaw the continuation of Spanish colonization and a short-lived German colonization . The personal union of the European and American territories he ruled

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2222-628: The Kingdom of France during the Italian Wars . From the moment he became King of the Romans in 1486, Charles's paternal grandfather Maximilian had carried a very financially risky policy of maximum expansionism, relying mostly on the resources of the Austrian hereditary lands. Even though it is often implied (among others, by Erasmus of Rotterdam ) that Charles V and the Habsburgs gained their vast empire through peaceful policies (exemplified by

2323-453: The Kingdom of Sardinia . As Holy Roman Emperor, Charles was sovereign in several states of northern Italy as King of Italy . The Duchy of Milan , however, was under French control. France took Milan from the House of Sforza after victory against Switzerland at the Battle of Marignano in 1515. Imperial- Papal troops succeeded in re-installing Francesco II Sforza in Milan in 1521, in

2424-652: The Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura and died there a year later. Charles of Austria was born on 24 February 1500 in the Prinsenhof of Ghent , a Flemish city of the Habsburg Netherlands , to Philip of Austria and Joanna of Trastámara . His father Philip, nicknamed Philip the Handsome , was the firstborn son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , Archduke of Austria , and Mary of Burgundy , heiress to

2525-673: The Ottomans or accompanied him in his travels, and the bulk of his army was generally composed of German troops, especially the Imperial Landsknechte . In 1506, Charles inherited his father's Burgundian territories that included Franche-Comté and, most notably, the Low Countries . The latter territories mostly lay within the Holy Roman Empire and its borders, but were formally divided between fiefs of

2626-546: The Revolt of the Comuneros , which Charles suppressed. Comuneros released Joanna and wanted to depose Charles and support Joanna to be the sole monarch instead. While Joanna refused to depose her son, her confinement would continue after the revolt to prevent possible events alike. Immediately after crushing the Castilian revolt, Charles was confronted again with the hot issue of Navarre when King Henry II attempted to reconquer

2727-708: The Safavid Empire to open a second front against the Ottomans, in an attempt at creating a Habsburg–Persian alliance . Contacts were positive, but rendered difficult by enormous distances. In effect, however, the Safavids did enter in conflict with the Ottoman Empire in the Ottoman–Safavid War , forcing it to split its military resources. During the 1541 expedition of Algiers , the losses amongst

2828-565: The Spanish Navy . At the same time, the Muslim Barbary corsairs , acting under the general authority and supervision of the sultan, regularly devastated the Spanish and Italian coasts and crippled Spanish trade. The advance of the Ottomans in the Mediterranean and central Europe chipped at the foundations of Habsburg power and diminished Imperial prestige. In 1536, Francis I allied France with Suleiman against Charles. While Francis

2929-619: The conquest of Nice by a Franco-Ottoman fleet , the French could not advance toward Milan, while a joint Anglo-Imperial invasion of northern France, led by Charles himself, won some successes but was ultimately abandoned, leading to another peace and restoration of the status quo ante bellum in 1544. A final war erupted with Francis' son and successor, Henry II , in 1551. Henry won early success in Lorraine , where he captured Metz , but French offensives in Italy failed. Charles abdicated midway through this conflict, leaving further conduct of

3030-717: The election as Holy Roman Emperor against the candidacy of the French king. Since the Imperial election, he was known as Emperor Charles V even outside of Germany. The dynastic motto of the House of Habsburg used by Charles was A.E.I.O.U. ("Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo" — "it is Austria's destiny to rule the world"; although its exact meaning remains disputed). Charles staunchly defended Catholicism as Lutheranism spread. Various German princes broke with him on religious grounds, fighting against him. Charles's presence in Germany

3131-635: The loss of Buda during the struggle for Hungary and the Algiers expedition in the early 1540s frustrated his anti-Ottoman policies. After years of negotiations, Charles came to an agreement with Pope Paul III for the organization of the Council of Trent (1545). The refusal of the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League to recognize the council's validity led to a war , won by Charles. However, Henry II of France offered new support to

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3232-656: The 4th and 5th century, Frankish tribes had entered this Roman region and came to run it increasingly independently. They came to be ruled by the Merovingian dynasty , under which dynasty the southern part (below the Rhine ) was re- Christianised . By the end of the 8th century, the Low Countries formed a core part of a much expanded Francia and the Merovingians were replaced by the Carolingian dynasty . In 800,

3333-458: The 9th century. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. He was heir to and then head of the rising House of Habsburg . His dominions in Europe included

3434-668: The Castilian possessions in the Americas (the Spanish West Indies and the Province of Tierra Firme ) and the Aragonese kingdoms of Naples , Sicily , and Sardinia . Joanna inherited these territories in 1516 while confined, allegedly because she was mentally ill. Charles, therefore, claimed the crowns for himself jure matris , thus becoming co-monarch with Joanna with the title of Charles I of Castile and Aragon or Charles I of Spain . Castile and Aragon together formed

3535-697: The Emperor. In 1508 Charles had been nominated by Henry VII to the Order of the Garter . His Garter stall plate survives in Saint George's Chapel . The first war with Charles's great nemesis Francis I of France began in 1521. Charles allied with England and Pope Leo X against the French and the Venetians , and was highly successful, driving the French out of Milan and defeating and capturing Francis at

3636-655: The German Rhineland . Because of this, nowadays not only physically low-altitude areas, but also some hilly or elevated regions are considered part of the Low Countries, including Luxembourg and the south of Belgium. Within the European Union , the region's political grouping is still referred to as the Benelux (short for Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg). During the Roman Empire , the region contained

3737-419: The German occupation of the two countries. However, the German advance into France was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. In the end, a total of approximately 56,000 people were killed in the invasion. During World War II , when Adolf Hitler 's gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French Maginot Line . He ordered

3838-444: The Holy Roman Empire and French fiefs such as Charles's birthplace of Flanders , the last remnant of the Burgundian State , a powerful player in the Hundred Years' War . Since he was a minor, his aunt Margaret of Austria acted as regent, as appointed by Emperor Maximilian until 1515. She soon found herself at war with France over Charles's requirement to pay homage to the French king for Flanders, as his father had done. The outcome

3939-459: The Imperial Diet did not accept the abdication (and thus make it legally valid) until 24 February 1558. Up to that date, Charles continued to use the title of emperor. Much of Charles's reign was taken up by conflicts with France , which found itself encircled by Charles's empire while it still maintained ambitions in Italy. In 1520, Charles visited England , where his aunt, Catherine of Aragon , urged her husband, Henry VIII , to ally himself with

4040-421: The Low Countries as opposed to les pays de par delà ("the lands over there") for the Duchy of Burgundy and the Free County of Burgundy , which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries. Governor Mary of Hungary used both the expressions les pays de par deça and Pays d'Embas ("lands down here"), which evolved to Pays-Bas or Low Countries . Today

4141-403: The Low Countries colloquially means the Netherlands and Belgium, sometimes the Netherlands and Flanders —the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. For example, a Low Countries derby ( Derby der Lage Landen ), is a sports event between Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium separated in 1830 from the (northern) Netherlands. The new country took its name from Belgica , the Latinised name for

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4242-704: The Low Countries to be a unified entity of which his family would be the heirs. The Low Countries held an essential place in the Empire. For Charles V, they were his home, the region where he was born and spent his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the wealth of the region's cities, the Low Countries also represented a significant income for the Imperial treasury. The Burgundian territories were generally loyal to Charles throughout his reign. The important city of Ghent rebelled in 1539 due to heavy tax payments demanded by Charles. The rebellion did not last long, however, as Charles's military response, with reinforcement from Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba ,

4343-402: The Low Countries, as it was known during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). The Low Countries were in that war divided in two parts. On one hand, the northern Federated Netherlands or Belgica Foederata rebelled against King Philip II of Spain ; on the other, the southern Royal Netherlands or Belgica Regia remained loyal to the Spanish king. This divide laid the early foundation for

4444-430: The Lutheran cause and strengthened the Franco-Ottoman alliance with Suleiman the Magnificent . Ultimately, Charles conceded the Peace of Augsburg and abandoned his multi-national project with abdications in 1556 that divided his hereditary and imperial domains between the Spanish Habsburgs, headed by his son Philip II of Spain , and Austrian Habsburgs, headed by his brother Ferdinand . In 1557, Charles retired to

4545-406: The Mediterranean was consistently disrupted by the Ottoman Empire and its vassal Barbary pirates . In 1538 a Holy League consisting of all the Italian states and the Spanish kingdoms was formed to drive the Ottomans back, but it was defeated at the Battle of Preveza . Decisive naval victory eluded Charles; it would not be achieved until after his death, at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. After

4646-420: The Netherlands, which proved to be lost causes. Each hastened the economic decline of the Spanish Empire in the next generation. The enormous budget deficit accumulated during Charles's reign, along with the inflation that affected the kingdom , resulted in declaring bankruptcy during the reign of Philip II. The Crown of Aragon inherited by Charles included the Kingdom of Naples , the Kingdom of Sicily and

4747-416: The Parliament of Navarre ( Cortes ) required him to attend the coronation ceremony (to become Charles IV of Navarre). Still, this demand fell on deaf ears, and the parliament kept piling up grievances. Charles was accepted as sovereign, even though the Spanish felt uneasy with the Imperial style. Spanish kingdoms varied in their traditions. Castile had become an authoritarian, highly centralized kingdom, where

4848-412: The Pope crowned and appointed Charlemagne Emperor of the re-established Roman Empire . After the death of Charlemagne , Francia was divided in three parts among his three grandsons. The middle slice, Middle Francia , was ruled by Lothair I , and thereby also came to be referred to as "Lotharingia" or "Lorraine". Apart from the original coastal County of Flanders , which was within West Francia ,

4949-428: The Romans , who thus became his designated successor as emperor, a move that "had profound implications for state formation in south-eastern Europe". Afterwards, Ferdinand managed to gain control of Bohemia , Croatia , and Hungary , with support from local nobles and his German vassals. Charles abdicated as emperor in 1556 in favour of his brother Ferdinand; however, due to lengthy debate and bureaucratic procedure,

5050-425: The Spanish coat of arms since the 18th century. However, at his accession to the Iberian thrones, Charles was viewed as a foreign prince. Two rebellions, the Revolt of the Germanies and the Revolt of the Comuneros , contested Charles's rule in the 1520s. Following these revolts, Charles placed Spanish counselors in a position of power and spent a significant part of his life in Castile, including his final years in

5151-410: The Venetians, the Florentines , and the Milanese to resist imperial domination of Italy. In the ensuing war, Charles's sack of Rome (1527) and virtual imprisonment of Pope Clement VII in 1527 prevented the Pope from annulling the marriage of Henry VIII of England and Charles's aunt Catherine of Aragon, so Henry eventually broke with Rome, thus leading to the English Reformation . In other respects,

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5252-410: The annexation of Tournai , Artois , Utrecht , Groningen , and Guelders . The Seventeen Provinces had been unified by Charles's Burgundian ancestors, but nominally were fiefs of either France or the Holy Roman Empire. Charles eventually won the Guelders Wars and united all provinces under his rule, the last one being the Duchy of Guelders. In 1549, Charles issued a Pragmatic Sanction , declaring

5353-472: The bulk of the empire's financial resources. However, the two conflicting strategies of Charles V, enhancing the possessions of his family and protecting Catholicism against Protestant heretics, diverted resources away from building up the Spanish economy. Elite elements in Spain called for more protection for the commercial networks, which were threatened by the Ottoman Empire and Barbary pirates . Charles instead focused on defeating Protestantism in Germany and

5454-492: The children to stay with the parents. Philip was recognized King of Castile in 1506. He died shortly after, an event that was said to drive the mentally unstable Joanna into complete insanity. She was retired in isolation to the Royal Palace of Tordesillas . Charles's grandfather Ferdinand took control of all the Spanish kingdoms, under the pretext of protecting Charles's rights, which in reality he wanted to elude. Ferdinand's new marriage with Germaine de Foix failed to produce

5555-464: The context of an alliance between Charles V and Pope Leo X. A Franco-Swiss army was expelled from Lombardy at the Battle of Bicocca 1522. In 1524, Francis I of France retook the initiative, crossing into Lombardy where Milan, along with several other cities, once again fell to his attack. Pavia alone held out, and on 24 February 1525 (Charles's twenty-fifth birthday), Charles's forces led by Charles de Lannoy captured Francis and crushed his army in

5656-414: The court of his aunt Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy . William de Croÿ (later prime minister) and Adrian of Utrecht (later Pope Adrian VI ) served as his tutors. The culture and courtly life of the Low Countries played an important part in the development of Charles's beliefs. As a member of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece in his infancy, and later its grandmaster, Charles was educated to

5757-421: The crowns of Castile and Aragon to Maximilian's male line, however, was unexpected. The marriage contract between Philip and Joanna was signed in 1495, and celebrations were held in 1496. Philip was already Duke of Burgundy (although the Duchy of Burgundy itself had been lost to the French crown), given Mary's death in 1482, and also heir apparent of Austria as honorific archduke . Joanna, in contrast,

5858-399: The death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian , in 1519, Charles inherited the Habsburg monarchy . He was also the natural candidate of the electors to succeed his grandfather as Holy Roman Emperor . He defeated the candidacies of Frederick III of Saxony , Francis I of France , and Henry VIII of England in the 1519 Imperial election . According to some, Charles became emperor due to

5959-417: The decentralized structure of the Empire proved resilient, not least because of the Reformation . It was exactly during this crucial period, Charles V and Ferdinand were too busy with non-German affairs to prevent Imperial Cities in Upper Germany from becoming estranged from Imperial power. Due to Charles V's difficulties in coordinating between the Austrian, Hungarian fronts and his Mediterranean fronts in

6060-430: The defences of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. All three countries were occupied from May 1940 until early 1945. During the occupation, their governments were forced into exile in Britain. In 1944, they signed the London Customs Convention , laying the foundation for the eventual Benelux Economic Union , an important forerunner of the EEC (later the EU ). One of the Low Countries' earliest literary figures

6161-417: The end Charles was accepted under the following conditions: he would learn to speak Castilian ; he would not appoint foreigners; he was prohibited from taking precious metals from Castile beyond the Quinto Real ; and he would respect the rights of his mother, Queen Joanna. The Cortes paid homage to him in Valladolid in February 1518. After this, Charles departed to the Crown of Aragon. He managed to overcome

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6262-415: The face of the Ottoman threat, as well as in his German, Burgundian and Italian theatres of war against German Protestant Princes and France, the defense of central Europe, as well as many responsibilities involving the management of the Empire, was subcontracted to Ferdinand. Charles V abdicated as Archduke of Austria in 1522, and nine years after that he had the German princes elect Ferdinand as King of

6363-413: The fact that by paying huge bribes to the electors, he was the highest bidder. He won the crown on 28 June 1519. On 23 October 1520, he was crowned in Germany and some ten years later, on 24 February 1530 , he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII in Bologna , the last emperor to receive a papal coronation . Others point out that while the electors were paid, this was not the reason for

6464-403: The further history the Low Countries can be seen as the object of a continual struggle between these two powers, the title of Duke of Lothier was coveted in the low countries for centuries. In the 14th and 15th century, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through royal intermarriage . This process culminated in the rule of the House of Valois , who were the rulers of

6565-407: The government became more absolute, even though until his mother died in 1555, Charles did not hold absolute power in the country. Soon resistance to the Emperor arose because of heavy taxation to support foreign wars in which Castilians had little interest and because Charles tended to select Flemings for high offices in Castile and America, ignoring Castilian candidates. The resistance culminated in

6666-446: The heiress of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret . Jeanne was instead forced to marry William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg , but that childless marriage was annulled after four years. She next married Antoine de Bourbon , and both she and their son Henry of Navarre would oppose Philip II in the French Wars of Religion . After its integration into Charles's empire, Castile guaranteed effective military units and its American possessions provided

6767-410: The heirs. By streamlining the succession law in all Seventeen Provinces and declaring that all of them would be inherited by one heir, Charles effectively united the Netherlands as one entity. After Charles' abdication in 1555, the Seventeen Provinces passed to his son, Philip II of Spain . The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest with particularism that contributed to

6868-411: The historic Low Countries, while Nederland (singular) is the normal Dutch name for the country of the Netherlands. However, in official use, the name of the Dutch kingdom is still Kingdom of the Netherlands , Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (plural). This name derives from the 19th-century origins of the kingdom which originally included present-day Belgium. In Dutch, and to a lesser extent in English,

6969-428: The ideals of the medieval knights and the desire for Christian unity to fight the infidel. The Low Countries were very rich during his reign, both economically and culturally . Charles was very attached to his homeland and spent a large part of his life in Brussels and various Flemish cities. The Spanish inheritance, resulting from a dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon , included Spain as well as

7070-539: The integrity of the Holy Roman Empire from the Reformation , the expansion of the Ottoman Empire , and in wars with France . Charles borrowed money from German and Italian bankers and, to repay them, relied on the wealth of the Low Countries and on flow of silver from New Spain and Peru , brought under his rule following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires, which caused widespread inflation . Crowned King of Germany in Aachen , Charles sided with Pope Leo X and declared Martin Luther an outlaw at

7171-475: The kingdom . Main military operations lasted until 1524, when Hondarribia surrendered to Charles's forces, but frequent cross-border clashes in the western Pyrenees only stopped in 1528 (Treaties of Madrid and Cambrai ). After these events, Navarre remained a matter of domestic and international litigation still for a century (a French dynastic claim to the throne did not end until the July Revolution in 1830). Charles wanted his son and heir Philip II to marry

7272-535: The kingdom. Charles arrived in his new kingdoms in autumn of 1517. Jiménez de Cisneros came to meet him but fell ill along the way, not without a suspicion of poison, and he died before reaching the King. Due to the irregularity of Charles assuming the royal title while his mother, the legitimate queen, was alive, the negotiations with the Castilian Cortes in Valladolid (1518) proved difficult. In

7373-485: The largest of Charles's personal possessions, and they also provided a great number of generals and tercios (the formidable Spanish infantry of the time), while Joanna remained confined in Tordesillas until her death. Plus Ultra , the rendition from French into Latin of Charles's personal motto "Plus Oultre" ( Further Beyond ), later became the national motto of Spain and features on the country's flag as part of

7474-511: The later modern states of Belgium and the Netherlands. The region politically had its origins in the Carolingian empire ; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia . After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under the rule of various lordships until they came to be in the hands of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy . Hence,

7575-459: The lordships that formed the Low Countries and covered modern-day Belgium , Netherlands and Luxembourg . It excluded Burgundy proper, annexed by France in 1477, with the exception of Franche-Comté . At the death of Philip in 1506, Charles was recognized Lord of the Netherlands with the title of Charles II of Burgundy . During his childhood and teen years, Charles lived in Mechelen together with his sisters Mary , Eleanor , and Isabella at

7676-518: The monarch's own will easily overrode legislative and justice institutions. By contrast, in the Crown of Aragon, and especially in the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, law prevailed, and the monarchy was seen as a contract with the people . This became an inconvenience and a matter of dispute for Charles V and later kings since realm-specific traditions limited their absolute power. With Charles,

7777-763: The newborn was originally heir apparent only of the Burgundian Low Countries as the honorific Duke of Luxembourg and second in line to the Austrian duchies, becoming known in his early years simply as "Charles of Ghent". He was baptised at the Church of Saint John by the Bishop of Tournai . The Burgundian nobles Charles I de Croÿ and John III of Glymes were his godfathers, and Margaret of York and Margaret of Austria , respectively his step-grandmother and aunt, his godmothers. Charles's baptism gifts were

7878-572: The north, the term "Low Countries" continued to be used to refer collectively to the region. The region was temporarily united politically between 1815 and 1839, as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , before this split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Low Countries were part of the Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior . They were inhabited by Belgic and Germanic tribes . In

7979-434: The outcome, or at most played only a small part. The important factor that swayed the final decision was that Frederick refused the offer, and made a speech in support of Charles on the ground that they needed a strong leader against the Ottomans, Charles had the resources and was a prince of German extraction. Although even at the beginning of his reign, his position was more powerful than that of any of his predecessors,

8080-481: The resistance of the Aragonese Cortes and Catalan Corts , and he was recognized as King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona jointly with his mother, while his mother was kept confined and could only rule in name. The Kingdom of Navarre had been invaded by Ferdinand of Aragon jointly with Castile in 1512, but he pledged a formal oath to respect the kingdom. On Charles's accession to the Spanish thrones,

8181-428: The rest of the Low Countries were within the lowland part of this, " Lower Lorraine ". After the death of Lothair, the Low Countries were coveted by the rulers of both West Francia and East Francia . Each tried to swallow the region and to merge it with their spheres of influence. Thus, the Low Countries consisted of fiefs whose sovereignty resided with either the Kingdom of France or the Holy Roman Empire . While

8282-438: The royal title, and this was supported by Emperor Maximilian I and Pope Leo X . Thus, after the commemoration of Ferdinand II's obsequies on 14 March 1516, Charles was proclaimed king of the crowns of Castile and Aragon jointly with his mother. Finally, when the Castilian regent Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros accepted the fait accompli , he acceded to Charles's desire to be proclaimed king and imposed his instatement throughout

8383-416: The saying Bella gerant aliī, tū fēlix Austria nūbe / Nam quae Mars aliīs, dat tibi regna Venus or "Let others wage war, but thou, O happy Austria, marry; for those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.", reportedly spoken by Mathias Corvinus ), Maximilian and his descendants fought wars aplenty (Maximilian alone fought 27 wars during his four decades of ruling). His general strategy

8484-802: The seventeen declared their independence from Habsburg Spain in 1581, the ten provinces of the Southern Netherlands remained occupied by the Army of Flanders under Spanish service and are therefore sometimes called the Spanish Netherlands . In 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht following the War of the Spanish Succession , what was left of the Spanish Netherlands was ceded to Austria and thus became known as

8585-549: The term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries and used in the same way as the term Benelux . The name of the country of the Netherlands has the same etymology and origin as the name for the region Low Countries, due to "nether" meaning "low". In the Dutch language itself De Lage Landen is the modern term for Low Countries, and De Nederlanden (plural) is in use for the 16th century domains of Charles V ,

8686-488: The territories as a multitude of duchies and principalities until the Low Countries were eventually united into one indivisible territory, the Seventeen Provinces , covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 , while retaining existing customs, laws, and forms of government within the provinces. The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity, of which the Habsburgs would be

8787-648: The war to his son, Philip II , and his brother, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor . Charles fought continually with the Ottoman Empire and its sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent . The defeat of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 "sent a wave of terror over Europe." The Muslim advance in Central Europe was halted at the Siege of Vienna (1529) , followed by a counter-attack of Charles V across

8888-412: The war was inconclusive. In the Treaty of Cambrai (1529), called the "Ladies' Peace" because it was negotiated between Charles's aunt and Francis' mother, Francis renounced his claims in Italy but retained control of Burgundy. A third war erupted in 1536. Following the death of Francesco II Sforza , Charles installed his son Philip in the Duchy of Milan , despite Francis' claims on it. This war too

8989-509: Was elected as Holy Roman Emperor. He adopted the Imperial name of Charles V as his main title, and styled himself as a new Charlemagne . Charles revitalized the medieval concept of universal monarchy . With no fixed capital, he made 40 journeys through the different entities he ruled and spent a quarter of his reign travelling within his realms. Although his empire came to him peacefully, he spent most of his life waging war, exhausting his revenues and leaving debts in his attempt to defend

9090-602: Was in the service of cardinal Pietro Maria Borghese (1599-1642). In 1648 he left Italy to join the court in Brussels of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria , who was governor of the Southern Netherlands on behalf of the King of Spain. He was appointed maestro di cappella in 1648, and died in 1662 Brussels . Ulisse all'isola di Circe was performed on 24 February 1650 in celebration of the October 1649 wedding of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria . It

9191-433: Was inconclusive. Francis failed to conquer Milan, but he succeeded in conquering most of the lands of Charles's ally, Charles III, Duke of Savoy , including his capital Turin . A truce at Nice in 1538 on the basis of uti possidetis ended the war but lasted only a short time. War resumed in 1542 , with Francis now allied with Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Charles once again allied with Henry VIII. Despite

9292-741: Was often marked by the organization of imperial diets to maintain religious and political unity. He was frequently in Northern Italy, often taking part in complicated negotiations with the Popes to address the rise of Protestantism. It is important to note, though, that the German Catholics supported the Emperor. Charles had a close relationship with important German families, like the House of Nassau , many of which were represented at his imperial court. Many German princes, noblemen and generals led his military campaigns against France and

9393-518: Was only third in the Spanish line of succession , preceded by her older brother John, Prince of Asturias and older sister Isabella of Aragon . Both heirs to the crowns of Castile and Aragon John and Isabella died in 1498, and the Catholic Monarchs desired to keep the Spanish kingdoms in Iberian hands, so they designated their Portuguese grandson Miguel da Paz as heir presumptive of Spain by naming him Prince of Asturias ; but he died as

9494-457: Was persuaded to sign a peace treaty in 1538, he again allied himself with the Ottomans in 1542 in a Franco-Ottoman alliance . In 1543, Charles allied himself with Henry VIII and forced Francis to sign the Truce of Crépy-en-Laonnois . Later, in 1547, Charles signed a humiliating treaty with the Ottomans to gain himself some respite from the huge expenses of their war. Charles V made overtures to

9595-564: Was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect. All of the regions mainly depended on trade, manufacturing and the encouragement of the free flow of goods and craftsmen. Dutch and French dialects were the main languages used in secular city life. Historically, the term Low Countries arose at the Court of the Dukes of Burgundy , who used the term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for

9696-416: Was staged again in 1655 at the occasion of the visit of Queen Christina from Sweden. This article about an Italian composer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Low countries Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports and hinterland , stretching inland as far as parts of

9797-676: Was swift and humiliating to the rebels of Ghent. In the Castilian Cortes of Valladolid in 1506 and of Madrid in 1510, Charles was sworn as the Prince of Asturias , heir-apparent to his mother Queen Joanna . On the other hand, in 1502, the Aragonese Corts gathered in Zaragoza and pledged an oath to Joanna as heiress-presumptive, but Alonso de Aragón , Archbishop of Zaragoza, (an illegitimate son of King Ferdinand) expressed firmly that this oath could not establish jurisprudence, that

9898-476: Was that France relinquished its ancient claim on Flanders in 1528. From 1515 to 1523, Charles's government in the Netherlands also had to contend with the rebellion of Frisian peasants (led by Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijard Jelckama ). The rebels were initially successful but after a series of defeats, the remaining leaders were captured and executed in 1523. Charles extended the Burgundian territory with

9999-484: Was the first collection of realms labelled " the empire on which the sun never sets ". Charles was born in Flanders to Habsburg Archduke Philip the Handsome , son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burgundy , and Joanna of Castile , younger child of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon , the Catholic Monarchs of Spain . Heir of his grandparents, Charles inherited his family dominions at

10100-727: Was the recognition of Joanna as Princess of Asturias, given Prince Miguel's death a year earlier. They succeeded despite facing some opposition from the Castilian Cortes , which were reluctant to create the premises for Habsburg succession. In 1504, when her mother Isabella died, Joanna became Queen of Castile . Charles only met his father again in 1503 while his mother returned in 1504 (after giving birth to Ferdinand in Spain). The Spanish Ambassador Gutierre Gómez de Fuensalida reported that Philip often visited and they had lots of fun. The couple's unhappy marriage and Joanna's unstable mental state however created many difficulties, making it unsafe for

10201-466: Was to combine his intricate systems of alliance, wars, military threats and offers of marriage to realize his expansionist ambitions. Ultimately he succeeded in coercing Bohemia , Hungary and Poland into acquiescence in the Habsburgs' expansionist plan. The fact that the marriages between the Habsburgs and the Trastámaras, originally conceived as a marital alliance against France, would bring

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