[Men in Office 01] • Carlos v Un Hombre Para Europa

Charles V, who through a skein of dynastic marriages inherited vast territories - the Netherlands and other remnants of the Burgundian state, Spain with its Italian possessions and its overseas conquests, and its Austrian Habsburg dominions - and was elected head of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, ruled a great part of Europe for some forty years. His position forced him to wage a constant struggle against the respective interests of France, England, the Papacy and the Turks. He had also to deal with perhaps the most divisive movement in European history - the Reformation. The interests of Charles's dominions brought him into North African politics and into competition for overseas expansion. The author, who has edited the letters of Charles V, is in a unique position to give a characterization of the man himself. To have a distinguished Spanish historian surveying Charles and his reign gives fresh perspectives into the objectives and cares of his offices.