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Charles (King of Germany See)

King of Germany. See CHARLEMAGNE.

CHARLES II., King of Germany. See CHARLES I. of France.

CHARLES III., surnamed Le Gros, Emperor of Germany. See CHARLES II. of France.

CHARLES IV., son of John of Luxemburg, King of Bohemia, elected Emperor of Germany at the death of Louis of Bavaria in 1346. He resided at Prague, and the most important event of his reign was the issuing of the "golden bull" in 1355, which defined the respective rights of the electors and the emperor. He died in 1378.

CHARLES V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain (in the latter capacity he is called Charles I.), the eldest son of Philip, archduke of Austria, and of Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, born in Ghent, Feb. 24, 1500. Charles was the grandson of the Emperor Maximilan and Mary, CHARLES V.

CHARLES VII. daughter of Charles the Bold, last duke courted and threatened the Protestants. At length in 1546 the Protestant princes declared war, but were driven from the field and compelled to submit. But the defection of his ally, Maurice of Saxony, whom Charles had invested with the electoral dignity, again turned the tide in favor of the Protestants. Maurice surprised the imperial camp at Innsbruck in the middle of a stormy night, and Charles with great difficulty escaped alone in a litter. The Treaty of Passau was dictated by the Protestants. It gave them equal rights with the Catholics, and was confirmed three years later by the diet of Augsburg (1555). Foiled in his schemes and dejected with repeated failures, Charles resolved to resign the imperial dignity, and transfer his hereditary estates to his son Philip. In 1555 he conferred on him the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and on Jan. 15, 1556, that of Spain, retiring himself to a residence beside the monastery of Yuste in Estremadura, where he amused himself by mechanical labors and the cultivation of a garden. He died Sept. 21, 1558. of Burgundy, and inherited from his grandparents on both sides Aragon, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Castile, and the colonies in the New World, Austria, Burgundy, and the Netherlands. On the death of Ferdinand, his grandfather, Charles assumed the title of King of Spain. In 1519 he was elected emperor, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle with extraordinary splendor. The progress of the Reformation in Germany demanded the care of the new emperor, who held a diet at Worms. Luther, who appeared at this diet with a safe-conduct from Charles, defended his case with energy and boldness. The emperor kept silent; but after Luther's departure a severe edict appeared against him in the name of Charles, who thought it his interest to declare himself the defender of the Roman Church. A war with France, which the rival claims of Francis I. in Italy, the Netherlands, and Navarre made inevitable, broke out in 1521. Neither side had a decided success till the battle of Pavia in 1525, where Francis was totally defeated and taken prisoner. Charles treated his captive with respect, but with great rigor as regarded the conditions of his release. A league of Italian states, headed by Pope Clement VII., was now formed against the overgrown power of Charles, but their ill-directed efforts had no success. Rome itself was stormed and pillaged by the troops of the Constable of Bourbon, and the Pope made prisoner. Nor was the alliance of Henry VIII. of England with Francis against the emperor any more successful, the war ending in a treaty (Cambray, 1529), of which the conditions were favorable to Charles. A war against the Turks by which Solyman was compelled to retreat, and an expedition against the Dey of Tunis by which and left Charles VI. to employ his fa- 20,000 Christian slaves were released, mous general, Prince Eugene, for the added to the influence of Charles, and CHARLES VI., born in 1685, second son of Leopold I., and was destined by his father to the crown of Spain. On the death of Charles II. in that country, his testamentary heir, the Duke d'Anjou, assumed the sovereignty under the title of Philip V.; and Charles VI., aided by England, Holland, and Portugal, was engaged in a protracted and fluctuating struggle with that prince (known in history as the War of the Spanish Succession), when the death of his brother Joseph I. called him to the imperial throne, in 1711, to which he added the crown of Hungary in the following year. peace of Utrecht, in 1713, secured to his rival in Spain the rule of that country, The acquired for him the reputation of a Subsequent wars, consequent on the dischivalrous defender of the faith. In 1537 he made truce with Francis, and soon after, while on his way to the Netherlands, spent six days at the court of the latter in Paris. In 1541 another expedition against the African Moors, by which Charles hoped to crown his reputation, was unsuccessful, and he lost a part of his fleet and army before Algiers without gaining any advantage. A new war with France arose regarding the territory of Milan. The quarrel was patched up by the peace of Crespy in 1545. The religious strife was again disturbing the emperor. Charles, who was no bigot, sought to reconcile the two parties, and with this view alternately defense of Venice against the Turks. puted succession in Poland, involved the loss of considerable territory, and, at the peace of Belgrade, in 1739, Charles VI. was compelled to cede Serbia and Wallachia to Turkey. He died in 1740 .

CHARLES VII., born in 1697, the eldest son of Maximilian Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and was crowned emperor of Germany in 1742. During the three succeeding years, that country was the scene of one hot and continuous contest, known in history as the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Charles VII., who owed his crown to the in. trigues and influence of his allies, France and Prussia, had to defend its possession against the legitimate claim of Maria 28-Vol. II-Gyc 8 CHARLES I.

CHARLES II.

Theresa, Queen of Hungary. He died and having defeated him, seized on the in 1745.

CHARLES I. (IV. IN HUNGARY) former Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary; born Aug. 17, 1887. He was grandson of the Archduke Karl Ludwig, and son of the Archduke Otto Franz Josef. On the death of his great-uncle, Franz Josef I., he succeeded to the throne, Nov. 21, 1916. He was of an amiable disposition, but lacked the qualities of a great ruler. His heart was never in the war, and there is little doubt that he would have liked to withdraw from it at any time after his accession. His wife was Empress Zita, a princess of Bourbon and Parma, Parma, who whose sympathies were naturally with Italy, and it was largely to her influence that the lukewarmness of Charles was attributed. A great sensation was created in 1917 by the publication of the "Dear Sixtus" letter, which had been sent by Charles in his own handwriting to his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon, in which the emperor referred to "France's just claims to Alsace-Lorraine." Attempts were made to show that the letter was a forgery, but the evidence was irrefutable, and Charles finally admitted that he was the author.

Great tension was created between the courts of Berlin and Vienna by the incident, and Charles was compelled to atone for his indiscretion by writing another letter to the German emperor, in which he reiterated his firm adherence to the military plans of Germany. The relatives of Empress Zita were banished from Vienna and the Austrian armies were placed more fully than before under German leadership. Immediately after the collapse of the Central Powers and the signing of the armistice, Charles abdicated, and removed with his family to the stronghold of Eckhartsau.

Their safety being menaced there, the royal family fled to Switzerland.