Charles IV Spanish Carlos (b. Nov. 11, 1748, Portici, Kingdom of Naples—d. Jan. 20, 1819, Rome) King of Spain (1788-1808) during the turbulent period of the French Revolution. Son of Charles III, he lacked leadership qualities and entrusted the government to Manuel de Godoy. After a French invasion in 1794, Spain was reduced to the status of a French satellite. When Napoleon again occupied northern Spain in 1807, Charles was forced to abdicate (1808) and go into exile.
Charles V known as Charles the Wise (b. Jan. 21, 1338, Vincennes, France—d. Sept. 16, 1380, Nogent-sur-Marne) King of France (1364-80). He raised money to ransom his father, John II, from the English, under the terms of the Treaty of Bretigny. Crowned king on his father’s death in 1364, Charles helped the country recover its losses in the first phase of the Hundred Years' War. When war with England broke out again (1369), he won a series of victories for the French that nullified the damaging treaties of 1360. The plots of his enemy Charles II (of Navarra) prompted him to seize most of the king’s French lands. His support of Pope Clem¬ ent VII helped cause the Western Schism.
Charles V German Karl (b. Feb. 24, 1500, Ghent—d. Sept. 21, 1558, San Jeronimo de Yuste, Spain) Holy Roman emperor (1519-56) and king of Spain (as Charles I, 1516-56). Son of Philip I of Castile and grandson of Ferdinand V and Isabella I and of Emperor Maximilian I, he succeeded to his grandfathers’ kingdoms on their deaths in 1516 and 1519, respectively. Important events of his reign include the Diet of Worms and the begin¬ ning of the Reformation; his defeat of Francis I, which assured Spanish supremacy in Italy (see Italian Wars); wars against Turkey under Suley¬ man I; the formation of the Schmalkaldic League; the Council of Trent; and the Peace of Augsburg. He struggled to hold his vast Spanish and Hab- sburg empire together against the growing forces of Protestantism, Turk¬ ish and French pressure, and even hostility from Pope Adrian VI. In 1555-56 Charles abdicated his claims to the Netherlands and Spain in favour of his son Philip II and the title of emperor to his brother Ferdinand I, and in 1557 he retired to a monastery in Spain.
Charles VI known as Charles the Well-Beloved or Charles the
Mad (b. Dec. 3, 1368, Paris, Fr.—d. Oct. 21, 1422, Paris) King of France (1380-1422). Crowned at age 11, he allowed his uncles and advisers to rule France until 1388. He suffered fits of madness from 1392, and royal power waned as the dukes of Burgundy and Orleans grew stronger. The English invasion and victory at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) obliged Charles to sign the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which provided for the mar¬ riage of his daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry V of England, who was declared regent of France and heir to the French throne.
Charles VI German Karl (b. Oct. 1, 1685, Vienna, Austria—d. Oct. 20, 1740, Vienna) Holy Roman emperor (1711—40) and king of Hungary
(as Charles III). Son of Emperor Leopold I, he tried unsuccessfully to claim the Spanish throne (as the pretender Charles III), which caused the War of the Spanish Succession. He conducted a successful war against the Otto¬ man Empire (1716-18) but lost the War of the Polish Succession (1733— 38), and a new conflict with Turkey (1736-39) resulted in the loss of most of the territories gained in 1718. He promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction in an attempt to ensure that his daughter Maria Theresa would succeed him, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession.
Charles VII (b. Feb. 22, 1403, Paris, France—d. July 22, 1461, Mehun- sur-Yevre) King of France (1422-61). Despite the treaty signed by his father, Charles Vl, which excluded his succession, Charles assumed the title of king on his father’s death. In 1429, with the aid of Joan of Arc, he raised the siege of Orleans. He drove the English from France (1436) and gradually recovered French lands, ending the Hundred Years' War. His financial and military reforms increased the power of the monarchy.
Charles VII German Karl Albrecht (b. Aug. 6, 1697—d. Jan. 20, 1745, Munich) Elector of Bavaria (1726-45) and Holy Roman emperor (1742-45). He renounced any claims to the Austrian succession when he recognized the Pragmatic Sanction. However, on the death of Emperor Charles VI, he joined the alliance against Maria Theresa and was crowned emperor in 1742. Meanwhile, Bavaria was overrun by Austrian troops. He was restored by Prussia and France to his Bavarian lands in 1744 but died soon after.
Charles VIII (b. June 30, 1470, Amboise, France—d. April 7, 1498, Amboise) King of France (1483-98). He abandoned claims to parts of present-day France and Spain, and he consolidated French ownership of Brittany, in preparation for his grand enterprise, an expedition to Italy to assert his inherited right to the kingdom of Naples. This inaugurated wars with Italy that lasted more than 50 years and gained little in return for vast outlays. Charles was crowned in Naples in 1495, but his opponents rallied against him and he lost his conquests. He died while preparing another expedition.
Charles IX (b. June 27, 1550, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France—d. May 30, 1574, Vincennes) King of France (1560-74). Son of Catherine de Medicis, he became king on the death of his brother Francis II. under his mother’s regency. Though he was proclaimed of age in 1563, he remained under his mother’s domination. His reign was marked by conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots, and he was remembered for authorizing the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) at his mother’s instigation, an event that apparently haunted him the rest of his life. He died of tuberculosis at age 23.
Charles IX Swedish Karl (b. Oct. 4, 1550, Stockholm, Swed.—d. Oct. 30, 1611, Nykoping) King of Sweden (1604-11). Third son of Gustav I Vasa, he helped lead a rebellion against the rule of his half brother Erik XIV that placed his other brother on the throne as John III. After the accession (1592) of his devoutly Catholic nephew, Sigismund III, Charles called the Convention of Uppsala, which demanded that Lutheranism be retained as the national religion. He opposed Sigismund in a civil war, and after the latter was deposed Charles became the virtual ruler of Swe¬ den (1599-1604). Declared king in 1604, he pursued an aggressive for¬ eign policy that led to war with Poland (1605) and Denmark (the Kalmar War, 1611-13).
Charles X (b. Oct. 9, 1757, Versailles, France—d. Nov. 6, 1836, Gori- zia, Friuli) King of France (1824-30). Fifth son of the dauphin Louis, and grandson of Louis XV, until 1824 he was known as Charles-Philippe, count d’Artois. During the French Revolution he went into exile and became the leader of the emigre nobility. Returning to France in 1814, he led the ultras during the Bourbon Restoration. On the death of his brother Louis XVIII, Charles became king. His popularity waned as his reign became increas¬ ingly reactionary. After the July Revolution he was forced to abdicate in favour of Louis- Philippe. His reign dramatized the failure of the Bourbons to reconcile the tradition of the monarchy by divine right with the demo¬ cratic spirit produced in the wake of the Revolution.
Charles X Gustav Swedish Karl Gustav (b. 1622—d. 1660) King of Sweden (1654-60). Nephew of Gustav II Adolf, he failed in his efforts to marry the Swedish queen Christina, but she named him to succeed her. As king he attempted to restore the public finances but was forced to devote most of his attention to military matters. He conducted the First Northern War (1655-60) against a coalition that eventually included Poland, Russia, Brandenburg, the Netherlands, and Denmark, with the aim