BIOGRAPHY

Charles V, was born in Ghent on the 24th February in 1500. He was the son of Philip I of Habsburg (known as the Handsome) and Joanna I of Castile (known as Joanna the Mad), monarchs of Castile and Aragon. He had one brother Ferdinand and four sisters: Eleanor, Isabella, Mary and Catherine. He married Isabella of Portugal in 1526 and had five children: Philip, Mary, Joanna, John and John. He also fathered another five illegitimate children: Isabella, Margaret, Joanna, Thadea and John known as Jeromín as a child and later as John of Austria. In 1519 he inherited the title of Holy Roman emperor from his grandfather Maximilian I. He also inherited Castile, Navarra, American territories and cities in North Africa, from Isabella I; Aragon and Italian territories, from Ferdinand II; and Low Countries and Franché-Comté, from Philip I.

Charles of Habsburg died at the Monastery of Yuste on the 21st September 1558. He was 58 years old.