Charles V's Failure Essay

An example of a reason as to why Charles V thought that he had failed at the end of his reign may have been the growth of Protestant Lutheranism in Germany. This growth led to distrust between Charles the Emperor of much of the Catholic world and German princes who had turned to Protestantism as the alternative to Catholicism. A clear criticism of Charles can be seen in the writing of William Robertson, ‘To check the growth of these evils (Protestantism) , and to punish such as had impiously contributed to the spread of them, the emperor, having long and without success made trial of gentler remedies,’ Robertson suggests that Charles and his approach to the growth of protestant belief may have contributed to its popularity and that it was …show more content…
For example his struggle with dealing with the Protestant Reformation in Germany and the consequences of his victory in Pavia which caused greater difficulties later in his reign despite the great victory are clear cases of failure within his reign. But the extent to which Charles was directly to blame for these misfortunes is debateable, as many external factors played pivotal roles in Charles’s failure such as Francois I personal vendetta against Charles which split Charles forces between the East and the West and amplified the Ottoman dilemma in the Holy Roman Empire and the idea that the Protestant Reformation was precedent in consideration to its size and extent. These factors would emphasise Charles’s failure as being out of his control and thus raises questions as to whether he was right to resign based on his failures alone. Brice concludes that Charles, ‘aimed for peace but the nature of his empire was such that the other powers in Europe could not tolerate it. Peace could only be obtained by unity or a balance of power’ and ‘vision and failure were inextricably interwoven from the start and it was no disgrace when Charles realised this and abandoned the struggle’. Overall it could be said that the statement of Charles V thought he had failed at the end of his reign could be true but it is understandable as to why Charles felt this way due to the fact that his vision was not achievable from his position but it was rarely his fault which led to the failure thus showing how his empire may have been impossible for one man to reign