ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor and, until his death in 1558, he was to play a central role on the European political stage. It looks at Charles's response to the Protestant Reformation in Germany. The chapter explores Charles efforts to retain the Netherlands under Habsburg control. The consolidation of Charles's victory involved immediate territorial changes within the Empire. Henry of Brunswick was returned to the lands seized from him by the Schmalkaldic League. The truth was that Charles's victory, despite the territorial adjustments which followed, was essentially hollow. It was a triumph neither of Emperor over princes nor of Catholicism over the reformed faith. The campaigns of 1546-15547 had been won by Charles in alliance with both Catholic and Protestant princes. Charles did not stray into any settlement which the Pope would not approve. Nor would he sanction a religious formula which achieved a united German church at the expense of the Church Universal.
