ABSTRACT
Some time ago Frances Yates wrote of Elizabeth I of England's imperial stance and suggested it compared closely to that of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor who was, as Charles I, also king of Spain. More recently Marie Tanner has written of that emperor's use of imagery, and especially that indicating Trojan ancestry, put forth by his Habsburg predecessors. Neither study takes into account the extent to which Charles drew as well on maternal tradition, and specifically on that of his maternal grandparents, los Reyes Catolicos, Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragon.1
