ABSTRACT
Charles was born in 1500 to the powerful Habsburg family. At the Battle of Pavia in 1525, Francis was badly defeated by imperial forces and was taken hostage on the battlefield. After being freed, however, he waged additional wars against Charles in later years. By gathering Spain, the Netherlands, Naples, and Germany under one crown, Charles had hoped to create an immense empire that could dominate Europe and preserve its traditional Roman Catholicism. Instead, foreign wars and neglect of individual territories sapped his strength and enabled Protestants to establish a permanent foothold in northern Europe. Many of the forces that had prevented Charles from preserving Catholic unity also made it impossible for him to create an integrated territorial administration. Charles was the last Holy Roman Emperor crowned by a Pope, and, in the nineteenth century, the Habsburgs would rename their realm the Austrian Empire.
