Carlo V

Was born in Gand in 1500 and died in 1558. Son of Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria, and Giovanna la Pazza. Thanks to the matrimonial policy of his grandfather, the emperor Maximilian I, he inherited the Frankish territories, Flanders and the Hapsburg territories of his father, whilst from his mother he inherited the crown of Spain.. In 1519, after the death of Maximilian I, of whom he was the only heir, Charles Hapsburg, with the support of the powerful German bankers the Fuggers, corrupted the nobles in charge of the imperial election and managed to have himself elected Emperor, taking on the name of Charles V. He thus conceived his grand project of an Empire founded upon the Catholic religion that resuscitated the imperial myth of Charlemagne. He certainly had the support of Hadrian VI and then Clement VII. But he met with hostility from Francis I, who organised the League of Cognac (1526) with Venice, Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Pontifical State and the Republic of Genoa. Charles V reacted with the Sack of Rome in 1527. After the truce sanctioned by the peace of Cambrai in 1529, the conflict began again without many changes till the peace of Crepy in 1544. In 1547 the battle against Charles V was further pursued by the new King of France Henry II. The Emperor abdicated in1556 putting an end to the dream of a great multinational empire. Ludovico Ariosto entered into contact with the Emperor after the sack of Rome: almost certainly on 1 November 1529 the poet was with Duke Alfonso and other courtiers in Modena to receive Charles V and escort him to the frontiers of the Pontifical State. The Duke and Ariosto did not instead take part in the coronation of Charles V on 24 February 1530. In November 1532 Ludovico went with Alfonso I to Mantua to meet the Emperor who was staying with the Gonzagas, and had come to Italy to meet Clement VII. It is probable that in this circumstance Ludovico gave a copy of the third edition of the Furioso to the Emperor. To Charles V are dedicated the octaves 32-36 of  canto XV of the Furioso, over and above other minor references such as XXVI, 35 and XXXIII, 51.