Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/418

304 General History of Europe III. THE EMPIRE OF THE HAPSBURGS UNDER CHARLES V 512. Charles V's Empire. In the year 1500 a baby was born in the town of Ghent who was destined before he reached the age of twenty to rule, as Emperor Charles V, over more of Europe than anyone since Charlemagne. He owed his vast empire not to any conquests of his own but to an extraordinary series of royal marriages which made him heir to a great part of western Europe. These marriages had been arranged by his grandfather, Maximilian I, of the House of Hapsburg. In order to understand European history since 1500 we must learn something of Maxi- milian -and the Hapsburg line. 513. Reasons why the German Kings failed to establish a Strong State. The German kings had failed to create a strong kingdom such as that over which Louis XI of France or Henry VII of England ruled. Their fine title of emperor had made them a great deal of trouble and done them no good, as we have seen ( 345, 346, 356, 357). Their attempts to keep Italy as well as Germany under their power, and the alliance of the mighty bishop of Rome with their enemies, had well-nigh ruined them. Their position was further weakened by the fact that their office was not strictly hereditary. Although the emperors were often succeeded by their sons, each new emperor had to be elected, and those great vassals who controlled the election naturally took care to bind the candidate by solemn promises not to interfere with their privileges and independence. The result was that after the downfall of the Hohenstaufens Germany fell apart into a great number of practically independent states, of which none were very large and some were extremely small. 514. The "Germanics" of the Sixteenth Century. In the sixteenth century there was no such Germany as that which precipitated the World War in 1914, but only what the French called the "Germanies"; that is, two or three hundred states, which differed greatly from one another in size and character. This one had a duke, that a count, at its head, while others were ruled over by archbishops, bishops, or abbots. There were many