by the cortes of Castile, and then by those of Aragon. Joanna lived to
the very eve of her son's abdication, so that he was only for some
months technically sole king of Spain. During this Spanish visit
Maximilian died, and Charles succeeded to the inheritance of the
Habsburgs, to which was shortly added the duchy of Wurttemberg.
Maximilian had also intended that he should succeed as emperor. In spite
of the formidable rivalry of Francis I. and the opposition of Pope Leo
X., pecuniary corruption and national feeling combined to secure his
election in 1519. Charles hurriedly left Spain, and after a visit to
Henry VIII. and his aunt Catherine, was crowned at Aix on the 23rd of
October 1520.

The difficulty of Charles's reign consists in the complexity of
interests caused by the unnatural aggregate of distinct territories and
races. The crown of Castile brought with it the two recently conquered
kingdoms of Navarre and Granada, together with the new colonies in
America and scattered possessions in northern Africa. That of Aragon
comprised the three distinct states of Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia,
and in addition the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, each with a
separate character and constitution of its own. No less than eight
independent cortes or parliaments existed in this Spanish-Italian group,
adding greatly to the intricacy of government. In the Netherland
provinces again the tie was almost purely personal; there existed only
the rudiments of a central administration and a common representative
system, while the county of Burgundy had a history apart. Much the same
was true of the Habsburg group of states, but Charles soon freed himself
from direct responsibility for their government by making them over,
together with Wurttemberg, to his brother Ferdinand. The Empire entailed
serious liabilities on its ruler without furnishing any reliable assets:
only through the cumbrous machinery of the diet could Charles tap the
military and financial resources of Germany. His problem here was
complicated by the growth of Lutheranism, which he had to face at his
very first diet in 1521. In addition to such administrative difficulties
Charles had inherited a quarrel with France, to which the rivalry of
Francis I. for the Empire gave a personal character. Almost equally
formidable was the advance of Sultan Suliman up the Danube, and the
union of the Turkish naval power with that of the Barbary States of
northern Africa.