ular in Spain, but the empress whom he
married at his people's request was much beloved. Complaints were made
of his absenteeism, but until 1543 he spent the greater portion of his
reign in Spain, or on expeditions such as those against Tunis and
Algiers which were distinctively in Spanish interests. Spaniards
disliked his Netherland and German connexions, but without the vigorous
blows which these enabled him to strike at France, it is improbable that
Spain could have retained her hold on Italy, or her monopoly of commerce
with the Indies. The wars with Francis I. were, in spite of the rival
candidature for the Empire, Spanish wars entailed by Ferdinand's
retention of Roussillon, his annexation of Navarre, his summary eviction
of the French from Naples. The Netherlands had become convinced on
commercial grounds of the wisdom of peace with France, and the German
interest in Milan was not sufficiently active to be a standing cause of
war. Charles and Francis had inherited the hostility of Ferdinand and
Louis XII.

The reign of Charles was in America the age of conquest and
organization. Upon his accession the settlements upon the mainland were
insignificant; by 1556 conquest was practically complete, and civil and
ecclesiastical government firmly established. Actual expansion was the
work of great adventurers starting on their own impulse from the older
colonies. To Charles fell the task of encouraging such ventures, of
controlling the conquerors, of settling the relations between colonists
and natives, which involved those between the colonists and the
missionary colonial church. He must arrest depopulation, provide for the
labour market, regulate oceanic trade, and check military preponderance
by civil and ecclesiastical organization. In America Charles took an
unceasing interest; he had a boundless belief in its possibilities, and
a determination to safeguard the interests of the crown. Cortes,
Alvarado and the brothers Pizarro were brought into close personal
communication with the emperor. If he bestowed on Cortes the confidence
which the loyal conqueror deserved, he showed the sternest determination
in crushing the rebellious and autonomous instincts of Almagro and the
Pizarros. But for this, Peru and Chile must have become independent
almost as soon as they were conquered. Throughout he strove to protect
the natives, to prevent actual slavery, and the consequent raids upon
the natives. Legislation was not, indeed,