Emperor Charles V, before his enactment[1] called Charles of Luxembourg (Ghent, February 24 1500 – Cuacos de Yuste, Spain, 21st of September 1558), was a descendant of House of Habsburg. From 1506 to 1555 he was the lord of ultimately (since 1543) all Dutch regions, from 1516 to 1556 as Charles I king of Spain and from 1519 to 1556 as Charles V Roman German Emperor. In Flanders he is commonly known as Emperor Charles, in The Netherlands as Charles V.

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In Brussels every year the Ommegang held, where Joyful entrance from Philip as heir to the throne, he visits the city together with his father, Emperor Charles V.

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Charles V saw the Religious Peace of Augsburg as a personal defeat. Disappointed and exhausted by the almost permanent traveling, he did so on October 25, 1555 in Brussels abdication. This was a very unusual and sensational act for that time. For this ceremony in Aula Magna of the Palace on the Koudenberg were representatives of all Seventeen Provinces, members of the government bodies and the knights of the Golden Fleece met.

In a moving speech the old emperor, leaning on the young William of Orangehow he had always strived

"to provide for the well-being of Germany and the other realms, to provide for the peace and unity of all Christendom and to use forces against the Turks."

Looking back on his life he ended with:

"I know that I have committed many mistakes, great mistakes, not least because of my youth, then because of human error and because of my passions, and finally because of my weariness. But I have not knowingly wronged anyone, no matter who. If there is Even if there was still an injustice, it happened without my knowledge and only due to inability: I publicly regret this and beg forgiveness from anyone I may have offended."

 

Villa of Charles V next to Monastery of Yuste.

Charles V then transferred his Dutch territories to his son Philip. In a separate ceremony on January 16, 1556 in the Keysers Court he also received the Spanish kingdoms, and on June 10 the Franche-Comte. On September 5-7, 1556, Charles finally transferred the rights of the emperor to his brother and later emperor Ferdinand I. However, this unilateral transfer of power would not be recognized by the electors until March 14, 1558. This made Charles's empire as well as the House of Habsburg split into a Spanish and an Austrian branch.