Two years had elapsed between the accession of Charles V. to the
throne of Spain and the death of his grandfather, Maximilian. The young
king, with wonderful energy of character, had, during that time,
established himself very firmly on the throne. Upon the death of
Maximilian many claimants rose for the imperial throne. Henry VIII. of
England and Francis of France, were prominent among the competitors. For
six months all the arts of diplomacy were exhausted by the various
candidates, and Charles of Spain won the prize. On the 28th of June,
1519, he was unanimously elected Emperor of Germany. The youthful
sovereign, who was but nineteen years of age, was at Barcelona when he
received the first intelligence of his election. He had sufficient
strength of character to avoid the slightest appearance of exultation,
but received the announcement with dignity and gravity far above his
years.
The Spaniards were exceedingly excited and alarmed by the news. They
feared that their young sovereign, of whom they had already begun to be
proud, would leave Spain to establish his court in the German empire,
and they should thus be left, as a distant province, to the government
of a viceroy.
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