Charles V was born on 24th February 1500 to Joanna of Castile and Philip I of Castile and was born the heir of three seperate houses – Habsburg, Valois-Burgandy and Trastámara.
Born the grandson of Isabella of Castile, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burgandy, Charles would grow up to become one of the most powerful men in Europe.
In 1516 he became King of Castile alongside his mother and this quickly followed by gaining the crown of Aragon in 1519. In the same year Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor beating Frederick II of Saxony, Ferdinand I of France and Henry VIII o the position. As the grandson of the previous Emperor, Maximilion, Charles was the natural choice and with an unanimous decision he was crowned on the 28th June 1519.
In 1525 Charles married Isabella of Portugal and had three children with Isabella, however just four years earlier he was betrothed to the five year old Princess Mary daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Princess Mary later married Charles’ son Philip when she was aged 37.
During Charles’ reign as Emperor Henry VIII had started to try and divorce Katherine of Aragon in 1527. Katherine wrote frequently to her nephew, Charles, to help her cause within Europe and the Pope. In 1527 Charles had taken the Pope prisoner and so he was unable to get involved at the time, which Henry unsuccessfully tried to use to his advantage. In 1529 although the Pope was free he was still heavily influenced by Charles. The Pope sent Cardinal Campeggio to preside over the divorce hearing and delay it as much as he could.
In 1554 Charles began to withdraw from his duties passing them on to his brother, Ferdinand, and son, Philip II of Spain.
On 21st September 1558 Charles died, aged 58, of malaria. 
Tudor Chronicles 