Face of Flanders: Charles V

It’s sometime in the latter half of the 16th century, and the scene is on the set of the film Emperor starring Adrien Brody (The Pianist, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Charles V, Keizer Karel, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. As some have been keen to point out; it might have been Brody’s chin that got him the part.

Charles was born in Ghent in 1500, the son of Philip the Handsome and the less fortunately named Joanna the Mad (a condition later attributed to the actions of Charles). His father had been born in Bruges and was Duke of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands at the time.

Philip died in 1506, and Charles came under the guardianship of his aunt, Margaret of Austria, Philip’s younger sister, a childless widow. She was named governor of the Netherlands and ruled from Mechelen, where her palace still stands.

Charles came into his titles at the age of 15, and the war over whether he should pay homage to the French king for the territory of Flanders led in 1528 to the French giving up their claim to the county. Charles went on to extend his Burgundy territories, from Tournai to Groningen.

Along the way, he picked up the crown of Castile and Aragon and became the de facto King of Spain. In 1519, he succeeded his grandfather as Holy Roman Emperor. He was officially crowned in 1530 by the Pope in Bologna.

The action in the film takes place a decade later, when Charles was forced to put down a rebellion by the citizens of Ghent against high taxation used to finance foreign wars. The uprising’s ringleaders were forced to walk through town in their nightshirts with a noose around their necks – an event marked by a parade every year during the Gentse Feesten.

It’s also an image adopted by natives of Ghent to represent their town; you can find little nooses in souvenir shops and hanging from car rear-view mirrors. Residents are known as Stroppendragers – noose wearers.

Photo: Portrait of a young Charles V by Bernard van Orley