CHARLES IV

born May 14, 1316, Prague died Nov. 29, 1378, Prague byname Charles Of Luxembourg, original name Wenceslas, Czech Karel Lucembursky, or Vclav, German Karl Von Luxemburg, or Wenzel German king and king of Bohemia (as Charles) from 1346 to 1378 and Holy Roman emperor from 1355 to 1378, one of the most learned and diplomatically skillful sovereigns of his time. He gained more through diplomacy than others did by war, and through purchases, marriages, and inheritance he enlarged his dynastic power. Under Charles's rule Prague became the political, economic, and cultural centreand eventually the capitalof the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed, from his reign until the 18th century it was understood that the German imperial crown was based on the crown of the king of Bohemia. born Nov. 11, 1748, Portici, Kingdom of Naples died Jan. 20, 1819, Rome king of Spain (17881808) during the turbulent period of the French Revolution, who succeeded his father Charles III in 1788. Lacking qualities of leadership himself, Charles entrusted the government (1792) to Manuel de Godoy, a protg of the queen, Maria Luisa of Parma. Their adherence to the First Coalition against Revolutionary France led to a French invasion (1794) and the subsequent reduction of Spain to the status of a French satellite. When Napoleon again occupied northern Spain in 1807, Charles, threatened by a coup, tried to flee to America, but was stopped and forced to abdicate by supporters of his son Ferdinand (March 1808). The following May Napoleon deposed both Charles and Ferdinand, placing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. Charles spent the rest of his life in exile. born 1294 died Feb. 1, 1328, Vincennes, Fr. byname (in France) Charles The Fair, or (in Navarre) Charles The Bald, French Charles Le Bel, or Le Chauve, Spanish Carlos El Hermoso, or El Calvo king of France and of Navarre (as Charles I) from 1322, the last of the direct line of the Capetian dynasty; his inglorious reign was marked by his invasion of Aquitaine and by political intrigues with his sister Isabella, wife of King Edward II of England. After the death of his brother Philip V in 1322, Charles ignored Philip's daughter and successfully claimed the throne for himself. Among his first political intrigues as king were to bid for the German throne and to intervene in Flanders, hoping to bring that territory under the French crown; both ventures failed. Charles also renewed war with England by invading Aquitaine; the peace of 1327 was the great triumph of his reign, giving him a generous land settlement and 50,000 marks. Additional reading Bede Jarrett, The Emperor Charles IV (1935), is a competent survey; also useful is Samuel H. Thomson, Learning at the Court of Charles IV, Speculum, 25:120 (1950). K. Pfisterer and W. Puess (eds.), Karoli IV. vita ab eo ipso conscripta (1950), encompasses the years 133146.