Emperor Charles V, Impresario of War
Campaign Strategy, International Finance, and Domestic Politics

This 2002 book examines the campaigns of Emperor Charles V from a military, political and economic perspective.

James D. Tracy (Author)

9780521147668, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 August 2010

362 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.53 kg

Review of the hardback: 'One must admire the comprehensive scholarship and depth of understanding that has shaped this work …'. Australian History Yearbook

Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) asserted his princely authority by deciding at times to lead his own armies to war, despite the misgivings of advisers. Since Europe's wars were fought with money borrowed against future revenues, even an emperor had to share power with his bankers, and his parliaments. This 2002 book examines all three dimensions of European warfare. Charles's role as commander-in-chief is evaluated by measuring the strategic aims of his personal campaigns. The process by which bankers took control of the finances of the Habsburg lands becomes clear from an examination of where the money came from to pay for Charles's campaigns. Finally, a comparison of the realms that provided most of Charles's revenues - Castile, Naples, and three Low Countries provinces - shows how some parliamentary bodies, if not all, successfully pursued long-term local interests by exploiting the dynasty's need for money.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Strategy and Finance: 1. The grand strategy of Charles V
2. The Habsburg-Valois struggle: Italy 1515–28
3. The search for revenue, I: the hard roads of fiscal reform
4. The search for revenue, II: parliamentary subsidies
5. The search for credit: Charles and his bankers
Part II. Impresario of War: Charles's Campaigns, 1529–52
6. Finding uses for an army: Charles in Italy, 1529–30
7. Crusades in Austria and the Mediterranean, 1532–5
8. Failures in Provence and at Prevesa and Algiers, 1536–41
9. Charles's Grand Plan, 1543–4
10. The first Schmalkaldic War, 1546–7
11. The second Schmalkaldic War and the assault on Metz, 1552
Part III. War Taxation: Parliaments of the Core Provinces of the Low Countries, Naples, and Castile
12. Fiscal devolution and war taxation in the Low Countries
13. Baronial politics and war finances in the Kingdom of Naples
14. Town autonomy, Noble magistrates, and war taxation in Castile
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]