Greetings,
I present to you:
Keizer Karel / emperor Charles V (1500-1558)The Flemish members amongst us most certainly know this man, as he was born in the city of Gent (Ghent).
(And punished the inhabitants of the city later on in his life.)
Thanks to heritage, luck and marriage Charles owned a vast empire, consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, the Netherlands, parts of Italy, the colonies in the Americas, ... It was indeed an empire in which the sun never set. He waged war several times against France and the Ottoman empire, and saw himself as a protector of the catholic fate. It was in his lifetime however that the stability and union in christianity began to break apart thanks to the reformation and the rise of protestantism.
He fought against all of this but was forced to accept that the union in christianity, which had been part of medieval life for centuries, had now dissolved, which left him a very troubled man when he passed away.
Charles V had a deformity, the so called 'Habsburg chin':
This was quite visible in his younger years, but as he grew older he was able to cover it with his beard. I have seen drawings of his skeleton, and I was surprised to see how deformed his skull was. (The very pronounced chin together with deformities among his teeth, ...)
Here is the clicky:
Based on this painting:
Keizer Karel is very well known in folklore here in Flanders, and is remembered in stories like 'de pot van Olen' or in for example beers named after him.
(He would make a great exclusive special for in museum shops!
)
Cheers,
Gaetano
