Editing Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Charles V's abdication===
In 1556, amid great pomp, and leaning on the shoulder of one of his favourites (the 24-year-old [[William the Silent]]),<ref>[[Lisa Jardine]], ''The Awful End of William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with A Handgun'', London, HarperCollins, 2005, {{ISBN|0007192576}}, Chapter 1; Richard Bruce Wernham, ''The New Cambridge Modern History: The Counter Reformation and Price Revolution 1559–1610'', (vol. 3), 1979, pp. 338–345.</ref> Charles gave away his lands and his offices. The [[Spanish Empire]], which included Spain, the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], [[Kingdom of Naples]], [[Duchy of Milan]] and Spain's possessions in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Americas]], went to his son, [[Philip II of Spain|Philip]]. Ferdinand became [[suo jure]] monarch in Austria and succeeded Charles as Holy Roman Emperor.<ref>Holborn, pp. 249–250; Wernham, pp. 338–345.</ref> This course of events had been guaranteed already on 5 January 1531 when Ferdinand had been elected the [[King of the Romans]] and so the legitimate successor of the reigning emperor.

[[File:CoA of later Ferdinand I Holy Roman Emperor as King of the Romans 1536 Hofburg Wien Austria.jpg|thumb|Coat of arms of Ferdinand I as King of the Romans, 1536, Hofburg palace, Vienna]]

Charles's choices were appropriate. Philip was culturally Spanish: he was born in [[Valladolid]] and raised in the Spanish court, his native tongue was Spanish, and he preferred to live in Spain. Ferdinand was familiar with, and to, the other princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Although he too had been born in Spain, he had administered his brother's affairs in the empire since 1531.<ref name="Holborn, pp. 243–246"/> Some historians maintain Ferdinand had also been touched by the reformed philosophies, and was probably the closest the Holy Roman Empire ever came to a Protestant emperor; he remained nominally a Catholic throughout his life, although reportedly he refused last rites on his deathbed.<ref>See Parker ''Emperor: A new life of Charles V'', 2019, pp. 20–50.</ref> Other historians maintain he was as Catholic as his brother, but tended to see religion as outside the political sphere.<ref>Holborn, pp. 250–251.</ref>

Charles' abdication had far-reaching consequences in Imperial diplomatic relations with France and the Netherlands, particularly in his allotment of the Spanish kingdom to Philip. In France, the kings and their ministers grew increasingly uneasy about Habsburg encirclement and sought allies against Habsburg hegemony from among the border German territories, and even from some of the Protestant kings. In the Netherlands, Philip's ascension in Spain raised particular problems; for the sake of harmony, order, and prosperity Charles had not blocked the Reformation, and had tolerated a high level of local autonomy. An ardent Catholic and rigidly autocratic prince, Philip pursued an aggressive political, economic and religious policy toward the Dutch, resulting in a [[Dutch Revolt|Dutch rebellion]] shortly after he became king. Philip's militant response meant the occupation of much of the upper provinces by troops of, or hired by, [[Habsburg Spain]] and the constant ebb and flow of Spanish men and provisions on the so-called [[Spanish Road]] from northern Italy, through the [[Franche-Comté]], to and from Flanders.<ref>Parker, p. 35.</ref>