Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

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Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
ArmigerCharles V
Adopted1519
CrestImperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire
TorseCross of Burgundy
ShieldHis maternal inheritance quartering his paternal inheritance
SupportersImperial Eagle and the Pillars of Hercules
MottoPlus Oultre
(Latin translation: Plus Ultra)
Order(s)Order of the Golden Fleece

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor[1] was the heir of several of Europe's leading royal houses. In 1506, he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands, which came from his paternal grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. In 1516, Charles became the king of Spain, inheriting the kingdoms first united by his maternal grandparents, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic Monarchs). Finally, on the death of his paternal grandfather in 1519, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, he inherited the Habsburg lands in central Europe and was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

Blazon

Shield

Coat of Arms as Heir
Coat of Arms as Prince of Spains, Archduke and Duke of Burgundy
Coat of Arms as Prince of Spains, Archduke and Duke of Burgundy

His "Greater Coat of Arms", the most expansive and formal representation of the lands and titles he inherited, is blazoned as follows (here placed in paragraphs for clarity):

Other elements

  • Supporters: An eagle with two heads displayed sable imperially crowned proper in front of a saltire ragulée gules the whole between two columns argent issuing from the sea proper in base the one to dexter crowned imperially proper the one to sinister crowned with the Royal Crown of Spain proper;
  • Motto: PLUS ULTRA (or PLUS OULTRE) wraps around the columns.

Personal arms

Coat of arms of Charles V of Habsburg as King of the Romans.
Escutcheon, Greater Coat of Arms
Personal Coat of arms

The first and fourth quarters represents holdings derived from the Spanish crowns: that is, the quartered arms of Castile and Leon themselves quartered with the quartered arms of Aragon and Sicily. After 1520 the Aragon/Sicily quartering also incorporated the arms of Jerusalem, Naples, and Navarre.

The second and third quarters represents holdings derived from Charles's Austrian and Burgundian inheritance: these quarters shows further quartering of Austria, Duchy of Burgundy, House of Valois-Burgundy, and the Duchy of Brabant, with the escutcheon in the middle showing Flanders on the left and Tyrol on the right.

The Granada pomegranate is represented at the bottom between the two.

Features

First and Fourth Quarters
First and Fourth Grand-quarters Second Grand-quarter
Arms Meaning Details
Kingdom of Castile 1st and 4th great-grand-quarters
Gules, a three towered castle Or, masoned sable and ajouré azure
Kingdom of León 2nd and 3rd great-grand-quarters
Argent, a lion rampant purpure(sometimes blazoned gules) crowned Or, langued and armed gules
Third Grand-quarter
Crown of Aragon Dexter chief
Or, four pallets gules
Kingdom of Navarre Dexter base
Gules, a cross, saltire and orle of chains linked together Or, a centre point vert
Kingdom of Sicily Sinister side
Party per Saltire, Or four pallets gules and Argent an eagle displayed sable (Manfred of Sicily)
Arms Meaning Details
Crown of Aragon Dexter chief
Or, four pallets gules
Kingdom of Navarre Dexter base
Gules, a cross, saltire and orle of chains linked together Or, a centre point vert
Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Hungary Sinister side
Party per pale Argent, a cross potent and four crosslets Or (Kingdom of Jerusalem) and
Barry of eight Gules and Argent (Kingdom of Hungary), the whole representing the arms of the Kingdom of Naples, as show in the arms of his grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon as King of Naples.[2]
Second and Third Quarters
Arms Meaning Details
Austria (Habsburg (modern) / Babenberg) 1st grand-quarter
Gules a fess Argent
Second Capetian house of Burgundy
(Burgundy "modern")
2nd grand-quarter
azure semy de lis or, a bordure compony gules and argent
Duchy of Burgundy
(Burgundy "ancient")
3rd grand-quarter
bendy of six or and azure a bordure gules
Arms Meaning Details
Duchy of Brabant 4th grand-quarter
Sable, a lion rampant Or, langued and armed gules
Escutcheon
County of Flanders Dexter
Or, a lion rampant of Sable, langued and armed gules
County of Tyrol Sinister
Argent an eagle displayed gules, armed, beaked, and langued Or
Enté en point
Arms Meaning Details
Kingdom of Granada enté en point
Argent, a pomegranate proper seeded gules, supported, sculpted and leafed in two leaves vert.
External ornaments
Arms Meaning Details
Double-headed eagle
(Reichsadler of the Holy Roman Empire)
Imperial Eagle
Double-headed eagle displayed Sable
Cross of Burgundy
(Duchy of Burgundy)
Mantling
blazoned Argent, a saltire ragulée gules.
Arms Meaning Details
Pillars of Hercules Supporters
an ancient name given to the Strait of Gibraltar. The personal motto of the Monarch was Plus oultre, in French, translated as plus ultra in Latin especially for the Spanish areas, and means 'further beyond'. A German version, Noch Weiterer, was rarely used.
Imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire Crown
Charles's crown as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Golden Fleece Collar
Order of chivalry founded in 1430 by Duke Philip III of Burgundy to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Isabel of Aviz.

The Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece

In 1477, the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy had been conquered and annexed by France. In the same year, Mary "the Rich", the last Burgundian duke's only child, had married Charles' grandfather Maximilian, giving the Habsburgs control of the remainder of the Burgundian Inheritance: although the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy itself remained in the hands of France, the Habsburgs remained in control of the title of Duke of Burgundy and the other parts of the Burgundian inheritance, notably the Low Countries and the Free County of Burgundy in the Holy Roman Empire. They often used the term Burgundy to refer to it until the late 18th century, when the Austrian Netherlands were lost to the French Republic. Although Charles V had inherited the grand mastership of numerous orders, the only order which he habitually wore and awarded was that of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece.

Gallery

Coat of Arms of Charles when he was Duke of Burgundy and King of Navarre, Castile and Aragon (Version with motto and supporters) Alternative design for the Greater Coat of Arms
(1530-1556)
Or shield version Variant used as Monarch of Naples

References