Emperor, Geoffrey Parker
Emperor, Geoffrey Parker
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Emperor
A New Life of Charles V

Author: Geoffrey Parker

Narrator: Nigel Patterson

Unabridged: 26 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/11/2019


Synopsis

The life of Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), ruler of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America, has long intrigued biographers. But the elusive nature of the man (despite an abundance of documentation), his relentless travel and the control of his own image, together with the complexity of governing the world's first transatlantic empire, complicate the task.

Geoffrey Parker, one of the world's leading historians of early modern Europe, has examined the surviving written sources in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish, as well as visual and material evidence. He explores the crucial decisions that created and preserved this vast empire, analyzes Charles's achievements within the context of both personal and structural factors, and scrutinizes the intimate details of the ruler's life for clues to his character and inclinations. The result is a unique biography that interrogates every dimension of Charles's reign and views the world through the emperor's own eyes.

About Geoffrey Parker

Geoffrey Parker is Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History and associate of the Mershon Center at The Ohio State University, and Professor Afiliado, Division de Historia, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas, Mexico City. Among his many awards is the 2012 Heineken Prize for History.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anthony

The World was Enough. When Charles V abdicated in 1556 his empire and dominions spanned across the globe. He was the most powerful prince in the western world. He was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, Italy and Spain, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Lord of the. Netherlands. His possessi......more

Goodreads review by Andrew

Geoffrey Parker is quickly growing into one of my favorite authors. Having read his book on Philip II, I enjoyed it quite alot but it was not as interesting or enjoyable as this new biography. Parkers background is in medieval spain and warfare which comes through in this book as he is clearly very......more

Goodreads review by Gareth

One of the great biographies of the last decade, product of an extraordinary amount of research, it was a wonderful portrait of Charles V - balanced and interesting. Magisterial.......more

Goodreads review by Benny

Emperor Charles V is the stuff of legends The wedding of his parents, linking up Burgundy, the Low Countries , Austria and Spain, took place in Lier and is still celebrated there in processions and folklore. The marriage, however, was not a happy one. Charles’ father died young and his mother went do......more