Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, was the heir of four of Europe's leading dynasties. What were they?

Midget40

As the heir of four of Europe's leading dynasties – the Habsburgs of Austria, the Valois of Burgundy, the Trastamara of Castile and the House of Aragon – he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western and Southern Europe, as well as the various Castilian colonies in the Americas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor Mar 25 09, 11:03 AM

Humanist

An excerpt from a longer piece providing background on Charles V in which H. G. Wells details how "the brief greatness of the Holy Roman Empire died with him". Charles V [the grandson of Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519)] inherited most of the American continent and between a third and a half of what the Turks had left of Europe. He succeeded to the Netherlands in 1506. When his grandfather Ferdinand died in 1516, he became practically king of the Spanish dominions, his mother being imbecile; and his grandfather Maximilian dying in 1519, he was in 1520 elected [Holy Roman] Emperor at the still comparatively tender age of twenty. H.G. Wells (1866–1946). A Short History of the World. 1922. LI. The Emperor Charles V http://www.bartleby.com/86/51.html Mar 26 09, 1:28 PM