Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV was born Wenceslaus in Prague on 14 May 1316, the eldest son of John of Bohemia and Queen Elizabeth. He chose the name Charles at his confirmation, honoring his grand uncle, King Charles IV of France, at whose court he spent seven years. His father’s family was the House of Luxembourg; his mother’s was the Bohemian House of Přemyslid, which included two saints among his direct ancestors. Charles stressed this Přemyslid heritage throughout his life. He was literate and fluent in five languages: Latin, Czech, German, French, and Italian.

In 1331, he gained military experience in Italy with his father. By early 1333, he was in Lucca, Tuscany, where he founded the fortress and town of Montecarlo to strengthen defenses. From 1333, he administered the Bohemian Crown lands because his father was often away and losing his eyesight. In 1334, Charles became Margrave of Moravia, the traditional title for the heir to the throne. Two years later, he governed Tyrol for his brother John Henry and became involved in a struggle for control of that county.

On 11 July 1346, an alliance between his father and Pope Clement VI led to Charles’s election as King of the Romans in opposition to Emperor Louis IV. He made extensive concessions to the pope in 1347, promising to annul Louis’s acts against Clement, stay out of Italian affairs, and defend the church. This earned him the derisive nickname “Priests’ King.” Many bishops and nearly all imperial cities remained loyal to Louis. Charles also backed the losing side in the Hundred Years’ War; his father and many knights died at the Battle of Crécy in August 1346, where Charles himself was wounded and fled.

Civil war in Germany was avoided when Louis IV died of a stroke during a bear hunt on 11 October 1347. In January 1349, Wittelsbach partisans tried to elect Günther von Schwarzburg as king, but he had few supporters and was defeated by Charles at the siege of Eltville in May. After that, Charles’s claim faced no direct threat. He worked to secure his power base. Bohemia had escaped the plague, and Prague became his capital. He rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, founding the New Town, and in 1348 established the University of Prague, the first in Central Europe, later named after him. The university trained administrators and lawyers, making Prague the intellectual and cultural center of Central Europe.

Charles was re-elected in Frankfurt on 17 June 1349 and crowned at Aachen on 25 July 1349, becoming the undisputed ruler of the Empire. He won support from Rhenish and Swabian towns with gifts and promises, secured a marriage alliance with the Habsburgs, and married Rudolf II of Bavaria’s daughter Anna after becoming a widower in 1348. In 1350, the Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo visited him in Prague, urging him to go to Italy, where Petrarch and the citizens of Florence also called for his presence.

Charles was crowned King of Bohemia on 2 September 1347. He became Holy Roman Emperor in 1355, after being crowned King of Italy that same year. In 1365, he was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles, making him the crowned ruler of all the Holy Roman Empire’s kingdoms. His Golden Bull of 1356 marked a structural change in imperial politics. Several aspects of his legacy remain contentious, but the image of Charles as a wise, pious, peace-loving king—partly constructed by himself—has proved influential, supported by artistic and scholarly projects from his reign and later. He died on 29 November 1378.