After the death of their grandfather,
Charles and Ferdinand possessed the Austrian territories in common, but
in 1521 they made a division thereof. Ferdinand obtained Austria,
Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria, and, in 1522, the Tyrol, and other
provinces. In 1531 he was chosen King of the Romans, which made him the
successor of Charles as Emperor. How Charles came, not merely to consent
to his election, but to urge it, and to effect it in spite of
opposition, when he had a son in his fourth year, is very strange. The
reasons commonly given for his course are by no means sufficient to
account or it. Many years later he tried to undo his work, in order to
obtain the imperial dignity for his son; but Ferdinand held on to what
he possessed, with true Austrian tenacity. Had Charles kept the imperial
crown for his son, as he might have done, Philip's imperial position
must have sufficed to give him control of the civilized world. He would
have made himself master of both France and England, and must have
rendered the Reaction completely triumphant over the Reformation.
Fortunately, he failed to become Emperor, and during a portion of his
time the imperial throne was occupied by the best of all the Hapsburg
sovereigns,--the wise, the tolerant, the humane, and the upright
Maximillian II.
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