As King of Spain and as Holy Roman Emperor, Charles ruled over a huge and very diverse inheritance. This book has therefore adopted a thematic approach to this topic, enabling each aspect of Charles' reign to be considered and evaluated, including his dynastic commitments and his religious policy. A variety of historical judgements are discussed but it is left to the reader to come to his or her own conclusions. Extracts from a wide range of contemporary documents are integrated with the text which is supported by maps, "flow-chart" chapter summaries and chronologies.