The succession of Charles V (Charles I in Spain) to the Spanish throne in 1516 caused slight divisions within Spain. Although some Spaniards hurried to the Netherlands in order to court the new king's favour, others wanted a regency based around Charles' infant brother, Ferdinand, who would rule as the eventual heir; he had been born within Spain and would, hopefully, have Spanish interests at heart. Others supported the rights of Joanna to remain as Queen until she died, with Charles acting only as a regent.
An Inexperienced King
Charles' personage also caused discontent, although historians disagree as to whether these included major grievances, or simple grumblings. Not only was Charles seventeen, but he had never even been to the peninsular: Joanna had spent her married life in the Netherlands - the region where Charles was born - and when she returned to Castile as Queen, Charles remained behind with three of his sisters. Some Spaniards questioned whether the king was too inexperienced, too ignorant, or even too uninterested to rule Spain properly.
Fears of Foreign Lands
Charles was also the heir of Emperor Maximilian, from whom he stood to inherit the large Habsburg lands and a claim on the imperial title. Many Spaniards feared that Charles' 'foreign' lands and imperial ambitions would leave him little time for Spain, causing him to be absent for large periods as he focused his attention, and Spain's money, elsewhere. In doing so, would he make the Spanish crown subordinate, and largely peripheral, to central European affairs?Charles compounded these worries when, having declared himself King in March 1516, it took him until September 1517 to arrive; this was despite requests for speed from Spain's interim regent, Cardinal Cisneros, because discontent was growing and the crown being undermined. Charles has been unfairly criticised for this delay: he could not simply leave the political and dynastic disputes of his other lands and 'rush off'; instead, he needed to make treaties and agreements, most importantly with the French, who were placated by the Peace of Noyon. When Charles did set sail his arrival was delayed again by strong winds, which caused him to land a good distance from any major settlement.
Rivalries
Nevertheless, Charles was absent for around eighteen months, during which various parties attempted to exploit the power vacuum. The communities of Spain had been full of division for centuries, although some monarchs, particularly Isabella and Ferdinand, were successful in defusing these conflicts. After Ferdinand's death the countless rivalries began to resurface; in particular, the Spanish nobility attempted to regain the rights and powers they had slowly lost over the preceding fifty years; these were at the expense of both the crown and the towns. This latter group aimed to defend their privileges from the aristocracy and assert themselves; both groups also fought internally.Cisneros tried to raise an army of 30,000 volunteers, drawn from across Castile and financed by the towns, to keep peace and secure the crowns rights. However, the project would have left the crown independent of the nobility (or grandees), and they used their growing dominance of the towns to halt it.
