The Importance of the Empire

The Emperor still claimed theoretical overlordship in Italy, a relic of a long past age. No Emperor had succeeded in doing much of anything with those claims in more than two centuries. Charles saw the throne as something that belonged to the Habsburg dynasty by right. The other real contender for the Empire was Francis I, King of France. losing it to Francis could be the end of Habsburg rule in Austria, the Netherlands, Naples and even Spain itself.