A Reluctant Departure and Emotional Disclosure

On January 18, 1532, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V penned an unusually emotional letter to his sister Mary of Hungary, regent of the Netherlands. Having departed Brussels the previous day for his German territories, the normally reserved monarch revealed surprising vulnerability. “Although I have been away from you for only a short time,” he confessed, “I feel bored and troubled, mainly because I am separated from you. You may rest assured that I will not forget the pleasant times spent with you, nor forget you, nor forget my homeland, no matter how distant I may be from it.” This heartfelt admission from Europe’s most powerful ruler provides remarkable insight into the personal sentiments behind the imperial facade.

Ten days later, Charles continued this emotional theme in another message to Mary, stating he remained “very reluctant to leave you and the land that raised me, for these are things I have every reason to love.” These intimate revelations are particularly noteworthy given Charles V’s position as ruler of vast territories spanning Europe and the Americas. His extensive domains—including Spain, the Netherlands, parts of Italy, and German territories—required constant travel and absence from his childhood home in the Low Countries, creating a persistent tension between personal attachment and imperial duty.

The Hunting Accident That Changed Everything

To combat the boredom and loneliness he described to his sister, Charles turned to his favorite pastime: hunting. The dense forests of the Rhineland offered abundant game, and the emperor enthusiastically pursued this aristocratic diversion. His spirits lifted considerably when he encountered a massive herd of approximately 500 deer, a hunter’s dream. But this excitement quickly turned to disaster.

As Charles spurred his horse in pursuit of the deer, tragedy struck. The leash of his hunting dogs became entangled around his horse’s legs. The panicked animal reared violently, throwing the emperor from his saddle. Charles landed violently, his leg striking a large rock with tremendous force. Though he initially believed the injury to be serious but not catastrophic, stating “it really hurt my leg, though it wasn’t broken or dislocated, but the pain was unbearable,” the accident would have lasting consequences.

Centuries later, when Charles’s tomb was opened in the 1870s, examiners made a startling discovery that confirmed the severity of this hunting injury. They observed that “the fracture in one leg had not healed properly, with several bones interwoven together.” This physical evidence corroborates the historical accounts of his suffering and provides modern researchers with tangible proof of the emperor’s medical struggles.

Five Months of Agony and Medical Mismanagement

The subsequent five months brought relentless physical suffering for the emperor. Refusing the standard medical treatments of the day—bloodletting and induced vomiting, which were then considered universal remedies for most ailments—Charles initially experienced some recovery. However, his impatience and love of hunting proved his undoing. Returning to the chase too soon, he reaggravated the injury, causing severe swelling and ulceration of the leg. The pain became so intense that it robbed him of sleep, with some courtiers fearing he might lose the limb entirely.

His physicians prescribed bed rest and a strict diet for weight reduction, to which Charles responded with frustration: “The treatment and the pain equally distress me.” Yet his medical team, led by Doctor Esquillache, understood their imperial patient well. In a confidential message to the empress, Esquillache revealed their strategy: “He certainly could go out, but we doctors worry that His Majesty would overdo it.” Therefore, “we have reached a consensus to resist his will as much as possible.”

The threat of amputation forced Charles to confront the possibility of life with a wooden leg. “I do not deny that I am afraid,” he confessed to Mary, though he simultaneously admitted to scratching the ulcerated area against medical advice. This disobedience came at a high price. Doctor Esquillache reported that “he itches all over, so he frequently scratches with his hands, especially his legs. The scratching has caused rashes on many parts of his body, even his face,” and his “left eye became red and swollen.”

The Emperor’s Public Appearance and Private Suffering

Charles’s physical condition necessitated unusual adaptations to his public appearances. When attending official functions, he wore a distinctive green patch over his left eye to conceal the swelling and irritation. In private, he complained bitterly about his treatments: “They have applied an ointment that makes me look as if I have offended the King of Carnival, because there are more black areas on my face than white. Truthfully, having so many different ailments at once makes me very angry.”

According to a frustrated foreign ambassador, the emperor’s only consolation was that “following doctors’ orders, His Majesty does not handle any affairs of state.” This medical enforced hiatus from governance created significant challenges for the administration of his vast empire during a critical period of European history.

A Temporary Recovery and Subsequent Relapse

By May 1532, Charles believed he had finally recovered. He described his new routine: “Now I go to bed early and rise early. I have my main meal at 10 o’clock, followed only by a light supper in the evening.” Optimistic about his improved health, he resumed hunting—with predictable consequences. After “riding for three hours in pursuit of a stag,” he developed a fever.

A brief recovery followed, during which he managed “two days of hunting” and even walked “half a league on foot,” which he considered “quite miraculous.” But this improvement proved fleeting. While participating in a procession through the streets of Regensburg, Charles experienced a sudden, sharp pain in his leg while conversing with a courtier. As a precautionary measure, his physicians sent him to nearby thermal springs for rehabilitation.

With characteristic humor, Charles joked to his sister that the spa treatment offered “two great benefits”: “First, I can scratch because the rash has healed; second, with the doctors’ permission, I can return to living according to my own habits”—meaning he could again eat and drink as he pleased. Additionally, “I now have more leisure because I don’t allow outsiders to come here to see me.” Even Nicholas Perrenot de Granvelle, his chief diplomatic advisor, was permitted only brief audiences every other day to present important correspondence, discuss state affairs, and—when possible—obtain the emperor’s signature on documents.

The Strategic Context: Ottoman Threats and Imperial Responsibilities

Charles’s health struggles occurred against a backdrop of significant geopolitical challenges. By mid-July, he had recovered sufficiently to spend “three days tracking a bear.” This improvement came at a providential moment, as it restored his capacity to confront a major military threat: another large-scale offensive personally commanded by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

This Ottoman offensive was partly triggered by actions taken by Charles and his brother Ferdinand. Following the successful defense of Vienna in 1529, Ferdinand had reclaimed several Hungarian territories, provoking Ottoman retaliation. The confrontation between Charles V and Suleiman the Magnificent was often framed in contemporary propaganda as a clash between the heir of Charlemagne and the heir of Alexander—a symbolic struggle between European Christian empire and Eastern Islamic power.

The Personal Within the Political: Understanding Charles V’s Leadership

Charles V’s medical ordeal in 1532 reveals the complex interplay between personal vulnerability and public leadership in early modern European monarchy. His extensive correspondence with his sister Mary provides exceptional insight into the human dimension of imperial rule—the physical suffering, emotional loneliness, and frustration with medical limitations that underlay the majestic facade of power.

The emperor’s stubborn resistance to medical advice, his determination to maintain his hunting pursuits despite the consequences, and his humorous resignation to his sufferings all paint a portrait of a complex ruler navigating the limitations of his own body while bearing the tremendous weight of imperial responsibilities. These personal struggles humanize a figure often viewed primarily through the lens of political and military achievements.

Furthermore, Charles’s experience illustrates the primitive state of sixteenth-century medicine, where standard treatments often caused additional suffering, and where even the most powerful ruler in Europe remained vulnerable to infection, poor healing, and medical misunderstanding. The doctors’ strategy of resisting their imperial patient’s will demonstrates the unusual power dynamics between medical professionals and even their most exalted patients.

Legacy and Historical Significance

The events of 1532 represent a critical juncture in Charles V’s long reign. His physical suffering and extended convalescence occurred at a moment of heightened Ottoman threat, raising questions about how his illness may have influenced imperial policy during a crucial military period. The episode also highlights the importance of family relationships in sustaining the emperor emotionally during times of physical and political challenge.

Charles’s detailed descriptions of his ailments have provided modern historians and medical researchers with valuable evidence about healthcare, treatment approaches, and the physical realities of life in the sixteenth century. The subsequent examination of his remains confirmed the accuracy of contemporary accounts, creating a rare convergence of documentary and physical evidence.

Ultimately, this episode in Charles V’s life reminds us that behind the grand narratives of empire, diplomacy, and war, history is shaped by the human bodies that enact it—bodies that feel pain, succumb to injury, and struggle against physical limitations, even when they belong to the most powerful monarch of their age. The emperor’s letters from 1532 give voice to this universal human experience, creating a bridge across centuries that connects modern readers to the physical reality of a historical figure who continues to shape our understanding of European history.