Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry.

Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube.

Charles V

Politicians

Charles V

Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (1500-1558). Through Habsburg dynastic inheritance Charles ruled Germany, Spain, and the Americas as a single composite empire, the first labelled "the empire on which the sun never set." After decades of war against France, the Ottomans, and the German Lutherans, in 1556 he uniquely abdicated, splitting his realms between his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand. He is the central architect of the early modern European order.

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Source: ハプスブルク家の婚姻外交を象徴するラテン詩句。マチャシュ・コルヴィヌス王の発言とも、エネア・シルヴィオ(後のピウス2世)の編纂とも伝わる。カール5世は自らの全領土がこの戦略の産物であったVerified

Charles V's Other Quotes

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.

I came, I saw, and God conquered.

On my conscience I have signed this act. May God assist me.

I am but one man, and I give everything I have — my realms, my wealth, my life.

Related Quotes

If we win one more such battle against the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.

-- Pyrrhus

If you're not genuinely pained by the risk involved in your strategic choices, it's not much of a strategy.

-- Reed Hastings

Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction.

-- Ingvar Kamprad

Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.

-- Cicero

History is the teacher of life.

-- Cicero

I see, and say nothing.

-- Elizabeth I of England