CHARLES V FEBRUARY 24, 1500 – SEPTEMBER 21, 1558 Charles V was born on February 24, 1500 in Ghent, which today is better known Belgium. He was the oldest in the family so when his father died in 1506, he inherited the Netherlands and the Franche Comte, which was located in France but actually belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. He gained much more land once his maternal and paternal grandfathers died. Not since Charlemagne, in the early 9th Century, had one person dominated so much land. When Charles visited Spain for the first time, he realized that he wasn’t popular among the citizens.