Holy Roman Emperor Quotes

“To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to my horse - German.”
― Emperor Charles V

“Oh, but once my memories had pulsed with the blood-heat of life. In desperation, I forced myself to recall that once, I had walked with kings and conversed in languages never heard in this land. Once I had stood at the prow of a Sea Wolf ship and sailed oceans unknown to seamen here. I had ridden horses through desert lands, and dined on exotic foods in Arab tents. I had roamed Constantinople’s fabled streets, and bowed before the Holy Roman Emperor’s throne. I had been a slave, a spy, a sailor. Advisor and confidant of lords, I had served Arabs, Byzantines, and barbarians. I had worn captive’s rags, and the silken robes of a Sarazen prince. Once I had held a jeweled knife and taken a life with my own hand. Yes, and once I had held a loving woman in my arms and kissed her warm and willing lips...Death would have been far, far better than the gnawing, aching emptiness that was now my life.”
― Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium

“Servitude of any sort is distasteful to all men, but especially objectionable is subjection to others in the case of those who ought to rule.”
― Ulrich von Hutten, Ulrich von Hutten and the German Reformation