"Carlos, Rey Emperador" (2015) - TV series about Emperor Charles V

[ANNIE_S]

The Spanish national broadcaster TVE has started this week the filming of their new historical TV series about the life of Charles, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Castile and Aragon, called Carlos, Rey Emperador.

The series comes as a sequel of their very sucessful and multi awarded Isabel (thread), about the life of Queen Isabella I of Castile, Charles' grandmother, and will have an only season with 18 episodes, to be aired on September 2015.

From the same writers as Isabel, and with the same directors, producers and crew, the series will have a new promising cast featuring some 'big' names of the Spanish acting scene such as Juanjo Puigcorbé, Laia Marull and Nathalie Poza, and Álvaro Cervantes and Blanca Suárez on the leading roles of Charles and his wife Isabella of Portugal.

From TVE:

TVE started filming their new commitment of historical fiction: Carlos, Rey Emperador. A careful production starring Álvaro Cervantes and Blanca Suárez that tells the story of one of the most powerful men Europe has ever known, governor of an empire of such extrordinary proportions as its diversity. Made in collaboration with Diagonal TV, over 100 historical characters will go through the series. The first sequences that have already been shot take place in Tordesillas, where a young Charles comes with his sister, Eleanor, to see their mother, Queen Joanna, confined there.

Through the History of Charles of Habsburg since his arrival in Spain, viewers will discover how the heir of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgundy, the Netherlands, Franche-Compte, Artois, Nevers and Rethels, the territories of the Crown of Aragon and its Italian linked possessions and the Castilian, North-African and American territories of the Catholic Monarchy grows as statesman and how is stregthened to respond to the threads that surround him with his and his advissors' successes and fails.

Main cast:
Álvaro Cervantes - Charles of Habsburg
Blanca Suárez - Isabella of Portugal, Charles' wife
Marina Salas - Eleanor of Habsburg, Charles' sister
Laia Marull - Joanna I, Queen of Castile, Charles' mother
Nathalie Poza - Germaine of Foix, Dowager Queen of Aragon
Helio Pedregal - Willem of Croy
Félix Gómez - Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Alfonso Bassabé - Francis I, King of France
Susi Sánchez - Louise of Savoy, King Francis' mother
José Luis García-Pérez - Hernán Cortés
Eusebio Poncela - Cardinal Francisco de Cisneros, regent of Castile (only member of Isabel's cast in the new series)
Francesc Orella - Adrian of Utrecht
Juanjo Puigcorbé - Mercurino Arborio di Gattinara
Alex Brendemühl - Henry VIII, King of England

Article from TVE: https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

Article with interviews to some members of the cast: https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

And photos from the set:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B81Lvp2CAAEPLBp.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B81NVGsCcAA2DnK.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B81NX6MCIAABS8W.jpg

Seems like TVE wants to repeat the success of Isabel. This one looks even more ambitious, albeit shorter.

We'll see what it's like. I'm pleased with the cast so far, just have my reservations about Blanca Suárez that is not my favourite actress by any account and happen to play one of my favourite queens of Spain's History, the lovelly Isabella.

[An Ard Ri]

Carlos,King-Emperor


New Spanish miniseries on Charles V,it looks quite interesting!


'Carlos, Rey Emperador' empieza a rodarse - RTVE.es

https://translate.google.ie/translat...-text=&act=url


Bekia

https://translate.googleusercontent....SgOW0M7pLQ9G2g

[ANNIE_S]

TVE has a couple of videos from the shooting, mainly about Blanca Suarez (Isabella of Portugal) who has started this week her portrayal:

Blanca Suárez se incorpora al rodaje de 'Carlos, Rey Emperador' - RTVE.es
Informativos se cuela en el rodaje de 'Carlos, Rey Emperador', Telediario - RTVE.es A la Carta

The costumes looks superb, but the wardrobe designers are the same than in "Isabel" and they did an outstanding job there, esp in the last season.

[An Ard Ri]

Annie S,it looks very,very interesting and the costumes/sets look lavish.I'm really impressed with the amount of high quality Spanish historical dramas of the past few years!

Do we know when it airs?

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Annie S,it looks very,very interesting and the costumes/sets look lavish.I'm really impressed with the amount of high quality Spanish historical dramas of the past few years!

I greatly enjoyed Isabel and I am looking forward to Carlos, Rey Emperador.

I find it interesting though that Pope Leo X and Martin Luther are not featured in the cast.

[ANNIE_S]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I greatly enjoyed Isabel and I am looking forward to Carlos, Rey Emperador.

I find it interesting though that Pope Leo X and Martin Luther are not featured in the cast.

In one of the articles the actor is asked about the scenes he's most looking foward to film and one of them is the confrontation with Luther, so I guess those characters will appear at some point of the series.

The series is going to cover Charles life since he comes to Castile until his death, so I guess they now filming his youngest years (that's probably the reason Isabel of Portugal has just appeared).

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Do we know when it airs?

According to the note, next September...but nowadays you can never know with TVE

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

[/I]I find it interesting though that Pope Leo X and Martin Luther are not featured in the cast.

As the reign of Charles V was quite long I'm wondering if there are plans for another series,perhaps Leo and Luther will feature in that?

[ANNIE_S]

First preview of the new series:
'Carlos, Rey Emperador' - Primeras imágenes de la serie sobre la vida de Carlos V

Tomorrow and Wednesday they will be shooting in Granada, like they did with Isabel.

[An Ard Ri]

I'm excited about the characters,especially Louise de Savoie and Eleanor of Austria .Both women hated each other and Louise as the French Kings mother was a most unpleasant royal mother in law towards her daughter in law Eleanor ,sister of Charles V.

[ANNIE_S]

Today and tomorrow the shooting takes place in Granada where they have already filmed some scenes in the Alhambra.

Here are a couple of photo galleries from the shooting:
Rodaje de 'Carlos, Rey Emperador' en Granada - RTVE.es

El rodaje de Carlos V Emperador, desembarca en la Alhambra - ideal.es

And a video from the filming of a scene at the gorgeous gardens of El Partal, with a subtle spoiler (I'm guessing the Empress is pregnant and everybody is going to find out after this )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zz2kIxr0gg

An Ard Ri is so excited about the Eleanor-Louise of Savoi relationship, and I want to watch this, the relationship between Empress Isabella and the Duke of Gandia, Francis Borgia.
https://41.media.tumblr.com/304c5f72...1kvo2_1280.jpg

I mentioned before Isabella is one of my favourite queen consorts of Spain, and Francis is a very interesting character too. He was a Borgia, a grandson of Pope Alexander VI. He came to the court to serve Charles as a child, and later he was Isabella's master of horses and confident. They were great friends and it have been said he was platonically in love with her.

When Isabella died, Charles was so devastated he locked himself at a monastery and refused to accompany her wife's body to Granada, where burial ha to take place. His son Philip, who was a child, had to do it on his behalf, and he was accompanied by Francis. When they arrived to Granada (from Toledo, that was quite a long way at the time), the religious men that received the body asked Francis to confirm that was the Empress on the coffin. He had to look at his beloved's crooked body, and answered:

'I have brought our Lady's corpse from Toledo, but I can't swear this is her. But I swear it was her body what we put on this coffin'

And then he sweared, according to himself "not serving anymore a Lord that could die". He retired afterwards and entered on the recently established Society of Jesus, and would become one of their most notable men. He was even described as "the greatest General after Saint Ignatius". He was made a saint on 1670, San Francisco de Borja, as we know him in Spain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis...of_Gand%C3%ADa

Every year, he would remember the day he left his beloved queen at Granada, for being that the date of his "conversion", with the same words written on his diary:

For the Empress who died a day as today. For what the Lord did on me through her death. For the years that today I reach since my conversion.

And with this amazing story behind, and one of my favourite Spanish actors (Victor Clavijo), portraying Francis on the series, that has to be one of the archs I'm most looking foward. I'm sure the scene when he converts after seeing the dead empress will be one of the best on the show.

[ANNIE_S]

More making of videos:
The Royal wedding: Álvaro Cervantes y Blanca Suárez nos cuentan cómo fue la boda de Carlos V e Isabel de Portugal
The Alhambra: 'Carlos, Rey Emperador' - Visita al rodaje en la Alhambra

And some pics:
http://img.rtve.es/imagenes/carlos-r...0900552592.jpg
https://41.media.tumblr.com/7a140680...zb9xo1_500.jpg
https://40.media.tumblr.com/0dc61bdd...zb9xo1_540.jpg
http://img.irtve.es/v/3117479/
https://41.media.tumblr.com/696231bc...4t7go2_540.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEeL4FYWYAAqz8c.jpg
http://cdn.blogs.vogue.es/el-blog-de...70-620x413.jpg
http://cdn.blogs.vogue.es/el-blog-de...5/IMG_3573.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CETjv6lW8AEflV7.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...da60ed99aef6e9
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEQ9qa6WIAAGahs.jpg:large

Royal selfie : http://cdn.blogs.vogue.es/el-blog-de...12-620x465.jpg

[ANNIE_S]

TVE promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsAsk4sMln8

The filming will finish in a couple of weeks. Last week they shot some scenes at the Monastery of Yuste, where the Emperor spent his last years:
http://www.turismoextremadura.com/vi...O_YUSTE_06.jpg

The premiere of the series is scheduled for the first weeks of September.

[An Ard Ri]

Something to look forward to in the autumn Annie,I wonder if it will be shown by Sky Arts?

[ANNIE_S]

Another promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N3zonRfpE8

And making of images in TVE's webpage:
Visitamos el rodaje de 'Carlos V', RTVE responde - RTVE.es A la Carta

[ANNIE_S]

2:14 min trailer with English subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=102&v=MDmkc03U8N4

The series premieres next Monday.

[Mbruno]

I have watched three our four episodes so far and, after a slow start, it looks like the series is getting more interesting now.

Yesterday's episode (Monday, September 28) focused on Charles' election as Holy Roman Emperor and was particularly rich in detail. I knew Charles had to face Francis I of France, Henry VIII of England, and Frederick III of Saxony in the election, but I didn't know he sent mercenaries to initimidate the prince electors and force them into switching their vote as the series implied. Is that a fact or just creative fiction from the series producers ?

[ANNIE_S]

Four episodes now into the series, I can say I expected more... Everything happens sooo quickly (being just 17 episodes to cover all of Charles' reign) and still the two first chapters were very slow and boring. I enjoyed ep. 3 and especially ep. 4 last week, though.

I think they have tried to include too much in very little time and, although the representation of the different European courts of that time is interesting, it makes the narration quite stodgy. It looks something like GoT with differents archs but, until episode 4, the differents plots were heavily disconnected ones to others. Sometimes it looks more like a documental rather than a tv series... The Hernan Cortes' arch in Mexico is super interesting and well done, especially since the appearing of Moctezuma and Tenochitlan and all the Aztecs world, but it has little to do with the rest of the plot and I think it would have been a far better idea to do a different series about the conquest of Mexico that is a veeeeeery interesting plot, IMO.

Episode 4 was my favourite so far because for the first time all the main archs were somehow connected, with the Spanish, French, Dutch, English and the Vatican all fighting to put their very own candidate on the Holy Roman Empire's throne. The way political strategies and alliances were showed was the best in Isabel and here it continues being the strongest thing. Still, I think Isabel's overall quality was far above Carlos, so far. Anyway, the settings, costuming and music are amazing and makes it quite worth-watching.

Here is a different and longer subtitled trailer that wasn't posted before, for all those interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i286KIUTNB4

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by ANNIE_S

I think they have tried to include too much in very little time and, although the representation of the different European courts of that time is interesting, it makes the narration quite stodgy. It looks something like GoT with differents archs but, until episode 4, the differents plots were heavily disconnected ones to others. Sometimes it looks more like a documental rather than a tv series... The Hernan Cortes' arch in Mexico is super interesting and well done, especially since the appearing of Moctezuma and Tenochitlan and all the Aztecs world, but it has little to do with the rest of the plot and I think it would have been a far better idea to do a different series about the conquest of Mexico that is a veeeeeery interesting plot, IMO.

Charles V was raised in Belgium and never fully embraced his Spanish background. His native language apparently was French (with Flemish/Dutch and possibly German as additional languages) and, as far as I understand, the main focus of his reign was always the Holy Roman Empire and the challenges thereto in Germany, eastern Europe and Italy. Spain was mostly seen as a "cash cow" to provide Charles with the funding (and, incidentally, also the soldiers) he needed for his European wars. That's how Mexico and Cortez fit into the story though, i.e. as sources of silver and gold for the emperor's treasure. The same is true of his marriage to Isabel of Portugal, as her father, King Manuel, prior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru, was actually the richest monarch in Europe due to the Portuguese near monopoly of Asian spice trade. Charles and Isabel apparently did genuinely fall in love though as I guess the series will show.

I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Aztecs in the story, although it is a controversial topic. The Spanish conquest of the Americas was a war of extermination which some people even equate to genocide by contemporary standards. In the best case scenario, it was at least a major expropriation by force of wealth and natural resources from one civilization to another. The series risks minimizing that though and actually portraying Cortez as a Spanish or European hero.

[ANNIE_S]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

Charles V was raised in Belgium and never fully embraced his Spanish background. His native language apparently was French (with Flemish/Dutch and possibly German as additional languages) and, as far as I understand, the main focus of his reign was always the Holy Roman Empire and the challenges thereto in Germany, eastern Europe and Italy. Spain was mostly seen as a "cash cow" to provide Charles with the funding (and, incidentally, also the soldiers) he needed for his European wars. That's how Mexico and Cortez fit into the story though, i.e. as sources of silver and gold for the emperor's treasure. The same is true of his marriage to Isabel of Portugal, as her father, King Manuel, prior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru, was actually the richest monarch in Europe due to the Portuguese near monopoly of Asian spice trade. Charles and Isabel apparently did genuinely fall in love though as I guess the series will show.

All true. That’s why Charles is not a quite sympathetic character to me, not like his grandmother, his wife or even his son. However, I would disagree in that “he never fully embraced his Spanish background”. Perhaps because of his first years in Spain when he had to face many rebellions (due to his annoying persistence on taking away the Spanish gold for his personal purposes ) he later became more respectful towards his Spanish kingdoms and subjects. Spain would become the place from where he would rule the empire, he decided to have his son and heir raised in Spain and educated in “the Spanish way” and in Spain is where he chose to spend his last years, to die and to be buried in. And, even while he had come to Spain without even speaking a single word of Spanish (one of the main askings from the Courts of Castile to him after the Comuneros revolt was that he ought to learn and speak Spanish), that would become the language he would use for many of his diplomatic relationships.

It’s well documented an anecdote in Rome, in 1536, in presence of the Pope Paul III, the ambassadors of France and Venice among other personalities. Charles’ army had just defeated the Ottomans in Tunisia, he had to speak and did it in Spanish instead of Latin or any other language that he knew (and those were many). It’s said that the French ambassador asked him to talk in French or Latin so everybody could understand him, to what Charles answered:

“Understand me if you please, and don’t expect from me words other than in my Spanish language, that is so noble that should be known and understood by all Christian people”

About his marriage to Isabel, yes, by all accounts it may have been a love-match, even if it was a political-economical alliance on the first place. Chronicles from the time of their honeymoon in Granada say:

“When (Charles and Isabella) are together, although there are many people around, they do not notice anybody else; they talk and laugh together, and nothing else distracts them”

Their correspondence during the long periods of time Charles was abroad (it’s a curious fact that Isabella never went outside Spain and Portugal, in spite of being the queen consort of half of Europe) was also very loving and affectionate. Isabella’s premature death affected deeply the Emperor, who sent his young son to preside the funerals in Granada while he locked himself in a monastery for weeks. He would never remarried and dressed in black for the rest of his life.
Spanish TV is usually very cheesy and TVE even managed to make an almost credible lovestory out of Isabella and Ferdinand’s marriage in Isabel, so I’m guessing we’ll going to get tons of sugar with Charles and his wife. At least this time is historically accurate

About the Mexican arch, I meant it’s difficult to connect the Mexican arch to everything else, no doubt about its importance though. It’s a long plot and adds little to the series development this way, a smaller mention would be enough IMO. The story is great though, and the visuals are amazing.

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Aztecs in the story, although it is a controversial topic. The Spanish conquest of the Americas was a war of extermination which some people even equate to genocide by contemporary standards. In the best case scenario, it was at least a major expropriation by force of wealth and natural resources from one civilization to another. The series risks minimizing that though and actually portraying Cortez as a Spanish or European hero.

Yes, Cortés is portrayed in a too sympathetic way so far. Still, we’ll see how the character develops, at some point they will have to deal with the dark events such at the bloody “Sad Night” (not even mentioning the death under very strange circumstances of his own wife) and all the killings during the conquest... I don't think they are going to portray all that like any heroicity, that wasn't at least Isabel's style...

I think this whole arch is very interesting, although risky and controversial, yes. It would very much deserve a production by itself. But then, a good TV production about the conquest of Mexico (or Peru) would necessary need the point of view of both Spanish and Americans, and that would definitely be controversial. I doubt it will ever be make.

Back to the TV series, I did mention music is one of the best things about it so far. The composer Federico Jusid has published some themes on his website. Some of them are very, very beautiful:
Carlos, Rey Emperador - Federico Jusid

[Cory]

Where can we watch it online?