De duque a rey. El primer viaje de Carlos

Exhibition at the Museo Naval in Madrid on the voyage that took Charles from the Low Countries to Spain to assume the Iberian crowns, with the sea crossing and the Engelen ship as its main threads.

The exhibition traces the route that took the young Charles from the Low Countries to Spain after the death of Ferdinand the Catholic, when the way to the Iberian crowns opened up. The focus is on the sea crossing and on the political, military, legal and financial circumstances surrounding that accession to the throne.

The story is approached from several fronts: the Baltic setting, the dynastic ties with Denmark, the Order of the Golden Fleece, the agreements with France and England, and the strategy devised by the future king's Flemish advisers. Each of these perspectives helps explain why that journey proved so decisive.

One of the main threads is the Engelen, the great ship sent by Christian II of Denmark to transport Charles. The prince's story and that of the vessel are woven into a single narrative, from the crossing to the events that followed and shaped the ship's fate.