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             The empire preceded over by Charles encompassed many different cultures and made the vision of one wholly unified political entity hugely unfeasible, "By tradition he ruled only with the consent of the Imperial Diet, whose sheer size and diversity of interests made agreement almost impossible" (Maltby 22). As heir to not only the Habsburg dynasty, but a host of other territories (some of which his authority was unrecognized), Charles had to undertake the task of administrating over unique polities that themselves had issues administrating. Peasant unhappiness had long been an issue in medieval Europe, and combined with the scarcity of labor (due to the Black Death) peasants took on a new feeling of self-worth and importance. This often culminated in open revolt and passive resistance when the peasant class's demands were discarded as usual. This caused issues in management for the individual polities and on a larger scale for Charles. Charles had to deal with a huge difference in political process between any given polity, from the loose organization of the German States to the Cortes. Charles dealt with this largely on a by-issue basis, choosing to solve one problem at a time. This was in line with Charles's cautious nature, for a decision made to solve one problem could not be considered without regard to how it would affect the others, such is the nature of the interconnected problems facing him. Even unifying factors such as the church had trouble bringing together polities that were more often concerned with individual well being and privilege then with the welfare of the empire. Charles had too many issues too deal with at once, so he employed viceroys (regional governors) as extensions of imperial will. Many of Charles' problems stem from the lack of a unifying force in the empire, as unrealistic as it would be to imagine one at that time.

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             A constant and expensive threat faced by Charles was that of foreign invasion.