Charles V (or Charles I of Spain) (24 February 1500 - 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands (1506-1555), King of Aragon (1516-1556), King (until 1555 on behalf of his mother the queen Joana I) of Castile (1516-1556), King of Naples and Sicily (1516-1554), Archduke of Austria (1519-1521), King of the Romans (or German King), (1519-1556 but did not formally abdicate until 1558) and Holy Roman Emperor (1530-1556 but did not formally abdicate until 1558).

Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, called Mary the Rich (February 13, 1457 - March 27, 1482), Duchess of Burgundy, was the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon. Her mother died in 1465, but Mary was on very good terms with her step-mother Margaret of York, whom Charles married in 1468.

William the Brave, was Landgrave of Thuringia and Duke of Luxemburg. He was a younger son of Frederick I "the Warlike", elector of Saxony, and Catharine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. On June 2 1446 he married Anne of Luxembourg, daughter of Albert II of Hapsburg and Elisabeth of Luxembourg. On behalf of his wife, he became Duke of Luxembourg from 1457 to 1469. They had two daughters, Margarethe of Saxony (1449-1501) and Katharina of Saxony (1453 - 10 July 1534), …

Maximilian I of Habsburg (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through both war and marriage. He is often referred to as "The Last Knight".

Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, Archduchess of Austria, was (reigning) Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Maria Theresa was the oldest daughter of Emperor Charles VI, who promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction to allow her to succeed to the Habsburg monarchy, and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Opposition to her acceding to the throne led to the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740.

Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, was a Polish-Lithuanian queen. In Polish, she is known as "Elżbieta Rakuszanka" and "Elżbieta Austriaczka", both names meaning "Elisabeth of Austria", or "Elżbieta Habsburżanka", meaning "Elisabeth of Habsburg". She was the daughter of Albert II of Germany (1397-1439) and his wife Elisabeth (1409-42), heiress of Bohemia. She was a princess of Hungary, princess of Bohemia, and duchess of Austria.

Philip the Handsome was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Through his mother Mary of Burgundy he inherited the greater part of the Burgundian state the Burgundian Netherlands and through his wife Joanna the Mad he briefly succeeded to the kingdom of Castile. He was the first Habsburg ruler in Spain and his successors recognized him as Philip I of Spain.

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (12 February, 1768 - 2 March, 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August, 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804 he founded the Austrian Empire and became, as Francis I ("Franz I."), the first Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835, …

Joseph II (full name: Joseph Benedikt August Johannes Anton Michel Adam; March 13, 1741 - February 20, 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I. Joseph was a proponent of "enlightened absolutism". He is known by the following names in the languages of his territories: German: "Joseph II", Czech: "Josef II", …

Charles VI, (German Karl VI; in full Karl Josef Franz) Holy Roman Emperor (October 1, 1685 - October 20, 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740 and the second son of Leopold I with his third wife, Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg. As pretender to the thrones of Castile and Aragon, he was known as Charles III from 1703 to 1711.

Leopold II (born "Peter Leopold Joseph") (May 5, 1747 - March 1, 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792 and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Queen Maria Theresa. Leopold was a moderate proponent of "enlightened absolutism".

Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (12 August 1566 - 1 December 1633) was Infanta of Spain and Portugal, Archduchess of Austria and the joint sovereign of the Seventeen Provinces. In some sources, she is referred to as "Clara Isabella Eugenia".

Albert, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Guelders, Count of Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, Hainaut and Namur, etc —name in Dutch usually, in English occasionally Albrecht— (15 November 1559 - 13 July 1621) was appointed for the Spanish monarchy as Governor of the Low Countries in 1595, and from 1598 became joint sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands with his wife, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, …

Philip II (Spanish: "Felipe II de Habsburgo"; Portuguese: "Filipe I") (May 21, 1527 - September 13 1598) was the first official King of Spain from 1556 until 1598, King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1598, king consort of England (as husband of Mary I) from 1554 to 1558, Lord of the Seventeen Provinces (holding various titles for the individual territories, such as Duke or Count) from 1556 until 1581, …

Wenceslaus, called the Drunkard, was, by election, King of the Romans from 1376 and, by inheritance, King of Bohemia (as "Wenceslaus IV") from 1378. He was the third Bohemian and second German monarch of the House of Luxembourg. He was never crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope, as would have been customary for a "King of the Romans," and he was deposed in 1400 from his elected royal office, …

Jobst (or Jost or Jodokus) of Moravia (in French: "Josse de Luxembourg") was born in 1351 as the eldest son of John Henry of Luxembourg, margrave of Moravia, the brother of Emperor Charles IV. He ruled Moravia jointly with his surviving brothers and also held the family castle Luxembourg. Jobst was margrave of Brandenburg from 1388 to 1411, succeeding his cousin Sigismund, who focused on the Kingdom of Hungary.

Jean-Baptiste Morin, also known by his Latin pseudonym as Morinus, was a French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer. Born in Villefranche, Yonne, in the Beaujolais, he began studying philosophy at Aix-en-Provence at the age of 16. He studied medicine at Avignon in 1611 and received his medical degree two years later. He was employed by the Bishop of Boulogne from 1613 to 1621 and was sent to Germany and Hungary during this time.

The Archduchess Margaret (Margaretha) of Austria was a Habsburg princess, the daughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burgundy. In 1483, she was betrothed to the Dauphin of France, later King Charles VIII of France, bringing with her a dowry of Franche-Comté and Artois, and was transferred to the guardianship of King Louis XI of France (see Treaty of Arras (1482)). After Charles renounced the treaty and married Anne of Brittany, …

Philip IV, (April 8, 1605 - September 17, 1665) was King of Spain from 1621 to 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands and also King of Portugal (as Philip III) until 1640. The eldest son of Philip III and his wife Margarita of Austria, Philip IV was born at Valladolid. He was known as "the Planet King", after the Sun, the fourth planet in the astronomy of the time. His reign, after a few years of inconclusive successes, …

Charles II of Spain ("Carlos Segundo") (November 6, 1661, Madrid, Spain - November 1, 1700, Madrid, Spain) was King of Spain, Naples, Sicily, nearly all of Italy (except Piedmont, the Papal States and Venice), and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from Mexico to the Philippines. Charles was the only surviving son of his Habsburg predecessor, King Philip IV of Spain and his second Queen (and niece), Mariana of Austria, another Habsburg.

Charles the Bold or Charles the Rash, also Charles, Duke of Burgundy (21 November 1433 - 5 January 1477) was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. Known as "Charles the Terrible" to his detractors, he was the last Valois Duke of Burgundy and his early death was a pivotal, if under-recognised, moment in European history.

Antoine of Burgundy (August 1384 - October 25 1415, in the battle of Agincourt), was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. Anthony was the son of Philip II, Duke of Burgundy and Margaret III of Flanders, and brother of John the Fearless. He was the first Brabantian ruler of the House of Valois. The Duke of Brabant arrived late to the Battle of Agincourt, and in his eagerness to reach the field, he dressed in improvised armour and wore a surcoat made from a trumpeter's flag.

Elisabeth von Görlitz of Bohemia, Duchess of Luxembourg was reigning Duchess of Luxembourg from 1411 to 1443.

Philip the Good (French: "Philippe le Bon"), also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (July 31, 1396 - June 15, 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty (the then Royal family of France). During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts. Philip is known in history for his administrative reforms, …

Wenceslaus I (Prague, 25 February 1337 - Luxembourg, 7 December 1383) was the first Duke of Luxembourg from 1355. He was the son of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, and Beatrix of Bourbon. In 1353 Charles IV King of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg and elected Holy Roman King, entrusted the county, their father's inheritance, to his step-brother Wenceslaus. In 1355 when Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor he raised Luxembourg to the status of a duchy.

John Henry of Luxembourg, Czech: "Jan Jindřich", German: "Johann Heinrich" (12 February 1322, Mělník-12 November 1375), was Margrave of Moravia. He was born as the third surviving son of Queen Elisabeth I of Bohemia and King John of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg. Margraviate of Moravia was given to him as his appanage. His first wife, Margaret, Countess of Tirol, the heiress of his family's rival Henry, Duke of Carinthia, …

John III the Pitiless, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing of the House of Wittelsbach was first bishop of Liège 1389-1418 and then duke of Bavaria-Straubing and count of Holland and Hainaut 1418-1425. John was the youngest son of Albert I. In 1408 a Burgundian army led by his brother-in-law John the Fearless of Burgundy supported John III against the citizens of Liège, who were in open revolt. On the field of Othée, on Sept. 23, 1408, the men of Liège were decisively defeated, …

Anne of Bohemia and Austria (1432 - 1462) was a Duchess of Luxembourg in her own right, and as consort, Landgravine of Thuringia and of Saxony. She was born into the House of Habsburg, being the eldest daughter of Albert of Austria, the future Emperor-Elect. She also was a close descendant of the newly extinct Imperial House of Luxembourg, her mother being the last Luxembourg heiress, Elisabeth, queen of Bohemia, the sole daughter of Emperor Sigismund.