Charles V Inscription

A trace of the Emperor

Included in a wall of the Castle of Barletta, the inscription, engraved on a limestone slab is surmounted by the coat of arms of Emperor Charles V:

CAROLVS QVINTVS REX ISPANIAE IMPERATOR ROMANORVM SEMPER AVGVSTVS MCCCCCXXXVII. 

(Charles the Fifth, King of Spain, Emperor of the Romans, always Augustus, 1537)

The letters, extracted on a well-defined epigraphic field on a tabula ansata, according to a widely used style in Renaissance inscriptions, are not particularly refined in their execution: for example, an upside-down N in the word "ROMANORUM" can be seen.

The plaque reminds of the season of renovation on the castle of Barletta at the time of Charles V.