Charles V was born in Ghent in 1500 and became King of Spain in 1516, ruling alongside his mother Joanna the Mad. His empire contained territories in the Low Countries, the Crown of Castile including American possessions, the Crown of Aragon, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. In 1558, Charles abdicated his possessions, giving the Holy Roman Empire to his brother Ferdinand and his Spanish possessions including Spain, Italy, Flanders, and the Americas to his son Philip II.