During the early years of Charles's life we only get a few glimpses of a shy and inarticulate boy. We read of him dancing round a bonfire with his sisters on Saint John's Day. His grandfather, Maximilian, gave him a wooden horse, and amongst his prized possessions was a sledge in the form of a ship, with masts, ropes, and flags. In games, like most children, he liked to be on the winning side. When he and his page played at battles between Turks and Christians, Charles was always a Christian, and the page, who commanded the paynim host, complained that the Christians were always made to win. The boy was brought up to like manly sports. He shot skilfully with the bow, and took great delight in hunting, which pleased the old Emperor Maximilian, for otherwise, he wrote, the boy could not be his legitimate grandson. Charles as a child is described as graceful and well-built, but his face was pale, and he looked delicate. His long projecting lower jaw, so peculiar to the Hapsburg family, embarrassed mastication and caused hesitation in his speech. He had clear and steady eyes, and a calm, intellectual forehead which gave a pleasant and dignified expression to his face. His childhood was spent at Malines, and there watched over by his aunt Margaret he was brought up in the strict etiquette of the Burgundian Court. Charles was devoted to music, a taste which he cultivated throughout his life. As a boy we hear of him and his sister Eleanor having lessons on the clavicord and other instruments from the organist of the chapel. He was carefully educated. His grandfather appointed William de Croy, Lord of Chièvre, as his governor, and he was taught to read and write by Juan de Verd, who in 1505 was succeeded by another Spaniard, Luis Vaca, who after six years gave up his charge to Adrian of Utrecht, Dean of Louvain, the future Pope Adrian IV. But the boy was not a willing pupil; he complained of being educated as if he were intended for a schoolmaster. The future ruler of so many vast kingdoms was never a good linguist. He learned very little Latin, and was never proficient in German. Two years after he became King of Castile and Aragon he only knew a few words of the national language. His knowledge of Italian was barely elementary. Flemish was the tongue of his birthplace, but he did not begin to learn it until he was thirteen. French was his natural language, but he neither spoke nor wrote it with any elegance. Of theology the champion of Catholicism knew little or nothing. He could scarcely read the Vulgate, and in his latter years his comprehension thereof had to be aided by very simple commentary. Mathematics he studied when over thirty, as he believed they were essential to the career of a great captain.[31] [31] Edward Armstrong, _The Emperor Charles V._ [Illustration: ELEANOR OF AUSTRIA AS A CHILD FROM THE PAINTING BY MABUSE, IN THE POSSESSION OF M. CHARLES LÉON CARDOU, BRUSSSELS]