Why did Charles V abdicate the Low Countries to his son Philip II and not to his brother Ferdinand?

A reply to /u/pudding_4_life

Charles V had significant reservations over how the Low Countries should be inherited. Between the strong local governments and the difficulty of access from Spain, having determined above all else that his son Philip II should be King of Spain's crowns, the question is how he should handle the Low Countries.

There were many arguments between him and his brother Ferdinand and his son Philip II. The larger disagreements include how the HRE emperorship should be handled. Ferdinand wanted to keep it in his line of the family. Charles wanted a sort of time share. Philip wisely went around his own father to negotiate in Ferdinand's favor.

Charles V knew that the hold on the Low Countries would be untenable if England was not on Philip's side. So asked Philip to join him there and then to decide for himself wherever he wanted that inheritance.

Philip duly came and decided he did want the inheritance. Charles V then arranged for Philip, a recent widow, to be married to Mary Tudor, Catholic queen of England. They then became co rulers of both England and the Low Countries. This was the so-called "Northern Orbit" strategy. The hope was that it would set a lasting (Catholic) alliance between Spain, England, and the Low Countries. Of course, Mary died without an heir, and the Dutch revolt broke out, turning this arrangement into disarray.

But there were ideas that were floated over time. Charles suggested that his daughter Mary should inherit the Low Countries, and Ferdinand's daughter Milan, and that one of them should be married to a French prince Duc d'Orleans. Unfortunately, the Duke died not long after this idea and political settlement was floated.

If you're interested in Charles V and Philip II you should check out some of the questions I've answered on my profile page.