I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.

The saying plays on early-modern stereotypes about the “character” of European languages: Spanish as solemn and devotional, Italian as musical and suited to courtship, French as polished for social and diplomatic exchange, and German as blunt or utilitarian (here humorously relegated to addressing a horse). Attributed to the polyglot emperor Charles V—ruler over a multilingual Habsburg empire—it also reflects the practical reality that power in 16th‑century Europe required switching tongues across courts, armies, and regions. Whether or not Charles actually said it, the line endures as a witty encapsulation of language prestige hierarchies and the politics of communication in Renaissance Europe.