Favorite Empire in 1500-1600's?

I would say the Holy Roman Empire for me!

Can you tell us the reasons why you prefer HRE over the rest of the options? I have to think a bit of this before giving any answer.

Tie between the English and the Dutch, the English are ALWAYS cool, and the Dutch ruled an trading empire from our beloved little swamp.

Ottoman Empire... I always imagine lots of furniture, and I don't consider that a bad thing.

Ottomans, they reached their peak and a decent amount of my ancestors lived there, some probably less than happily.

Spain. "The Empire on which the sun never sets" It is a long story but I had a definite Spanish period when I was 6th grade. I was fascinated by the big potential of the state that was watsted: the luck of Charles V (Charles I of Spain), the ambition of Philip II the rise and fall of the Spanish Habsburgs, the attempt of the Bourbons to recover the state. And of course, the famous Spanish infantry. Fascinating.

Of course, I can't hide the Spanish history has its dark side: the Inquisition (not that many of Protestant states were less enthusiasthic in hunting witches), the savage attitude towards the Indians (though the demographic catastrophy was more of a result of diseases). I also found it interesting the way the Catholic church defended the native population and how the pillaging of America turned into a synthesis of cultures. The Spanish Empire shaped a continent and a half, at least and was one of the biggest of powers of Europe ever.

Meet with the (leading according to the chart) Ottomans at Lepanto. :p

Under Charles V, the HRE was huge.

Under Charles V, the HRE and Spain were the same empire, and wasn't Portugal part of that too?
So that HRE/Spain would be my favorite.

Hehe answer is simple and has number 2 :)
Only country into Europe that was respected both by Habsburg countries, France and Ottomans. :)

Replace HRE with Austria, the current option doesnt make sense, because in this timeframe Reformation kicked in and Habsburg Austria was becoming a superpower of its own. HRE (not that it ever was) is really far from a centralized empire in this period and thus not really comparable to the other options.

But to my favourite.. obviously Safavid Persia. Forged by great statesmen and being a sole bastion of a despised faith (Shia Islam) encircled by hostile nations just adds to the awesomeness.

Persia is definitely interesting but Ottoman Empire takes the cake. 1500-1600 were its golden years, it was leading Europe in terms military and political efficiency and in terms of cultural and religious tolerance.

In global terms it was probably second to Ming China but seeing as there's no option for Ming...