King Leonardo

[Merowinger]

What if Leonardo DaVinci´s power was so much, that he somehow got to become king of italy, with help of the medicis? How would Italy go on from there?

[David S Poepoe]

What is this 'Italy' you are talking about? It didn't exist as a unified nation when Da Vinci lived. As an aside, would Leonardo I be the first homosexual (or bisexual) monarch? Hasn't there been recent research about da Vinci's sexual orientation? Who is to succeed him when he dies?

[Merowinger]

What was the name of the region he lived in? When he dies childless, he empowers one of the Medici´s to the throne...

[Rick Robinson]

There have been homosexual monarchs as long as there has been monarchy. A good many of them nevertheless managed to grimace and do their dynastic duty. (Imagine being in the flip situation. :eek: ) Presumably if they were bisexual it was not be a problem - though some of the princesses out there were not exactly charmers.)

You're right that there was no "Italy" in a political sense to be king of. More generally, it's hard to see how Leonardo could become king of anywhere without a degree of political ambition implying such a different personality that he'd no longer be at all like the Leonardo of OTL. He was interested in royal patronage, as any artist/engineer would be, but so far as I know showed no interest in acquiring political power himself.

-- Rick

[Faeelin]

What is this 'Italy' you are talking about? It didn't exist as a unified nation when Da Vinci lived.

There was the Kingdom of Italy.

As an aside, would Leonardo I be the first homosexual (or bisexual) monarch? Hasn't there been recent research about da Vinci's sexual orientation? Who is to succeed him when he dies?

Aside from Alexander the Great, Caesar, Hadrian, Phillip Augustus, King Richard I, Edward II, off the top of my head, yes.

[Leo Caesius]

Aside from Alexander the Great, Caesar, Hadrian, Phillip Augustus, King Richard I, Edward II, off the top of my head, yes.But note that he'd precede James of England (of the King James Bible fame) by nearly a century.

[David S Poepoe]

There was the Kingdom of Italy

Which Kingdom of Italy is there between 1452 and 1519?

[Leo Caesius]

Which Kingdom of Italy is there between 1452 and 1519?I imagine he's refering to the Regnum Italicum, which was one of the constituent parts of the HRE.

[Faeelin]

I imagine he's refering to the Regnum Italicum, which was one of the constituent parts of the HRE.

Bingo.

In any case, if you read some of the writings from the period, the idea of an Italian state was there; and witness the alliance the Italian powers formed during the 15th century to keep peace and defend the penninsula.

There wasn't any nationalism in the modern sense, but that didn't exist anywhere outside of England at this point. (And maybe in France and the constituent parts of Iberia).

[Rick Robinson]

the idea of an Italian state was there; and witness the alliance the Italian powers formed during the 15th century to keep peace and defend the penninsula.

Yes - Machiavelli ends The Prince with a passionate call for Italy to unite against the "barbarians."

What's most unlikely in this thread is Leonardo playing a lead role. Nothing I know about him suggests that he had any political inclinations, or indeed much sense of Italian proto-nationalism - after all, he ended up in the court of Francis I.

A scenario where Old Nick himself becomes Niccolo I might be more plausible! :D

-- Rick

[Faeelin]

Yes - Machiavelli ends The Prince with a passionate call for Italy to unite against the "barbarians."

What's most unlikely in this thread is Leonardo playing a lead role. Nothing I know about him suggests that he had any political inclinations, or indeed much sense of Italian proto-nationalism - after all, he ended up in the court of Francis I.

A scenario where Old Nick himself becomes Niccolo I might be more plausible! :D

-- Rick

Leonardo was an artist and an engineer. It's far more likely that he builds the war machines that let the Viscontis conquer Italy.

The best place for him, though, would be the Sublime Porte after the House of Osman conquered the penninsula.

[Count Dearborn]

Check out the book, Pasquale's Angel. In this novel, Leonardo ushers in the Industrial Revolution a few centuries early.

[Rick Robinson]

Leonardo causing an industrial revolution would be something of an ASB. The stuff in his notebooks is Really Cool, but most of it was completely impractical. Remember also that he was hardly an ignored genius - he was a celebrity figure in his own time. If he'd had practical military innovations, Francis I's commanders would probably have tried them; it was after all a period of dramatic technological innovation in ships, fortifications, etc.

-- Rick

[reformer]

In a newly united Italy, Leonardo may have become a nationalk icon. He may have become very influential in the court. The kingship is impossible, but he still might become an important political figure.

[Count Dearborn]

Leonardo causing an industrial revolution would be something of an ASB. The stuff in his notebooks is Really Cool, but most of it was completely impractical. Remember also that he was hardly an ignored genius - he was a celebrity figure in his own time. If he'd had practical military innovations, Francis I's commanders would probably have tried them; it was after all a period of dramatic technological innovation in ships, fortifications, etc.

-- Rick

He wasn't the only one, he just started it. Many of the thinkers of the time joined his Academy, Copericus, Brahe, and many others. Some one adapted Hero's engine, and then there were steam wagons.