IOTL, William II of Holland was chosen as King of the Romans as an anti-king in 1248 and ruled as the sole King from 1254 to his death at the hands of Frisians in 1256. What if William hadn’t died and managed to become Holy Roman Emperor in his own right and pass the title on to his son Floris? Would the House of Holland be able to maintain control over the Holy Roman Empire? What impact does that have on the Low Countries? Even just as King of the Romans, William used his power to expand his personal control to Zeeland. Might we see the House of Holland continue to expand their personal power in the Low Countries?
WI: William II of Holland succeeds in becoming Holy Roman Emperor?
- Thread starter Sevarics
- Start date
Wasn't the only reason he was killed because his horse fell through the ice and he was hacked to pieces? So, if his horse DOESN'T go through the ice he isn't a sitting duck?
Yeah, though at that point the battle was already lost IIRC. Willem II's escape was far from a given. Not impossible of course. On a side note, the amount of men and coin that was expended by the county of Holland in their multiple (failed) attempts at conquering Friesland is pretty staggering.
Presumably he could either win the battle or not get lost following it.
Maybe as actual HRE he could’ve had the forced to subdue Friesland?
Going by his wiki, Willem's anti-Flemish policies had already brought him into conflict with the French, so it would sort of just be a continuation of that, no?
It would be interesting to see how Emperor Wilhelm approaches the French versus King Wilhelm/Count Willem IMO. Would it be a sort of Karl V situation? I know Willem doesn't control as much of the Low Countries as what Karl did, but I wonder if Willem won't try and make use of being emperor to expand his holding in the Netherlands (like to Friesland) etc.
If the House of Holland remains in control of the Empire then I definitely see them trying to pull a Habsburg and consolidating their power in the Netherlands and Rhineland
I wonder if the rest of the empire would approve though? And of course, Willem surviving means (presumably) more than just one kid for he and his wife, so presumably the house of Holland wouldn't be extincted within half a century (it could be, I mean, look at France in the reign of Philippe le Bel - he had four sons (three of whom survived infancy and left issue) - yet the direct house of Capet went extinct within a decade and a half of his death).
I do wonder how Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso X of Castile will be spending their time here, though, with no imperial crown to hanker after
How could they pull a "Habsburg" I don't see a territory like Austria which is vacant.
Most of the head families of the various Netherlands polities died out and were inherited ultimately by the Valois-Burgundy... and then the Habsburgs
it’s not a stretch to assume the House of Holland could do the same
It took Valois-Burgundy 100 years and they had a strong powerbase to start Burgundy Flanders Artois Franche-Comté and for many decades the treasury of France William had just i poor county of Holland and no treasury he had to mortgage Nijmegen to the Count of Gelre I think the House of Holland needs tons of Luck to unite the Low Countries at that Moment.
It’s not like I said one person could. I said if the family held on to the Empire it’s possible. As for William himself, his uncle was the Duke of Brabant so he has familiar allies close by anyway.
I think the question would come in of HOW do they hold on to the imperial dignity once they have it. A coronation by the pope is no guarantee of stability. Does Willem have the strength of character that he'll be able to hang onto the empire? This being the interregnum, after all, where the "kings" were seldom a relative of their predecessor, still less of the same dynasty.