Depending on the pod, what sort of internal political and societal developments would occur that would make a French HRE a possibility? How would a Royal Germany function with the Franks now holding the Imperial Crown and hegemony over Western Christendom? I know holding Burgundy would probably be necessary to gain control over Italy, and Lotharingia would probably have to be taken due to the significance of Aachen and the Rhineland to the Caroligian and Frankish heritage. Would the County of Barcelona/Aragon evolve into some Iberian analogue to otl's Bohemia? How would a more "Romance speaking" empire function and develop due to the closer cultural links between the Italo-Romans and the Frankish, and Occitan people within Francia itself? Would Germany seek to expand into the East, like in otl where the Wends and Poles were much like in otl?
How would centralization work assuming the Emperor was from the House of Capet and followed a strategy similar to otl? Could the late Carolingians have pulled off something similar? Would this "French HRE" be taken more seriously by the East as a successor to the Western Roman Empire due to it encompassing more of the de-jure territory of the old Empire of the West? How would Latin and the Romance languages develop with a large part of the Romance speaking world united under a single polity? Where would the capital be of such a state? Would it be in Aachen, the old Carolingian capital, Paris like what happened with the Capetians, or even Lyons to be closer to Italy?
How would the relationship between the pope and the Emperor develop here? Historically the Frankish Kings had quite warm relations and mutual cooperation with the Holy See. Didn't Frankish Kings also have some sort of religious significance to their throne? How would this affect the nature of the position of Emperor?
How would a Royal Germany develop in this scenario? Would they centralize much like France did? What would become of Iberia now that its closer to the sway of the Emperor. Could something akin to a Crusade be used by the Emperor to deal with troublesome nobles and serve as a means to expand his authority and overall demesne?
How would centralization work assuming the Emperor was from the House of Capet and followed a strategy similar to otl? Could the late Carolingians have pulled off something similar? Would this "French HRE" be taken more seriously by the East as a successor to the Western Roman Empire due to it encompassing more of the de-jure territory of the old Empire of the West? How would Latin and the Romance languages develop with a large part of the Romance speaking world united under a single polity? Where would the capital be of such a state? Would it be in Aachen, the old Carolingian capital, Paris like what happened with the Capetians, or even Lyons to be closer to Italy?
How would the relationship between the pope and the Emperor develop here? Historically the Frankish Kings had quite warm relations and mutual cooperation with the Holy See. Didn't Frankish Kings also have some sort of religious significance to their throne? How would this affect the nature of the position of Emperor?
How would a Royal Germany develop in this scenario? Would they centralize much like France did? What would become of Iberia now that its closer to the sway of the Emperor. Could something akin to a Crusade be used by the Emperor to deal with troublesome nobles and serve as a means to expand his authority and overall demesne?