List of monarchs III

POD: Alexios Philanthropenos successfully overthrows Andronicus II

Emperors and Autocrats of the Romans
1282-1295: Andronicus II (House of Palaeologus)
1295-1341: Alexios VI (House of Tarchaneiotes) [1]
1341-1345: Alexios VII (House of Tarchaneiotes) [2]
1345-1374: Basil III (House of Laskaris) [3]
1374-1392: Oshin I (House of Lambron) [4]
1392-1402: Constantine XI (House of Lambron) [5]
1402-1432: Justinian III (House of Lambron) [6]
1432-1457: Maria I and Peter I (House of Lambron/House of Venatrovsky) [7]
1457-1481: Alexander II "The Conqueror" (House of Osmanos) [8]
1481-1482: Demetrios I (House of Osmanos) [9]

[1] Alexios VI's reign would mark a "Second Alexiad" as he, after overthrowing the weak and incompetent leadership of Emperor Andronicus II, would spend his 46-year long reign as Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans trying his best to ensure that Rhomania, weakened by the Fourth Crusade, would regain a position as a major power in a long reign where the Emperor was largely on horseback, campaigning against Latin, Slav, rebel, or Turk. Amongst his greatest achievements as Emperor would be the conquest of the Despotate of Epirus and his crushing of the nascent Osmanli beylik, even if Rhomania by his death, while having recovered from the disaster of the Fourth Crusade, was a mere regional power.

Alexios VI would die in 1341 from ill health and would be succeeded by his son Alexios.

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A 16th-century depiction of Emperor and Autocrat Alexios VII
[2] Born in 1300, Alexios was the first born son of Emperor Alexios VI’s second marriage. He was possibly made co-emperor in 1328, reigning alongside his father before being demoted once more, most probably to a defeat in battle against the Epirotes.

When his father died, Alexios succeeded him, though he had to put down a rebellion that was instigated by one of his younger brothers.

In early 1345, Alexios VII launched a campaign against the independent southern Greek states, however, due to his incompetence his army would soon be routed by a combined Greek army. A few days later succumbed to his injuries and was succeeded by his nephew-in-law, Basil Laskaris.

[3] Born in 1321, Basil Laskaris would be one of the last scions of the ancient Nicene house of the Laskarids, which had once ruled the Nicene Empire in Anatolia. Despite their fall to the Palaeologus, the recent rising of the Tarchaneiotes would see the Laskarids rise quickly in opportunity. The Laskarids had been famous for their deeds in Anatolia, beating back the turk often, and it was in this area that the Laskarids would expand and create a new base of power for themselves. The conquest of many Turkic beylics would see the Laskarids adquire many new lands in Bukellarion and Phlagonia. It would be through this that Ioannes Laskaris, strategos of Anatolikon, would see his son Basil married to the niece of Emperor Alexios VII.

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Basil and his wife, Irene, would have a fruitful companionship, marked by Irene's intelligence and Basil's respect for her. Despite being more of a friendly "relationship", Basil and Irene would have 7 recorded children. It would be through Irene's claim that Basil would rise to the throne, and this would show during his reign, with Irene being far more than a mere consort during the rule of her husband.

Basil would prove himself up to the task of generalship and emperor-ship. Appealing to Dynastic continuation, Basil would take up the wars of his predecessor and would advance deeply into Southern Greece, restoring it back to the Empire, but an intervention by Venice would see an almost decade of on and off warfare between both states, which the Rhomans would eventually win, restoring their rule to all Greek islands, including Crete, although Cyprus remained in Crusader hands. His warfare-orientated reign would see the rise of a new class of Rhoman soldiery, based on conscription and professional service, mainly rewarded through promises of land in the depopulated Anatolia. Basil would also be the first Emperor to force the Turkish populations of the Empire to pay a blood tax - by giving at least one of their male children in service to the Empire.

Basil's never ending martial energy would see much of Anatolia recovered - with the Empire for the first time in generations reaching the Taurus mountains, with the Rhomans once more asserting dominance over the black sea. Many missionaries were sent into Circassia to Transcausia, and to Tartaria in the Golden horde by him. Basil would transplant many Greeks, Bulgarian and Latin mercenaries, as well as converted fleeing tribes from the North and the Steppes into Anatolia, giving the land a new appeal to the Rhoman state.

Despite his many victories against the westerners and the muslims, Basil would fail in his grandest campaign - the reconquest of Trebizond. The smashing of his army on the Pontic Mountains would see the aged Emperor enter a depression that would eventually take him to his grave. He would be succeeded by his son-in-law, Oshin
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[4] Oshin, a Prince of Armenia, was son-in-law to Emperor Basil III by his eldest daughter, Rita. Having deemed all of his legitimate sons as lunatics and simpletons, systematically managing them off stage, Basil set Oshin up as defacto heir jure uxoris.

Born in 1341, married in 1369 and had already given Basil three grandchildren by the time he died in 1374. Despite some opposition to his rule from his brothers-in-law and nephews, collectively known as the Basilian Pretenders, Oshin had effectively secured his reign by 1380 which left the remaining decade of his rule for him to focus on civic improvements including reinforcing the defenses of Thessalonica and effectively moving the imperial seat from Constantinople to Thessalonica.

In 1390, Oshin would inherit the Kingdom of Armenian Cilicia from his elder brother and this claim, which could be inherited by a woman, would pass to his children even if they did not become Byzantine Emperor.

Empress Rita outlived her husband, to see him succeeded by their son, Constantine

[5] Constantine XI was born in 1370 as the oldest of Oshin's sons and would become Emperor in 1393 as a result of his father Oshin's death.

As Emperor, Constantine XI's reign, while short, would be one marked by the effective governance of the Empire, especially after returning the capital of the Empire to Constantinople during the first few years of his reign. His reign would also be marked by effective and competent administration, especially with the defeat of the Bulgarians and Serbs in the Haemus and continuation of the consolidation of the Rhoman presence in Anatolia.

While many have speculated about what would have happened had he had more time to be Emperor, it was not to be as he would be killed in Timur's invasion of Anatolia, leaving behind his brother, Justinian, as the new Emperor.

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[6] Justinian was the youngest child of Oshin and third son, born in 1384. When his older brothers, Emperor Constantine and Dux Augustine, (b. 1372,) were both killed in the Battle of Aydin in 1402, Justinian took the throne with the support of his mother, the Dowager Empress, Rita. He was not quite 18 years old.

His two older sisters, however, did not support him. Theodora, born in 1369, was the oldest child of Oshrin, and had been married to Empress Rita's nephew, _________________, the Dux of Epirus, in 1380, at that time the senior claimant of the Basilian Pretenders. This had confirmed their support for Oshrin's reign. But with the defeat of Constantine to Timur and the loss of Anatolia and Armenia to the Empire, Theodora and the Dux now proclaimed he was the rightful Emperor. Alexandria, born in 1379, was married to the Bulgarian Emperor, Ivan Umor. They threw their support to Epirus in exchange for a return of the Haemus to the Bulgarians.

The war with Timur was still occurring as the Amir was now battling for the northwest provinces of Asia Minor and the Black Sea coast and was besieging Nicaea. With a two-front war occurring with the Turco-Mongols to the east and south and the Epirus/Bulgaria alliance to the west and north, The Empire was not able to secure Crete, the Peloponnese, and up through the former Duchy of Athens and Venice swept in and swiftly conquered it.

Justinian saw his only hope for the Empire was to sue for peace with Timur. Surprisingly, the Amir was generous in his terms, as he wished to finish in the west and turn east to face China. He agreed to allow Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Land, now part of the Timurid Empire, to cede the territory in northwest Asia Minor he was occupying in return for the Empire giving up its claims to the former Turkish Beyliks except the ones that bordered the Aegean or the Black Sea, yielding the interior of Anatolia again to Timur's Turkish vassals. (Timur championed the Ghuzz Turks of Mentese who now reformed the Sultanate of Rum in the interior of Anatolia and the southern Mediterranean coast.)

This allowed Justinian to invade the Haemus in 1403. Ivan Umor did not meet Justinian in battle but instead sent Alexandria to negotiate a peace. The Bulgarians sued for peace if they submitted to Constantinople, recognized Justinian as their Emperor, gave up the title Emperor for themselves but took the title of King of the Bulgarians. In return, Justinian recognized the Haemus Mountains as part of the Bulgarian Kingdom but as a vassal of Constantinople.

Now Justinian could turn his full attention to Epirus. Unlike Alexandria, Theodora did not encourage her husband to make peace. A bloody war followed from 1404 through 1408. A peace never was formed with a treaty, like with Timur or Bulgaria, but a ceasefire and truce ended hostilities in the late summer of 1408. All the territory that Epirus had taken from the Empire was restored, but a rump Epirus remained and was now de facto independent, although both sides claimed Epirus was part of the Roman Empire, they just disagreed which government was the legitimate government of the entire Empire.

All through this war, negotiations had occurred with Venice. They were formalized in the Treaty of Athens in 1410. The Greek Isles, except for Crete, were now under the direct control of Constantinople. The Duchy of Athens was restored to independence but formally a vassal of Constantinople, as was the new formed Duchy of the Peloponnese, but Venice was given full rights to trade and establish bases. In reality, the Duchies were under the control of Venice but officially were vassals of Rome. Crete itself was part of the Venetian Empire.

Finally, Justinian had peace on all borders and the Empire was secure, although much smaller than previously.

This was when the Dowager Empress died.

Justinian now knew he needed to marry. He was now 25 and expected many more years to reign. His bride was Anna Vasilievna of Moscow, daughter of Vasily I, the Grand Prince of Moscow. She was now 17 and Muscovy had been one of the only neighboring states to actually declare for Justinian when he took the throne. But now that all surrounding states did, it was to his first ally he turned for a marriage. (Even though that support had been nothing more than declaring a position.)

The Emperor and Empress started a family immediately and had a number of children.

Although it was humiliating that the Greek vassal states were only nominally vassals, the reality of peace with Venice and the presence of Venetian trade in them led to increase prosperity for the Empire. Also peace with the new Sultanate of Rum and the Timurid Empire, meant the Silk Road was re-opened and trade from there added to the Empire's prosperity.

However, the peace and prosperity of Justinian's reign was doomed to fail in 1432 on the death of the heir and grandson of Timur, Muhammad Sultan Mizra, who'd held all of Timur's empire together from Timur's death in 1405. The western portions of the Timurid Empire fell into chaos, the Silk Road closed again, the Ghuzz attacked the Empire's province of Trezibond, and a new threat demolished the Empire- the Black Plague.

Justinian died of the Plague in 1432 just as the Ghuzz attacked the Empire.

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Empress and Autocratess Maria I and Emperor and Autocrat Peter I

[7] Born a sickly child in 1412, Maria was the first daughter and child of Emperor Justinian III and Princess Anna Vasilievna of Moscow. For most of Maria’s early life, she was confined indoors due to an unknown affliction that rendered her physically weak and nearly bald. Maria would often be the target of frequent insults by courtiers, which greatly affected the young girl. In 1428, she met Peter Venatrovsky, the son of one of the royal guards of Grand Prince Vasily I, who had previously visited Constantinople. They both fell in love, and Maria’s health rapidly improved, even though this is most probably a coincidence, and she remained near-bald for the rest of her life. At the age of 20, she and Peter finally married.

By the time of Justinian III’s death, Maria and her younger brother, John, were their father’s only surviving children. Briefly, it seemed that there was a possibility of a civil war between Maria and John. However, John, recognizing that he would hold many disadvantages if he waged war, struck a deal with Maria and Peter. John would relinquish his claim to the Roman throne, but, in exchange, he would become the King of Macedonia (roughly OTL Western Macedonia region in Greece and some parts of Central Macedonia).

The newly crowned imperial couple had to deal with the depopulation of the city of Constantinople and other surrounding areas caused by the Black Death. However, many lives were saved by the royal policy which was put in place which forced many inhabitants of cities to relocate to sparsely populated areas of the empire. A few years later, the Roman Empress and Emperor helped command a combined Roman-Macedonian-Timurid force which resulted in the Ghuzz being pushed out of the Roman Empire and the majority of the Timurid Empire’s eastern territories.

The remainder of their joint reign was relatively peaceful and prosperous, as Maria and Peter had implemented many policies that facilitated easier trade with the Venetians and other Italian maritime powers. During this time, Peter also introduced much Muscovite culture to the empire, especially in the imperial capital.

In 1457, Maria and Peter both died in their sleep together on the same day. They were succeeded by their nephew-in-law, Ioannes of the House of Osmanos.

[8] Alexandros of the Osmanoi would be the first-born son of Ioannes Dragases Osmanos, a famous governor of the Peleponese, born in early 1432. His family was of Turkish origin, as his family was itself descendant the defeated Ottoman Beylic two centuries before. His ancestors had entered Byzantine service and had rise steadily through the ranks, becoming great land-owners during the Anatolian reconquista. Alexandros himself had led his first contingent of troops by 1451 by the age of 19, defeating a raiding party of the Karamanid Sultanate of Syria in the battle of Adana, and led a contigent of Christian troops - a mixture of Greeks, Cilicians, Armenians and Turks all the way down to Antioch, city which he would swear to reconquer as a general one day. He would reconquer, not as a general, but as an Emperor.

Alexandros would rise to steady fame after this, joining the upper echelons of the Imperial military which would lead him to meet and marry Eudokia of Macedonia, only child of John of Macedon. It was Alexandro's first real thrust into the upper hierarchy of Imperial politics, and it would one in which he would not fail. The death of his father-in-law would have by all rights seen him rise to the occasion as King of Macedon, but Alexandros, a firm Imperialist, would refuse to take a title and land that "would disturb the law and power of the Empire". For many, it was seen as a moment of stupidity, as Macedonia held both Thessalonika and an immense spread of territory. But it was Alexandros' introduction to the Imperial family, who would grow to respect him. Maria and Peter never had children, and they would eventually decide to co-adopt Alexandros into their family and make him their successor, alongside their niece. Their deaths in 1457 would see Alexandros, perhaps the most important ruler of 15 century Byzantium, arise to the ocasion. Alexandros, who would come to be known in the future as the Conqueror, had just arisen to the purple.

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Alexandros was a firm unificacionists, the party of the Byzantine Empire which believed that the many "statelets" Byzantine noblemen had successfully carved for themselves within the Imperial frontiers be ended, and it had been this with this party of talented, loyal and young "new blood" that Alexandros had allied himself with, and truly, they would become one of the pillars of his reign.

Alexandros was, however, not the only one who was paying attention. In Epirus, the old age Laskarid Despots of the region had laid in wait, content with slowly expanding their rule over Thessaly, Attica and Southern Albania and Macedonia, but they were not foolish. Manuel Laskaris, the old and wise Despot of Epirus, knew that Alexandros would end up coming for him, and declared himself Emperor with support of many European and Anatolian magnates. It would lead to a two-year civil war, in which Alexandros' military talent would come to the fore. Alexandros would first see action in Anatolia, soundly defeating the Rhoman magnates in Pontus and in the Lycian themes of Kybyrrhaotai and Opsikion, while his brother Michael held off the Epirotes in Macedonia. Michael had plenty of military talent of his own, and would hold off the numerically superior Epirotes for months before the arrival of his brother over the Hellespont. At this point, Manuel and Simeon of Bulgaria entered into an alliance, but it would be too late for Epirus. Alexandros would lead his professional army of over 50000 men into Macedonia, defeating Manuel at every turn, quickly subduing his territories. Venice's attempt to harbor Manuel in their Aegean cities would see the Emperor conquer them - but this would start the Roman-Veneto-Bulgarian war, which would last for one more year.

Michael ambushed the Bulgarian army in the Rhodopes, however, and this would see the Byzantines imprison over 20000 Bulgarian soldiers. It was a military victory the likes of Basil the III and that of Caesar, and it would see the fall of Bulgaria once more to the Rhoman Empire. The Venetian counter-invasion of Epirus would also end in disaster - Alexandros handing them a handy victory in the battle of Naufpakos, which would see Venice lose it's holdings in the Roman Empire - including Crete.

The annexation of Bulgaria and the re-incorporation of the Venetian concessions would see a surge of popularity for Alexandros, making him one of the most popular and powerful Autocrats since Alexios the I, and it would give Alexandros the space to introduce his greatest ambitions - reform at all levels, which would be seen blessed by God as he and the Basilissa, Eudokia, would have their first child that year.

The Codex Osmanoi - the greatest code of law since the Codex of Justinian almost a millenia prior, would be one of the greatest books of law of the time and is considered by most of historians as the Roman Empire's first constitution, as it sodified very well the role each official would have in their servitude to the Emperor. The Roman laws of Succession - turning the Roman Autocracy into a primogeniture, male preference-based succession, with usurpation - made "illegal" and co-emperorship as well. It would also reform much of Byzantine bureaucracy, making it clear and consise for the first time in forever. It would also make Sebastos the title of the Crown Prince of the Empire.

His military reforms, however, are also famous. The birth of the Byzantine armies (Imagine a less corrupt, more gun-based and less raiding prone Ottoman army) of the 15th century, known as the Scholarii, as each Rhoman soldier was given a firm education in any art of his choosing and in Greek. It was to be the birth of one of the most professional forces of the age.

On other fronts, though, Alexandros after his reforms would quickly move to end the subdued Turkic beylics, as they had become rather powerless since many Turks and turcomans had converted to Christianity and integrated into the Imperial system, becoming one of the greatest sources of soldiers for the Empire. The swift integration of Bulgaria into the Empire would also be of great use to Rome - as the Bulgarians would quickly come to enjoy the rule of Rome - as the Tsardom of Bulgaria had been decentralized and in constant internal warfare between nobles - and it quickly became a source of both soldiers and officials for Constantinople.

The next few years of Alexandros' reign would be peaceful - with much coin flowing into the Imperial treasury due to his reforms after the increased spending of the civil war, but it was a time for personal growth for Alexandros - in the peace established after 1462, he and his wife would become the parents to seven more children, all the way into 1472, the year the Empire would go to war once more. One must denote, however, Alexandros and his wife roles as patrons of the arts - to them is often attributed the start of the Renaissance, as, during their reign, Constantinople (Which had extensively recovered and expanded since the fourth crusade) would become a center of art and culture, reuniting several Latin, Slavic, Arab, Persian and Roman artists, historians, architects, musicians, inventors and more in the city. But Alexandros' greatest passion would definitely be architecture - the Emperor would be the patron of over one hundred architecture projects, but the most famous would be the restoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Parthenon of Athens and the Colossus of Rhodes, his greatest and most beloved project. He would build many new monuments, however, such as the Grand Mausoleum of Eudokia, named after his wife, which would become the resting ground of future Roman Emperors, the Grand Harbour of Thessalonika and Smyrna, the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Antioch and many statues of himself all over the Empire.

The following ten years of constant campaigning by Alexandros, which would earn him the title of the Conqueror, could be better explained, but the majesty and greatness of so many deeds would take much to explain. In less than 10 years, the Empire would expand into all directions, with the Emperor conquering deep into Serbia and Bosnia, winning the loyalty of the Danubian princes of Wallachia and Moldavia, the homage of the King of Hungary, while in the East, King David of Georgia would enter into Alexander's patronage, recognizing him as his sovereign, while the full extent of lower Caucasia and the Armenian lands would be integrated into the Empire. In the south, Basil would storm over the Cilician gates in 1476, while the Turkish Karamanid rulers of Syria were busy invading the remnants of the Mamluk caliphate in Egypt and Hejaz, bringing the whole of Syria under his control. The Emperor would have perhaps conquered further, but a bout of plague would take him, seeing him succeeded by ______________.

René

A statue of Demetrios I outside the National Roman Museum of History

[9] Demetrios was the second son but third child overall of Alexander II and Eudokia of Macedonia, born in 1460. A year after his birth, his elder brother, Alexios, died, and Demetrios became the first in line to the Roman throne. Unlike his father and most of the men at the royal court at the time, Demetrios held no interest in the military. However, his uninterest did not cause any problems for his father, but certainly for the army, as Demetrios was entirely hostile to it. In fact, when he became Emperor, he would try to restrict the army's power, but ultimately he did not live long enough to pursue his goal.

After his father died, Demetrios became Emperor of Rome. But, a month after he was crowned, he came ill with the plague. And, just like his father, died from it. Not much would be remembered from his short reign, one of the shortest in Roman history.

He was succeeded ________________________________.
 
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What If ... Edward the Black Prince dies in 1361

Kings of England

1327-1377: Edward III (House of Plantagenet)
1377-1399: Lionel I (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1399-1405: Percy I (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1405-1441: Edward IV (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1441-1479: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1479-1492: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [5]



[1] Lionel of Antwerp/Clarence was the second son of Edward III, married to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, and subsequently widowed in 1363. Upon his elder brothers death in 1361, he became Prince of Wales and Heir Apparent. Upon being widowed, he had only one child - a daughter who survived to adulthood - and his father looked for a new wife for him. In 1366, he was married to Catherine of Luxembourg, the widowed daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV and the pair had four more children.

His reign saw the Peasants Revolt and the end of the Fifty Years War which lasted for almost 50 years after starting in 1337. This ended because Lionel was concerned about further peasant rebellions and the ensuing difficulties he was facing with Ireland and Scotland. Edward III had attempted to conquer Scotland and place Lionels brother John on the Scottish throne, but this had ultimately failed and Lionel dispatched John to Ireland to put down unrest.

Lionel died in 1399 and was succeeded by his son, Percy I.

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A drawing of King Percy I of England
[2] Born in 1368, Percy was the first child and son of King Lionel I and Catherine of Luxembourg. A stubborn and prideful boy, who viewed that nearly all were beneath him, Percy showed great aspirations to become a military commander. He even once proclaimed to his father that he would be able to quash any revolt for him.

King Lionel I died in 1399, Percy became the new King of England. His style of governing was much more harsh and hotheaded than his father and frequently stamped down on those who opposed him. Percy soon adopted a new title, Sovereign of the English, as in the people of England, which he intended to become as synonymous as the title of King.

Three years after the Glyndŵr Rising had erupted in 1400, Percy personally led an army to the Welsh marches. Despite a cruel and long campaign of terror and death, the rebellion continued, however, the King was satisfied believing that the rebels would soon be defeated.

When he finally returned to the capital, he made plans to invade France. But, before he could set his plans into motion, Percy was found dead in his bed, most likely poisoned in his sleep. He was succeeded by his son, Edward.

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Kenneth Branagh as Edward IV in BBC's "The Plantagenets."
[3] Edward was the only son of Percy, born to him when he was still Prince of Wales in 1387. In 1386 Prince Percy married Joanna of Lorraine, daughter of John I, Duke of Lorraine. Joanna was the younger sister of Maria of Lorraine who was married to the Dauphin of France, who later would be Charles VIII of France. This marriage to the sister-in-law of the future king was an attempted rapprochement with France to build the peace at the end of the Fifty Year war by Edward's grandfather, King Lionel. Both Percy and Joanna were just 17 at their marriage.

Edward was born nine months later. His mother, the Princess of Wales doted on him. His father had little to do with him, in fact he had little to do with his wife also. The Prince and the Princess had separate apartments in the royal residence of Richmond Palace. The estrangement increased when Percy became King and many believed Queen Joanna was behind his poisoning in order to stop his intended invasion of her homeland.

Edward was 19 when he took the throne and he immediately ended the plans for his father's invasion of France. His mother, the Dowager Queen Joanna, was a main advisor during the first years of his reign. She was only 37 and soon remarried to Richard Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March (OOC: not OTL's Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl, as Philippa never married Edmund, the 3rd Earl in TTL.) Edward made Richard the Duke of March.

In 1407 Edward married Richard's cousin-once-removed on his mother's side, Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan of Arundel, who'd been fostered by Richard and his first wife, Claire of Kent, who'd been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and died of the sweating sickness in 1401. (Duke Richard and Clair had had no children of their own.)

Edward was not like his father at all. His father's arrogance had assumed the rebellion in Wales was over after his personal intervention and cruelty. The truth was that it continued. King Edward now sent emissaries to meet with the Welsh rebels and listen to their grievances.

The solution offered by the King was that the Welsh would be given the same rights as the English, their lords seated in the House of Lords, and the burghers in the Commons, but Owain Glyndŵr must bend the knee. Owain refused. But the other Welsh lords were insistent that they take this victory and they forced him to accept. Edward was asked to let Owain continue his claim as the Prince of Wales if he submitted. Edward countered with offering him the title of the Duke of Powys. He reluctantly accepted after his Tudor relatives insisted.

From this point on, Edward's kingdom was at peace. Edward and Elizabeth had many children and England and Wales prospered in his reign. He died after a reign of near 36 years and was succeeded by Richard, Prince of Wales.

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Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins playing Richard II with his wife, Maria of France, in BBC’s series, “The Plantagenets”
[4] Born in 1410 and named after his godfather, Richard Mortimer, the 1st Duke of March, as a child, Richard, Prince of Wales, enjoyed a happy childhood, with his parents and siblings.

His father, had a strong bond with his children, many future psychiatrists, believe that Edward was compensating for his own relationship with his father.

His education was a mixture of administrative training, learning Latin, French and Welsh, set to be an inclusive of all his people as well as military, with Edward instilling in him that war was only to be used as a last option, stating that God does not wish for his Christian soldiers to kill one another.

In 1430, his father arranged double wedding, with a marriage for 20 year old Richard, with 19 year old, Maria of France, a granddaughter of Charles VIII of France and Maria of Lorraine, via their eldest son, Charles, Grand Dauphin of France, along with his elder sister, Princess Joanna, marrying Charles, Petit Dauphin of France.

The pair would be as fertile as their parents, resulting in seven births before the death of his father, when Richard became king at the age of thirty one.

For his children and other children of nobility, Richard, wanting the future generations to have an outstanding education, he would commission a number of education facilities including a college on a town on the outskirts of Richmond, known as Kew College (In OTL Henry VI sets up Eton College near Windsor castle) and then later setting up another at Oxford, known as King’s College in his honour. (In OTL Henry VI sets up Kings College at Cambridge)

Richard reign was one of prosperity, with no wars resulting in a basic tax rate being collected from a large populated country, meant the treasury had additional funds at its disposal.

As well as education, Richard would see stones laid for St. George Cathedral, in Gloucester as well as St. David Cathedral, in Powys.

Richard was able to invest in the Cinque Ports in the Kent coast, converting them from joint military and trade purposes, to solely trade. While in the north, he arranged for better fortifications along the Scottish border.

Richard also improved infrastructure across the nation including roads that connected all major cities and towns in England and Wales.

In 1479, 68 year old, Richard collapsed during a meeting with Parliament, he was rushed to nearby bed, however had been found to have succumbed to a heart attack. He was succeeded by his son, Henry.

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Jacob Collins-Levy & Jodie Comer as King Henry IV & Queen Guinevere of BBC's "The Plantagenets."*
[5] Henry Plantagenet was the third child and second son of Richard, the then Prince of Wales, and his wife, Princess Maria. His older sister, Princess Eleanor, was born in 1431. He and his slightly older identical twin, Edward, were born in 1433. His younger siblings were Arthur, born in 1437, John, born in 1439, and another set of twins, Isabel and Joanna, born in 1441, only a few weeks before Richard ascended to the throne. Isabel and Joanna were not identical.

From birth, Prince Henry was the Earl of March, as his father had inherited the Duchy from his godfather, Richard Mortimer. When Richard became king, he granted the title of the Duke of March to Henry, making him the 3rd Duke at the age of seven. His older brother was made the Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales. All the princes and princesses were given intense education at Richmond Palace. In 1450, the two twin princes were the first royal children to attend University as they attended Oxford at King College.

After Oxford in 1455 the two princes married. Edward married a French Princess, Catherine Valois. Henry married Guinevere Tudor, the oldest daughter of the current Duke of Powys, Owain Tudor, who was five years his junior. As the Duchy of the March included Welsh lands (it was the Welsh March,) it made sense for Henry to marry a Welsh Princess. Harry and Gwen (as they were known) set up their household in the March and had no idea that he'd become King one day. By 1561 they had a number of children and it seemed their marriage, although arranged for political purposes, had quickly become a love match.

The same was not true for Edward and Catherine. Catherine and Edward just didn't like each other from the start. They did their marital duty and she conceived, but had a miscarriage. After that they went their separate ways. Although Edward had several mistresses, when rumors spread that the Princess was entertaining in her bed a French Knight who was visiting the court with the Princess' brother, the Dauphin Louis, he felt compelled to confront him, expecting the Knight, the Chevalier Pierre Flambeau, to deny and leave the court. Instead he admitted it, insulting the Prince, pointing out his own affairs, and calling him a 'louse.' Edward had no choice but to challenge him. They met on the tourney field in one of the last jousts in England. Edward died at the age of 28 in 1461 on the field when Flambeau's knobbed lance broke and a shard pierced the prince's chest. Catherine fled back to France with her brother and Flambeau, with whom she continued her affair.

Harry and Gwen were at the tourney and he witnessed his beloved brother's death. Suddenly he was the heir to the throne. When Harry, Gwen, and their children returned to the March, he was now the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall as well as the Duke of the March. They were both young, she was 23 and he was 28, and continued to have children.

(Peace was preserved with France by a formal apology from the Dauphin, the Princess, and Flambeau, claiming the death of the Prince of Wales was an unfortunate accident and not the intent of the Chevalier.)

Eighteen years later, the 46 year old Harry became King Henry IV.

The most important event of King Henry's reign did not occur in England or Wales. It occurred half a world away when the "Admiral of the Seas," Cristoforo Colombo, sailing for the Empire of the Republic of Genoa, succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean to what he thought was the Indies with a fleet of twenty ships.

Genoa was the dominant power in the Mediterranean, having taken parts of the former Byzantine Empire when it fell including Crimea, Cyprus, Crete, several Aegean Islands, and parts of the Peloponnese. During the 15th Century Genoa had also added Sicily, Malta, and conquered Granada (Including Gibraltar) and Western Morocco to their Empire, which had already included Corsica, Sardinia, and the northeast coast of Italy. Genoa and Portugal had been racing to see who could sail around Africa first and Genoa had also discovered the Canary Islands and colonized them. Colombo had been an important part of this exploration and expansion for Genoa. in 1483, he'd convinced the Doge and the Great Council of the Republic to finance his voyages to the West.

When Colombo returned to Europe in 1484 with his discovery of islands in the west, the news spread like wildfire and the race to explore was on. England and Wales was already ahead on this race, having worked to increase it's infrastructure for trade under Henry's father. He'd continued that, building ships and ports. While the other European powers of Castile, France, the Netherlands, and Norway rushed to establish themselves, England had the infrastructure.

In 1485, Henry commissioned his own exploration fleet of 35 ships to sail west, using the northern route that had led to Iceland and Greenland and the fabled Vinland. Hugo Montgomery was the Admiral of the Fleet and after sailing to Iceland, then Greenland, he sailed west and charted the east coast of Neustralia, as Montgomery named the new Continent. He charted it from across the strait separating Neustralia from Greenland down past the island he named New Caledonia, in the large bay he named the Caledonian Sea, then along the coast until he reached the end of the land and sailed into the Genoan Sea. He found several rivers and named them from native names: the Mohikun (Hudson), the Leneypea (Delaware), the Keshapik (James), and the Rickohawk (Savanah). His voyage took three years and he claimed the entire continent of Neustralia for England & Wale and left behind trading forts at the Caledonian Sea, the Mohikun, the Leneypea, and the Rickohawk. He returned to England with his ships laden with beaver pelts and astonished all with his stories.

In 1489 Montgomery sailed with a fleet of 100 ships and this time sailed southwest from Iceland and discovered the fishing banks in the seas east of New Caledonia, resupplied the trading forts, and explored further into the Caledonian Bay, discovering the Magna Huron River (St. Lawrence). He returned to England in 1492 to report to the King.

But the King had died when he'd been thrown off his horse while fox hunting in the March. So it was the news of the Fishing Banks and the Magna Huron were reported to _________________.

*The actors appeared younger than they should have in this scene as they had played Harry & Gwen from when they were young adults.
 
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I wanted to reverse who was the Plantagenet and who was the Tudor in borrowing this picture from OTL's the White Queen for TTL's Harry Plantagenet and Gwen Tudor.
 
Demetrios was the first son but third child overall of Alexander II and Eudokia of Macedonia, born in 1460. A year after his birth, his elder brother, Alexios, died, and Demetrios became the first in line to the Roman throne.
Just to confirm is Alexios a son by a different marriage or is Demetrios the second son?
 
What If ... Edward the Black Prince dies in 1361

Kings of England

1327-1377: Edward III (House of Plantagenet)
1377-1399: Lionel I (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1399-1405: Percy I (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1405-1441: Edward IV (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1441-1479: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1479-1492: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [5]
1492-1516: William III (House of Plantagenet) [6]

Kings of England and Ireland

1496-1516: William III (House of Plantagenet) [7]


[1] Lionel of Antwerp/Clarence was the second son of Edward III, married to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, and subsequently widowed in 1363. Upon his elder brothers death in 1361, he became Prince of Wales and Heir Apparent. Upon being widowed, he had only one child - a daughter who survived to adulthood - and his father looked for a new wife for him. In 1366, he was married to Catherine of Luxembourg, the widowed daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV and the pair had four more children.

His reign saw the Peasants Revolt and the end of the Fifty Years War which lasted for almost 50 years after starting in 1337. This ended because Lionel was concerned about further peasant rebellions and the ensuing difficulties he was facing with Ireland and Scotland. Edward III had attempted to conquer Scotland and place Lionels brother John on the Scottish throne, but this had ultimately failed and Lionel dispatched John to Ireland to put down unrest.

Lionel died in 1399 and was succeeded by his son, Percy I.

Jean de Touraine, dauphin of France.jpg

A drawing of King Percy I of England
[2]
Born in 1368, Percy was the first child and son of King Lionel I and Catherine of Luxembourg. A stubborn and prideful boy, who viewed that nearly all were beneath him, Percy showed great aspirations to become a military commander. He even once proclaimed to his father that he would be able to quash any revolt for him.

King Lionel I died in 1399, Percy became the new King of England. His style of governing was much more harsh and hotheaded than his father and frequently stamped down on those who opposed him. Percy soon adopted a new title, Sovereign of the English, as in the people of England, which he intended to become as synonymous as the title of King.

Three years after the Glyndŵr Rising had erupted in 1400, Percy personally led an army to the Welsh marches. Despite a cruel and long campaign of terror and death, the rebellion continued, however, the King was satisfied believing that the rebels would soon be defeated.

When he finally returned to the capital, he made plans to invade France. But, before he could set his plans into motion, Percy was found dead in his bed, most likely poisoned in his sleep. He was succeeded by his son, Edward.

kenneth-branagh-signed-photo-henry_360_8c8712185b30b7b3942e3d228c48cf1a.jpg

Kenneth Branagh as Edward IV in BBC's "The Plantagenets."
[3] Edward was the only son of Percy, born to him when he was still Prince of Wales in 1387. In 1386 Prince Percy married Joanna of Lorraine, daughter of John I, Duke of Lorraine. Joanna was the younger sister of Maria of Lorraine who was married to the Dauphin of France, who later would be Charles VIII of France. This marriage to the sister-in-law of the future king was an attempted rapprochement with France to build the peace at the end of the Fifty Year war by Edward's grandfather, King Lionel. Both Percy and Joanna were just 17 at their marriage.

Edward was born nine months later. His mother, the Princess of Wales doted on him. His father had little to do with him, in fact he had little to do with his wife also. The Prince and the Princess had separate apartments in the royal residence of Richmond Palace. The estrangement increased when Percy became King and many believed Queen Joanna was behind his poisoning in order to stop his intended invasion of her homeland.

Edward was 19 when he took the throne and he immediately ended the plans for his father's invasion of France. His mother, the Dowager Queen Joanna, was a main advisor during the first years of his reign. She was only 37 and soon remarried to Richard Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March (OOC: not OTL's Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl, as Philippa never married Edmund, the 3rd Earl in TTL.) Edward made Richard the Duke of March.

In 1407 Edward married Richard's cousin-once-removed on his mother's side, Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan of Arundel, who'd been fostered by Richard and his first wife, Claire of Kent, who'd been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and died of the sweating sickness in 1401. (Duke Richard and Clair had had no children of their own.)

Edward was not like his father at all. His father's arrogance had assumed the rebellion in Wales was over after his personal intervention and cruelty. The truth was that it continued. King Edward now sent emissaries to meet with the Welsh rebels and listen to their grievances.

The solution offered by the King was that the Welsh would be given the same rights as the English, their lords seated in the House of Lords, and the burghers in the Commons, but Owain Glyndŵr must bend the knee. Owain refused. But the other Welsh lords were insistent that they take this victory and they forced him to accept. Edward was asked to let Owain continue his claim as the Prince of Wales if he submitted. Edward countered with offering him the title of the Duke of Powys. He reluctantly accepted after his Tudor relatives insisted.

From this point on, Edward's kingdom was at peace. Edward and Elizabeth had many children and England and Wales prospered in his reign. He died after a reign of near 36 years and was succeeded by Richard, Prince of Wales.

View attachment 667283
Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins playing Richard II with his wife, Maria of France, in BBC’s series, “The Plantagenets”
[4] Born in 1410 and named after his godfather, Richard Mortimer, the 1st Duke of March, as a child, Richard, Prince of Wales, enjoyed a happy childhood, with his parents and siblings.

His father, had a strong bond with his children, many future psychiatrists, believe that Edward was compensating for his own relationship with his father.

His education was a mixture of administrative training, learning Latin, French and Welsh, set to be an inclusive of all his people as well as military, with Edward instilling in him that war was only to be used as a last option, stating that God does not wish for his Christian soldiers to kill one another.

In 1430, his father arranged double wedding, with a marriage for 20 year old Richard, with 19 year old, Maria of France, a granddaughter of Charles VIII of France and Maria of Lorraine, via their eldest son, Charles, Grand Dauphin of France, along with his elder sister, Princess Joanna, marrying Charles, Petit Dauphin of France.

The pair would be as fertile as their parents, resulting in seven births before the death of his father, when Richard became king at the age of thirty one.

For his children and other children of nobility, Richard, wanting the future generations to have an outstanding education, he would commission a number of education facilities including a college on a town on the outskirts of Richmond, known as Kew College (In OTL Henry VI sets up Eton College near Windsor castle) and then later setting up another at Oxford, known as King’s College in his honour. (In OTL Henry VI sets up Kings College at Cambridge)

Richard reign was one of prosperity, with no wars resulting in a basic tax rate being collected from a large populated country, meant the treasury had additional funds at its disposal.

As well as education, Richard would see stones laid for St. George Cathedral, in Gloucester as well as St. David Cathedral, in Powys.

Richard was able to invest in the Cinque Ports in the Kent coast, converting them from joint military and trade purposes, to solely trade. While in the north, he arranged for better fortifications along the Scottish border.

Richard also improved infrastructure across the nation including roads that connected all major cities and towns in England and Wales.

In 1479, 68 year old, Richard collapsed during a meeting with Parliament, he was rushed to nearby bed, however had been found to have succumbed to a heart attack. He was succeeded by his son, Henry.

the-white-princess.jpg

Jacob Collins-Levy & Jodie Comer as King Henry IV & Queen Guinevere of BBC's "The Plantagenets."*
[5] Henry Plantagenet was the third child and second son of Richard, the then Prince of Wales, and his wife, Princess Maria. His older sister, Princess Eleanor, was born in 1431. He and his slightly older identical twin, Edward, were born in 1433. His younger siblings were Arthur, born in 1437, John, born in 1439, and another set of twins, Isabel and Joanna, born in 1441, only a few weeks before Richard ascended to the throne. Isabel and Joanna were not identical.

From birth, Prince Henry was the Earl of March, as his father had inherited the Duchy from his godfather, Richard Mortimer. When Richard became king, he granted the title of the Duke of March to Henry, making him the 3rd Duke at the age of seven. His older brother was made the Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales. All the princes and princesses were given intense education at Richmond Palace. In 1450, the two twin princes were the first royal children to attend University as they attended Oxford at King College.

After Oxford in 1455 the two princes married. Edward married a French Princess, Catherine Valois. Henry married Guinevere Tudor, the oldest daughter of the current Duke of Powys, Owain Tudor, who was five years his junior. As the Duchy of the March included Welsh lands (it was the Welsh March,) it made sense for Henry to marry a Welsh Princess. Harry and Gwen (as they were known) set up their household in the March and had no idea that he'd become King one day. By 1561 they had a number of children and it seemed their marriage, although arranged for political purposes, had quickly become a love match.

The same was not true for Edward and Catherine. Catherine and Edward just didn't like each other from the start. They did their marital duty and she conceived, but had a miscarriage. After that they went their separate ways. Although Edward had several mistresses, when rumors spread that the Princess was entertaining in her bed a French Knight who was visiting the court with the Princess' brother, the Dauphin Louis, he felt compelled to confront him, expecting the Knight, the Chevalier Pierre Flambeau, to deny and leave the court. Instead he admitted it, insulting the Prince, pointing out his own affairs, and calling him a 'louse.' Edward had no choice but to challenge him. They met on the tourney field in one of the last jousts in England. Edward died at the age of 28 in 1461 on the field when Flambeau's knobbed lance broke and a shard pierced the prince's chest. Catherine fled back to France with her brother and Flambeau, with whom she continued her affair.

Harry and Gwen were at the tourney and he witnessed his beloved brother's death. Suddenly he was the heir to the throne. When Harry, Gwen, and their children returned to the March, he was now the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall as well as the Duke of the March. They were both young, she was 23 and he was 28, and continued to have children.

(Peace was preserved with France by a formal apology from the Dauphin, the Princess, and Flambeau, claiming the death of the Prince of Wales was an unfortunate accident and not the intent of the Chevalier.)

Eighteen years later, the 46 year old Harry became King Henry IV.

The most important event of King Henry's reign did not occur in England or Wales. It occurred half a world away when the "Admiral of the Seas," Cristoforo Colombo, sailing for the Empire of the Republic of Genoa, succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean to what he thought was the Indies with a fleet of twenty ships.

Genoa was the dominant power in the Mediterranean, having taken parts of the former Byzantine Empire when it fell including Crimea, Cyprus, Crete, several Aegean Islands, and parts of the Peloponnese. During the 15th Century Genoa had also added Sicily, Malta, and conquered Granada (Including Gibraltar) and Western Morocco to their Empire, which had already included Corsica, Sardinia, and the northeast coast of Italy. Genoa and Portugal had been racing to see who could sail around Africa first and Genoa had also discovered the Canary Islands and colonized them. Colombo had been an important part of this exploration and expansion for Genoa. in 1483, he'd convinced the Doge and the Great Council of the Republic to finance his voyages to the West.

When Colombo returned to Europe in 1484 with his discovery of islands in the west, the news spread like wildfire and the race to explore was on. England and Wales was already ahead on this race, having worked to increase it's infrastructure for trade under Henry's father. He'd continued that, building ships and ports. While the other European powers of Castile, France, the Netherlands, and Norway rushed to establish themselves, England had the infrastructure.

In 1485, Henry commissioned his own exploration fleet of 35 ships to sail west, using the northern route that had led to Iceland and Greenland and the fabled Vinland. Hugo Montgomery was the Admiral of the Fleet and after sailing to Iceland, then Greenland, he sailed west and charted the east coast of Neustralia, as Montgomery named the new Continent. He charted it from across the strait separating Neustralia from Greenland down past the island he named New Caledonia, in the large bay he named the Caledonian Sea, then along the coast until he reached the end of the land and sailed into the Genoan Sea. He found several rivers and named them from native names: the Mohikun (Hudson), the Leneypea (Delaware), the Keshapik (James), and the Rickohawk (Savanah). His voyage took three years and he claimed the entire continent of Neustralia for England & Wale and left behind trading forts at the Caledonian Sea, the Mohikun, the Leneypea, and the Rickohawk. He returned to England with his ships laden with beaver pelts and astonished all with his stories.

In 1489 Montgomery sailed with a fleet of 100 ships and this time sailed southwest from Iceland and discovered the fishing banks in the seas east of New Caledonia, resupplied the trading forts, and explored further into the Caledonian Bay, discovering the Magna Huron River (St. Lawrence). He returned to England in 1491 to report to the King.

But the King had died when he'd been thrown off his horse while fox hunting in the March. So it was the news of the Fishing Banks and the Magna Huron were reported to his son, William of Dublin.

*The actors appeared younger than they should have in this scene as they had played Harry & Gwen from when they were young adults.

[6] The man who would one day grow to become the third of England's Williams, was born in a quiet day of march in 1965 to then Prince Henry and Princess Guinevere, in a visit of the Princely couple to the Pale of Ireland. He would be the second and last of Henry's sons, led by a brood of five surviving older sisters and followed by other two. His brother Edmund would die as a young boy, which would see William quickly take up the mantle of Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Henry would be destined to a firm and varied education, as he learned almost six languages in his life and comprehended a few more. Following the footsteps of his father, William boud attend King's College in Oxford, where he would receive a secundary education in law, dialectics and diplomacy.

William would grow to be a man of beastly size, reaching almost two meters. He was, as recorded by historians, a handsome man, who held his hair short and his beard long, being also reported to be hairy. His first months as prince of Wales, residing in Ludlow had come to show the type of man he would be, brazen but loyal, inteligent and talented, but luckless. A very ambitious lad from a young age, William would use his prerogative as Prince of Wales to start what would be recorded in history of the "Welsh conquest of Ireland" (A obvious play of jokes, as Ireland was conquered by England, but by the Prince of Wales and his "Welsh" army) as he would invade Leister and Connacht in early 82, conquering much of it in a fell swoop. The Irish campaign would where William would spend most of his time as Prince of Wales. perhaps his greatest personal achievement. It would serve as the stamp of aproval that most of the English nobility would unusually stamp upon him, as William's conquests by 1492 were more than assured, and, his appeasement of both the Irish, who would come to see their future King in a new light after his conquest, and the many English nobles who got rewards on the island.

DJgwCwFXoAEbjnq.jpg

William of Dublin, in his official portrait in his investure as King of Ireland

The sudden death of his father, in 1492, would see William of Dublin, as he had been known until then, become William the III, of the House of Plantagenet. It was in this time that the news from the new world would come back to William as he was crowned - with England quickly hopping on breaking apparently rising Genoan domination of Columbia, as german cartographers would soon name the full continent, which, the English would in time adopt as well. William, as his close portuguese-soon-to-be-spanish cousins, would share with him. William would prepare many colonial ventures, sending many English, Welsh and Irishmen over the sea to England's new colonies in the Columbian East. The English would attempt to spread their colonists all over the East coast, with the majority settling in below the Hudson and the Rickohawk river. The further anglicized river bays of Mohican, Lenape, Kespeak and Rickhaw would see major the first and major settlements, with the Mohican river becoming home to the fledling city of New York, as the venture was done under the patronage of the Dukes of York, the Lenape river home to Williamston, Kespeak home to Montgomery and the Rickohaw home to Hudson, named after another english explorer of the time named Liam Hudson, with many more settlements spread in between.

It was also in the first year of his reign that William had his third child by his wife, Madalena, Infanta of Spain. The marriage had been done to cement relations with the soon to burst Empire of Spain, ruled under the reign of Henrique the I, son of the now both deceased Alfonso the V of Portugal-Castille and Isabel of Aragon, Madalena's brother. The Capet-Burgundians of Portugal had in less than a generation united the lands of the Castillian Lancasters and the Barcelona's of Aragon, and the patriotic fervor felt against Morocco and Genoa itself would see the newly risen Spanish Empire (A fun fact found by later Historians, William of England and Henry of Spain would both adquire their second royal and their imperial title, in that order, at the same time) conquered much of the west mediterranean and the Canarias from Genoa, which would see the unified Spain sending their famous conquistadors into New Castille (Mexico and Central America), New Vizcaya (Colombia, Venezuela and Panama) alongside Pizzaro's conquest of the Inca Empire, establishing the third colony of New Navarre.

The Genoan themselves had only kept the island of Antonina (Puerto Rico), with the French settling Saint Domingue and the Spanish Cuba, with the English settling the Bahamas. The other two rising players in Colonial Columbia, would be the United Kingdom of Sicily under the Angevins, and France under the recently crowned Burgundians, by far the richest state of Europe. The French would settle the aforementioned Saint Domingue, alongside Canada and Acadia above the Mohican colonies and Antartique by the platine river (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile).

This heavy rush of European states to America would see the birth of the short lived Atlantic slave trade, as the meditteranean christian states would prefer the enslave the muslim north africans than the slowly christianising africans below the Saharah, with Jolof, Benin and the Kongo all adopting Christianity on missions organized by the Pope and the Emperor of Spain.

The arisal of these all these settlements over all these vast lands would be fueled by an extreme population boom in France, England and Spain, but by this time most of these colonies, especially those dependent more on settlers, would be bare bones, but this would be a start and it would be these settlements and claims that the various europeans power would bring to the pope in the treaty of Oviedo, where the New World would be divided between the various powers with colonies in America.

William's reign would also face one of the greatest defeats of the English monarchy with the final loss on their land on the continent. The death of the last Valois's would see the Burgundian Dukes rise to the throne of France, uniting a vast realm with already another vast realm, making France extremely rich and powerful. An opportunity of alliance with the Habsburg Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire would be wasted by William, something which would want him to the rest of his days, with France defeating both powers seperately. The Burgundian François of Charolais, also known as François the I of France, would be responsible for bringing Aquitaine, Gascony and Calais back into the French crown, defeating William in the battle of Talmond in 1507, handing William the greatest humiliation of his reign. It would see William turn an eye to the consolidation of his rule in England and Ireland, and continued expansion overseas.

William would thus die in 1516, suceeded by ___________.
 
Before staking a claim, can I have something confirmed:
The next few years of Alexandros' reign would be peaceful - with much coin flowing into the Imperial treasury due to his reforms after the increased spending of the civil war, but it was a time for personal growth for Alexandros - in the peace established after 1462, he and his wife would become the parents to seven more children, all the way into 1472, the year the Empire would go to war once more.
Demetrios was the second son but third child overall of Alexander II and Eudokia of Macedonia, born in 1460.
The first states that there are more than 7 children born to Alexander II but then the next states only 3 overall being born?
 
Before staking a claim, can I have something confirmed:


The first states that there are more than 7 children born to Alexander II but then the next states only 3 overall being born?

This is why I always try to keep an up to date family tree as far as possible, even if I don't post it as it helps keep details like this clear
 
What If ... Edward the Black Prince dies in 1361

Kings of England
1327-1377: Edward III (House of Plantagenet)
1377-1399: Lionel I (House of Plantagenet) [1]
1399-1405: Percy I (House of Plantagenet) [2]
1405-1441: Edward IV (House of Plantagenet) [3]
1441-1479: Richard II (House of Plantagenet) [4]
1479-1492: Henry IV (House of Plantagenet) [5]
1492-1496: William III (House of Plantagenet) [6]

Kings of England and Ireland
1496-1516: William III (House of Plantagenet) [7]
1516-1536: Constantine I (House of Plantagenet) [8]

[1] Lionel of Antwerp/Clarence was the second son of Edward III, married to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, and subsequently widowed in 1363. Upon his elder brothers death in 1361, he became Prince of Wales and Heir Apparent. Upon being widowed, he had only one child - a daughter who survived to adulthood - and his father looked for a new wife for him. In 1366, he was married to Catherine of Luxembourg, the widowed daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV and the pair had four more children.

His reign saw the Peasants Revolt and the end of the Fifty Years War which lasted for almost 50 years after starting in 1337. This ended because Lionel was concerned about further peasant rebellions and the ensuing difficulties he was facing with Ireland and Scotland. Edward III had attempted to conquer Scotland and place Lionels brother John on the Scottish throne, but this had ultimately failed and Lionel dispatched John to Ireland to put down unrest.

Lionel died in 1399 and was succeeded by his son, Percy I.

Jean de Touraine, dauphin of France.jpg

A drawing of King Percy I of England
[2]
Born in 1368, Percy was the first child and son of King Lionel I and Catherine of Luxembourg. A stubborn and prideful boy, who viewed that nearly all were beneath him, Percy showed great aspirations to become a military commander. He even once proclaimed to his father that he would be able to quash any revolt for him.

King Lionel I died in 1399, Percy became the new King of England. His style of governing was much more harsh and hotheaded than his father and frequently stamped down on those who opposed him. Percy soon adopted a new title, Sovereign of the English, as in the people of England, which he intended to become as synonymous as the title of King.

Three years after the Glyndŵr Rising had erupted in 1400, Percy personally led an army to the Welsh marches. Despite a cruel and long campaign of terror and death, the rebellion continued, however, the King was satisfied believing that the rebels would soon be defeated.

When he finally returned to the capital, he made plans to invade France. But, before he could set his plans into motion, Percy was found dead in his bed, most likely poisoned in his sleep. He was succeeded by his son, Edward.

kenneth-branagh-signed-photo-henry_360_8c8712185b30b7b3942e3d228c48cf1a.jpg

Kenneth Branagh as Edward IV in BBC's "The Plantagenets."
[3] Edward was the only son of Percy, born to him when he was still Prince of Wales in 1387. In 1386 Prince Percy married Joanna of Lorraine, daughter of John I, Duke of Lorraine. Joanna was the younger sister of Maria of Lorraine who was married to the Dauphin of France, who later would be Charles VIII of France. This marriage to the sister-in-law of the future king was an attempted rapprochement with France to build the peace at the end of the Fifty Year war by Edward's grandfather, King Lionel. Both Percy and Joanna were just 17 at their marriage.

Edward was born nine months later. His mother, the Princess of Wales doted on him. His father had little to do with him, in fact he had little to do with his wife also. The Prince and the Princess had separate apartments in the royal residence of Richmond Palace. The estrangement increased when Percy became King and many believed Queen Joanna was behind his poisoning in order to stop his intended invasion of her homeland.

Edward was 19 when he took the throne and he immediately ended the plans for his father's invasion of France. His mother, the Dowager Queen Joanna, was a main advisor during the first years of his reign. She was only 37 and soon remarried to Richard Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March (OOC: not OTL's Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl, as Philippa never married Edmund, the 3rd Earl in TTL.) Edward made Richard the Duke of March.

In 1407 Edward married Richard's cousin-once-removed on his mother's side, Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan of Arundel, who'd been fostered by Richard and his first wife, Claire of Kent, who'd been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and died of the sweating sickness in 1401. (Duke Richard and Clair had had no children of their own.)

Edward was not like his father at all. His father's arrogance had assumed the rebellion in Wales was over after his personal intervention and cruelty. The truth was that it continued. King Edward now sent emissaries to meet with the Welsh rebels and listen to their grievances.

The solution offered by the King was that the Welsh would be given the same rights as the English, their lords seated in the House of Lords, and the burghers in the Commons, but Owain Glyndŵr must bend the knee. Owain refused. But the other Welsh lords were insistent that they take this victory and they forced him to accept. Edward was asked to let Owain continue his claim as the Prince of Wales if he submitted. Edward countered with offering him the title of the Duke of Powys. He reluctantly accepted after his Tudor relatives insisted.

From this point on, Edward's kingdom was at peace. Edward and Elizabeth had many children and England and Wales prospered in his reign. He died after a reign of near 36 years and was succeeded by Richard, Prince of Wales.

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Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins playing Richard II with his wife, Maria of France, in BBC’s series, “The Plantagenets”
[4] Born in 1410 and named after his godfather, Richard Mortimer, the 1st Duke of March, as a child, Richard, Prince of Wales, enjoyed a happy childhood, with his parents and siblings.

His father, had a strong bond with his children, many future psychiatrists, believe that Edward was compensating for his own relationship with his father.

His education was a mixture of administrative training, learning Latin, French and Welsh, set to be an inclusive of all his people as well as military, with Edward instilling in him that war was only to be used as a last option, stating that God does not wish for his Christian soldiers to kill one another.

In 1430, his father arranged double wedding, with a marriage for 20 year old Richard, with 19 year old, Maria of France, a granddaughter of Charles VIII of France and Maria of Lorraine, via their eldest son, Charles, Grand Dauphin of France, along with his elder sister, Princess Joanna, marrying Charles, Petit Dauphin of France.

The pair would be as fertile as their parents, resulting in seven births before the death of his father, when Richard became king at the age of thirty one.

For his children and other children of nobility, Richard, wanting the future generations to have an outstanding education, he would commission a number of education facilities including a college on a town on the outskirts of Richmond, known as Kew College (In OTL Henry VI sets up Eton College near Windsor castle) and then later setting up another at Oxford, known as King’s College in his honour. (In OTL Henry VI sets up Kings College at Cambridge)

Richard reign was one of prosperity, with no wars resulting in a basic tax rate being collected from a large populated country, meant the treasury had additional funds at its disposal.

As well as education, Richard would see stones laid for St. George Cathedral, in Gloucester as well as St. David Cathedral, in Powys.

Richard was able to invest in the Cinque Ports in the Kent coast, converting them from joint military and trade purposes, to solely trade. While in the north, he arranged for better fortifications along the Scottish border.

Richard also improved infrastructure across the nation including roads that connected all major cities and towns in England and Wales.

In 1479, 68 year old, Richard collapsed during a meeting with Parliament, he was rushed to nearby bed, however had been found to have succumbed to a heart attack. He was succeeded by his son, Henry.

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Jacob Collins-Levy & Jodie Comer as King Henry IV & Queen Guinevere of BBC's "The Plantagenets."*
[5] Henry Plantagenet was the third child and second son of Richard, the then Prince of Wales, and his wife, Princess Maria. His older sister, Princess Eleanor, was born in 1431. He and his slightly older identical twin, Edward, were born in 1433. His younger siblings were Arthur, born in 1437, John, born in 1439, and another set of twins, Isabel and Joanna, born in 1441, only a few weeks before Richard ascended to the throne. Isabel and Joanna were not identical.

From birth, Prince Henry was the Earl of March, as his father had inherited the Duchy from his godfather, Richard Mortimer. When Richard became king, he granted the title of the Duke of March to Henry, making him the 3rd Duke at the age of seven. His older brother was made the Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales. All the princes and princesses were given intense education at Richmond Palace. In 1450, the two twin princes were the first royal children to attend University as they attended Oxford at King College.

After Oxford in 1455 the two princes married. Edward married a French Princess, Catherine Valois. Henry married Guinevere Tudor, the oldest daughter of the current Duke of Powys, Owain Tudor, who was five years his junior. As the Duchy of the March included Welsh lands (it was the Welsh March,) it made sense for Henry to marry a Welsh Princess. Harry and Gwen (as they were known) set up their household in the March and had no idea that he'd become King one day. By 1561 they had a number of children and it seemed their marriage, although arranged for political purposes, had quickly become a love match.

The same was not true for Edward and Catherine. Catherine and Edward just didn't like each other from the start. They did their marital duty and she conceived, but had a miscarriage. After that they went their separate ways. Although Edward had several mistresses, when rumors spread that the Princess was entertaining in her bed a French Knight who was visiting the court with the Princess' brother, the Dauphin Louis, he felt compelled to confront him, expecting the Knight, the Chevalier Pierre Flambeau, to deny and leave the court. Instead he admitted it, insulting the Prince, pointing out his own affairs, and calling him a 'louse.' Edward had no choice but to challenge him. They met on the tourney field in one of the last jousts in England. Edward died at the age of 28 in 1461 on the field when Flambeau's knobbed lance broke and a shard pierced the prince's chest. Catherine fled back to France with her brother and Flambeau, with whom she continued her affair.

Harry and Gwen were at the tourney and he witnessed his beloved brother's death. Suddenly he was the heir to the throne. When Harry, Gwen, and their children returned to the March, he was now the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall as well as the Duke of the March. They were both young, she was 23 and he was 28, and continued to have children.

(Peace was preserved with France by a formal apology from the Dauphin, the Princess, and Flambeau, claiming the death of the Prince of Wales was an unfortunate accident and not the intent of the Chevalier.)

Eighteen years later, the 46 year old Harry became King Henry IV.

The most important event of King Henry's reign did not occur in England or Wales. It occurred half a world away when the "Admiral of the Seas," Cristoforo Colombo, sailing for the Empire of the Republic of Genoa, succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean to what he thought was the Indies with a fleet of twenty ships.

Genoa was the dominant power in the Mediterranean, having taken parts of the former Byzantine Empire when it fell including Crimea, Cyprus, Crete, several Aegean Islands, and parts of the Peloponnese. During the 15th Century Genoa had also added Sicily, Malta, and conquered Granada (Including Gibraltar) and Western Morocco to their Empire, which had already included Corsica, Sardinia, and the northeast coast of Italy. Genoa and Portugal had been racing to see who could sail around Africa first and Genoa had also discovered the Canary Islands and colonized them. Colombo had been an important part of this exploration and expansion for Genoa. in 1483, he'd convinced the Doge and the Great Council of the Republic to finance his voyages to the West.

When Colombo returned to Europe in 1484 with his discovery of islands in the west, the news spread like wildfire and the race to explore was on. England and Wales was already ahead on this race, having worked to increase it's infrastructure for trade under Henry's father. He'd continued that, building ships and ports. While the other European powers of Castile, France, the Netherlands, and Norway rushed to establish themselves, England had the infrastructure.

In 1485, Henry commissioned his own exploration fleet of 35 ships to sail west, using the northern route that had led to Iceland and Greenland and the fabled Vinland. Hugo Montgomery was the Admiral of the Fleet and after sailing to Iceland, then Greenland, he sailed west and charted the east coast of Neustralia, as Montgomery named the new Continent. He charted it from across the strait separating Neustralia from Greenland down past the island he named New Caledonia, in the large bay he named the Caledonian Sea, then along the coast until he reached the end of the land and sailed into the Genoan Sea. He found several rivers and named them from native names: the Mohikun (Hudson), the Leneypea (Delaware), the Keshapik (James), and the Rickohawk (Savanah). His voyage took three years and he claimed the entire continent of Neustralia for England & Wale and left behind trading forts at the Caledonian Sea, the Mohikun, the Leneypea, and the Rickohawk. He returned to England with his ships laden with beaver pelts and astonished all with his stories.

In 1489 Montgomery sailed with a fleet of 100 ships and this time sailed southwest from Iceland and discovered the fishing banks in the seas east of New Caledonia, resupplied the trading forts, and explored further into the Caledonian Bay, discovering the Magna Huron River (St. Lawrence). He returned to England in 1491 to report to the King.

But the King had died when he'd been thrown off his horse while fox hunting in the March. So it was the news of the Fishing Banks and the Magna Huron were reported to his son, William of Dublin.

*The actors appeared younger than they should have in this scene as they had played Harry & Gwen from when they were young adults.

[6] The man who would one day grow to become the third of England's Williams was born in a quiet day of march in 1965 to then Prince Henry and Princess Guinevere, in a visit of the Princely couple to the Pale of Ireland. He would be the second and last of Henry's sons, led by a brood of five surviving older sisters and followed by other two. His brother Edmund would die as a young boy, which would see William quickly take up the mantle of Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Henry would be destined to a firm and varied education, as he learned almost six languages in his life and comprehended a few more. Following the footsteps of his father, William boud attend King's College in Oxford, where he would receive a secundary education in law, dialectics and diplomacy.

William would grow to be a man of beastly size, reaching almost two meters. He was, as recorded by historians, a handsome man, who held his hair short and his beard long, being also reported to be hairy. His first months as prince of Wales, residing in Ludlow had come to show the type of man he would be, brazen but loyal, intelligent and talented, but luckless. A very ambitious lad from a young age, William would use his prerogative as Prince of Wales to start what would be recorded in history of the "Welsh conquest of Ireland" (A obvious play of jokes, as Ireland, was conquered by England, but by the Prince of Wales and his "Welsh" army) as he would invade Leister and Connacht in early 82, conquering much of it in a fell swoop. The Irish campaign would where William would spend most of his time as Prince of Wales. perhaps his greatest personal achievement. It would serve as the stamp of approval that most of the English nobility would unusually stamp upon him, as William's conquests by 1492 were more than assured, and, his appeasement of both the Irish, who would come to see their future King in a new light after his conquest, and the many English nobles who got rewards on the island.

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William of Dublin, in his official portrait in his investure as King of Ireland

The sudden death of his father, in 1492, would see William of Dublin, as he had been known until then, become William the III, of the House of Plantagenet. It was in this time that the news from the new world would come back to William as he was crowned - with England quickly hopping on breaking apparently rising Genoan domination of Columbia, as german cartographers would soon name the full continent, which, the English would in time adopt as well. William, as his close Portuguese-soon-to-be-Spanish cousins, would share with him. William would prepare many colonial ventures, sending many English, Welsh and Irishmen over the sea to England's new colonies in the Columbian East. The English would attempt to spread their colonists all over the East coast, with the majority settling in below the Hudson and the Rickohawk river. The further anglicized river bays of Mohican, Lenape, Kespeak and Rickhaw would see major the first and major settlements, with the Mohican river becoming home to the fledling city of New York, as the venture was done under the patronage of the Dukes of York, the Lenape river home to Williamston, Kespeak home to Montgomery and the Rickohaw home to Hudson, named after another English explorer of the time named Liam Hudson, with many more settlements spread in between.

It was also in the first year of his reign that William had his third child by his wife, Madalena, Infanta of Spain. The marriage had been done to cement relations with the soon to burst Empire of Spain, ruled under the reign of Henrique the I, son of the now both deceased Alfonso the V of Portugal-Castille and Isabel of Aragon, Madalena's brother. The Capet-Burgundians of Portugal had in less than a generation united the lands of the Castillian Lancasters and the Barcelona's of Aragon, and the patriotic fervor felt against Morocco and Genoa itself would see the newly risen Spanish Empire (A fun fact found by later Historians, William of England and Henry of Spain would both acquire their second royal and their imperial title, in that order, at the same time) conquered much of the west Mediterranean and the Canarias from Genoa, which would see the unified Spain sending their famous conquistadors into New Castille (Mexico and Central America), New Vizcaya (Colombia, Venezuela and Panama) alongside Pizzaro's conquest of the Inca Empire, establishing the third colony of New Navarre.

The Genoan themselves had only kept the island of Antonina (Puerto Rico), with the French settling Saint Domingue and the Spanish Cuba, with the English settling the Bahamas. The other two rising players in Colonial Columbia would be the United Kingdom of Sicily under the Angevins, and France under the recently crowned Burgundians, by far the richest state of Europe. The French would settle the aforementioned Saint Domingue, alongside Canada and Acadia above the Mohican colonies and Antartique by the platine river (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile).

This heavy rush of European states to America would see the birth of the short-lived Atlantic slave trade, as the Meditteranean Christian states would prefer the enslave the Muslim north Africans than the slowly Christianising Africans below the Saharah, with Jolof, Benin, and the Kongo all adopting Christianity on missions organized by the Pope and the Emperor of Spain.

The arisal of these all these settlements over all these vast lands would be fueled by an extreme population boom in France, England and Spain, but by this time most of these colonies, especially those dependent more on settlers, would be bare bones, but this would be a start and it would be these settlements and claims that the various European power would bring to the pope in the treaty of Oviedo, where the New World would be divided between the various powers with colonies in America.

William's reign would also face one of the greatest defeats of the English monarchy with the final loss on their land on the continent. The death of the last Valois's would see the Burgundian Dukes rise to the throne of France, uniting a vast realm with already another vast realm, making France extremely rich and powerful. An opportunity of alliance with the Habsburg Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire would be wasted by William, something which would want him to the rest of his days, with France defeating both powers separately. The Burgundian François of Charolais, also known as François the I of France, would be responsible for bringing Aquitaine, Gascony and Calais back into the French crown, defeating William in the battle of Talmond in 1507, handing William the greatest humiliation of his reign. It would see William turn an eye to the consolidation of his rule in England and Ireland, and continued expansion overseas.

William would thus die in 1516, succeeded by ___________.

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A painting of Constantine I
[8] Constantine was born in 1492, the last son of King William III and Infanta Madalena of Spain. Many at the court believed that the prince was insane as he showed various levels of obsessiveness when participating in his habits and interests. At that, he was often even compared to King Percy I of England. Although Constantine never seemed to pay attention to these people, in fact, he showed very little interest in people at all. He would frequently not be seen for several days and would only appear if his father or mother asked him to.

After he heard of his father’s defeat at the Battle of Talmond, it seemed that Constantine showed even more coldness towards the King. In one of his entries in his diary, Constantine stated that his father may have been a successful man in the isles, but that he had failed his people in the European mainland and the new world.

When he unexpectedly ascended to the throne, after that his elder brothers died in a ship explosion, Constantine immediately went to work and micro-managed nearly all aspects of running the functions of the state. He also showed a particular focus on expanding the English colonies. With the promises of land and titles, he encouraged people to go west, fight Indians, and take their lands. And, back at home, Constantine commenced a military build-up of the army and the navy to combat the French. During the process, he fired many generals who did not meet his standards, which were quite high.

Finally, in 1521, Constantine sent a declaration of war, which urged King François I to surrender his lands in Acadia and Canada. However, the King refused, still competent upon his victory over the English in 1507. Two years later, he was singing a different tune in the city of Carlsruhe, whereby treaty he was forced to give up most of France's colonial possessions. Though, some considered that he was quite lucky as Constantine made no attempt in taking France’s profitably Caribbean colonies.

For the rest of his reign, Constantine continued to improve the manners of producing value from England's new world colonies. In 1536, he died having never married or produced any heirs. He was succeeded by __________________.
 
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Before staking a claim, can I have something confirmed:


The first states that there are more than 7 children born to Alexander II but then the next states only 3 overall being born?
What I meant was that Demetrios was the second child, but the third child that was born to Alexander II so far.
 
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After he heard of his father’s defeat at the Battle of Talmond, it seemed that Constantine showed even more coldness towards the King. In one of his entries in his diary, Constantine stated that his father may have been a successful man in the isles, but that he had failed his people in the new world.

This sounds like the Battle of Talmond was in Neustralia/Columba rather than on the European Continent, which it was as it was how England lost its French provinces.

He also showed a particular focus on expanding the English colonies. With the promises of land and titles, he encouraged people to go east, fight Indians, and take their lands.

Do you mean go west?
 
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