List of monarchs III

I also want to add, maybe not a rule perse but a warning in the rules about instances like this. While yes you can look up things on Wikipedia, you cannot quote it verbatim and then use it in a post as if it was your own writing. Especially since that's a copyright violation.

Not sure how to articulate it more clearly at the moment.
I think you should add a warning about this to the original post, allowing future players to avoid doing something like that.
 
POD: Philip the Handsome dies in 1495.

[2] Wilhelm was born in 1493 to Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria and Kunigunde of Austria. Wilhelm would ascend to the Dukedom in 1508 after the death of his father and would share it with his younger brother as Co-Regent due to him not seeking a spiritual career.

Wilhelm would ascend to the Holy Roman Emperorship in 1519 after the death of Maximilian I who named him as his heir. Wilhelm would face some scrutiny in his early reign as he was not direct blood of the previous Emperor but these complaints would be thrown out due to the Holy Roman Emperor being elected and not a hereditary succession. Wilhelm’s main issue during his reign would be the claim of Charles, heir of the and later Duke of Guelders as Charles III who before Wilhelm became Emperor was the other most likely successor to the Holy Roman Throne and would be a thorn in his side for years to come. Wilhelm would deal with Charles claim in his late reign when he would betroth his daughter Mecthild to Charles’ son to make a temporary peace between the two.

Wilhelm would also deal with the Reformation during his reign as well having been supportive of it early in his life but would become opposed to it after seeing its spread across the empire and would eventually ban all and any works of Martin Luther across the empire.

Wilhelm would marry Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim in 1522 and they would have several children together of which ____ would succeed him after his death in 1550.

How could his brother be Co-Regent if Wilhelm is Duke of Bavaria?

The Duke of Guelders was a thorn in his side for many years to come but there's no explanation as to what he did.

You've also specified the relationship to the heir which isn't allowed.
 
I think you should add a warning about this to the original post, allowing future players to avoid doing something like that.
Seconded. Sorry for the inconvenience it was late and was in a rush to get to bed and I didn’t mean to plagiarize.

I added this warning to the rules for future reference, if people need me to tweak it, just advise me on how to do so.

WARNING 2: If you quote something directly from a source in your post, like for example a Wikipedia article, you must present attribution of the quote. Failure to do so is both plagiarism and/or violation of copyright and banned by the rules of this site. Added 7/1/2022.

It's just a warning LA, just fix the post and we can move on.
 
POD: Philip the Handsome dies in 1495.

Holy Roman Emperors
1452-1493: Friedrich III (Hapsburg)
1493-1519: Maximilian I (Hapsburg) [1]
1519-1550: Wilhelm I (Wittelsbach) [2]
1550-1564: Ludwig V (Wittelsbach) [3]

[1]
To say Philipp the Handsome's death was devastating would be an understatement. The Hapsburg legacy was resting on his shoulders. Although there was a chance his father could have a son with his third wife, it was still a tragedy. His death also meant the alliance with the Catholics monarchs was now defunct. Maximilian pushed for the new Duchess of Burgundy, Margarete of Austria to be married to the Crown Prince of Spain, but her council of advisors wanted a more domestic mach. She was married instead to Karl II, Duke of Guelders in 1497, ruling together over Burgundy. King Fernando and Queen Isabel would marry their son, Juan to Anne of Navarre, their daughter Juana would marry King Manuel of Portugal. With Burgundy wanting to remain independent, although Margarete would never forget being jilted by the late King Charles of France, they would make a tentive peace with France, staying out of the Italian wars in the first years of the 15th century.

With Philipp's death, Maximilian's oldest male relative, before the births of his grandsons, was his nephew, Wilhielm of Bavaria, son of his sister Kunigunde of Austria and her husband, Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria. Kunigunde immediately began pushing her son forward, believing that he was the obvious choice, despite only being three-years-old. Meanwhile the Duchess of Burgundy and Guelders soon blessed her husband with a son in 1498, who she named Charles. The two women would often makes excuses to visit Maximilian in Vienna, often bringing their sons along with them.

Maximilian tried to have a son with his third wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, despite finding her uneducated and childish. Unfortunately, their union would only produced a daughter, albeit healthy, named Maria for Maximilian's first wife. When Bianca died in 1510, Maximilian tried for a fourth wife, but by then his health had become worse and he decided instead to invest his time grooming the heir he had, giving his chosen successor the kingdom of the Romans. He then gave hefty bribes to the Prince-Electors to ensure his chosen heir's victory. He is famously recorded saying "Wilhelm may not be of my dynasty, but blood of blood and will carry out the Hapsburg legacy all the same." In 1519, he died, ending the Hapsburg rule.

[2] Wilhelm was born in 1493 to Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria and Kunigunde of Austria. Wilhelm would ascend to the Dukedom in 1508 after the death of his father and would share it with his younger brother as Co-Regent due to him not seeking a spiritual career.

Wilhelm would ascend to the Holy Roman Emperorship in 1519 after the death of Maximilian I who named him as his heir. Wilhelm would face some scrutiny in his early reign as he was not direct blood of the previous Emperor but these complaints would be thrown out due to the Holy Roman Emperor being elected and not a hereditary succession. Wilhelm’s main issue during his reign would be the claim of Charles, heir of the and later Duke of Guelders as Charles III who before Wilhelm became Emperor was the other most likely successor to the Holy Roman Throne and would be a thorn in his side for years to come. Wilhelm would deal with Charles claim in his late reign when he would betroth his daughter Mecthild to Charles’ son to make a temporary peace between the two.

Wilhelm would also deal with the Reformation during his reign as well having been supportive of it early in his life but would become opposed to it after seeing its spread across the empire and would eventually ban all and any works of Martin Luther across the empire.

Wilhelm would marry Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim in 1522 and they would have several children together of which his son, Ludwig would succeed him after his death in 1550.

View attachment 755102

[3]
Ludwig, born in 1526, was named after the last Wittlebech Holy Roman Emperor. His father and his mother made sure that he had a strict Catholic upbringing. They also sought out a Spanish bride, in hopes of reinstating the alliance his great-uncle had been hoping to make. In 1546 he would marry Anna of Spain, granddaughter of King Juan. Together they would head the Counter Reformation in Germany, doing their best to subdue the Lutheran princes. Despite their conservative leanings, Ludwig and Anna were instrumental to bring the renaissance to the imperial courts, building grand places and being great patrons of the arts. They would have seven children of which, five would survive into adulthood.

Albrecht_V_Bayern_Jugendbild.jpg


Religious tension finally came to a head in 1560 when the Schmalkaldic War broke out. The Duke of Burgundy and Guelders, now calling himself the King of Lotharingia,threw his support behind the Schmalkaldic league, both in hopes of gaining the imperial crown himself and because despite of the religious Charles III, the Low Countries had been converting to the reformed faith, leading Philippe to convert as well in spite his Catholic upbringing (how genuine his conversion is up for debate as he only did so when it became convenient).

While Louis did manage to score a decisive vistory agianst the Schmalkaldic league in the Battle of Mühlberg, capturing Elector John Fredrick the Second, he recived an injury that would become infected. He would die in 1564, leaving_____to succeed him.
 
How could his brother be Co-Regent if Wilhelm is Duke of Bavaria?
His brother was more of a Co-Duke sorry.
The Duke of Guelders was a thorn in his side for many years to come but there's no explanation as to what he did.
He was the other claimant to the HRE throne.
You've also specified the relationship to the heir which isn't allowed.
Mecthild isn’t the heir, she is one of Wilhelm’s daughters.
 
He was the other claimant to the HRE throne.

Mecthild isn’t the heir, she is one of Wilhelm’s daughters.

Yes, we know he was another claimant to the throne but you haven't stated what he did to remain a thorne in the emperors side for many years. Were there wars where Guelders tried to press their claim, did he try to form a coalition against the Empire, by marrying children into other non HRE courts?

Also - you literally stated one of his children would succeed him. Not sure why you've brought up Mecthild.

Wilhelm would marry Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim in 1522 and they would have several children together of which ____ would succeed him after his death in 1550.
 
POD: Philip the Handsome dies in 1495.

Holy Roman Emperors
1452-1493: Friedrich III (Hapsburg)
1493-1519: Maximilian I (Hapsburg) [1]
1519-1550: Wilhelm I (Wittelsbach) [2]
1550-1564: Ludwig V (Wittelsbach) [3]
1564-1569: Franz I (Capet-Valois) [4]





[1] To say Philipp the Handsome's death was devastating would be an understatement. The Hapsburg legacy was resting on his shoulders. Although there was a chance his father could have a son with his third wife, it was still a tragedy. His death also meant the alliance with the Catholics monarchs was now defunct. Maximilian pushed for the new Duchess of Burgundy, Margarete of Austria to be married to the Crown Prince of Spain, but her council of advisors wanted a more domestic mach. She was married instead to Karl II, Duke of Guelders in 1497, ruling together over Burgundy. King Fernando and Queen Isabel would marry their son, Juan to Anne of Navarre, their daughter Juana would marry King Manuel of Portugal. With Burgundy wanting to remain independent, although Margarete would never forget being jilted by the late King Charles of France, they would make a tentive peace with France, staying out of the Italian wars in the first years of the 15th century.

With Philipp's death, Maximilian's oldest male relative, before the births of his grandsons, was his nephew, Wilhielm of Bavaria, son of his sister Kunigunde of Austria and her husband, Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria. Kunigunde immediately began pushing her son forward, believing that he was the obvious choice, despite only being three-years-old. Meanwhile the Duchess of Burgundy and Guelders soon blessed her husband with a son in 1498, who she named Charles. The two women would often makes excuses to visit Maximilian in Vienna, often bringing their sons along with them.

Maximilian tried to have a son with his third wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, despite finding her uneducated and childish. Unfortunately, their union would only produced a daughter, albeit healthy, named Maria for Maximilian's first wife. When Bianca died in 1510, Maximilian tried for a fourth wife, but by then his health had become worse and he decided instead to invest his time grooming the heir he had, giving his chosen successor the kingdom of the Romans. He then gave hefty bribes to the Prince-Electors to ensure his chosen heir's victory. He is famously recorded saying "Wilhelm may not be of my dynasty, but blood of blood and will carry out the Hapsburg legacy all the same." In 1519, he died, ending the Hapsburg rule.

[2] Wilhelm was born in 1493 to Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria and Kunigunde of Austria. Wilhelm would ascend to the Dukedom in 1508 after the death of his father and would share it with his younger brother as Co-Regent due to him not seeking a spiritual career.

Wilhelm would ascend to the Holy Roman Emperorship in 1519 after the death of Maximilian I who named him as his heir. Wilhelm would face some scrutiny in his early reign as he was not direct blood of the previous Emperor but these complaints would be thrown out due to the Holy Roman Emperor being elected and not a hereditary succession. Wilhelm’s main issue during his reign would be the claim of Charles, heir of the and later Duke of Guelders as Charles III who before Wilhelm became Emperor was the other most likely successor to the Holy Roman Throne and would be a thorn in his side for years to come. Wilhelm would deal with Charles claim in his late reign when he would betroth his daughter Mecthild to Charles’ son to make a temporary peace between the two.

Wilhelm would also deal with the Reformation during his reign as well having been supportive of it early in his life but would become opposed to it after seeing its spread across the empire and would eventually ban all and any works of Martin Luther across the empire.

Wilhelm would marry Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim in 1522 and they would have several children together of which his son, Ludwig would succeed him after his death in 1550.

View attachment 755102

[3] Ludwig, born in 1526, was named after the last Wittlebech Holy Roman Emperor. His father and his mother made sure that he had a strict Catholic upbringing. They also sought out a Spanish bride, in hopes of reinstating the alliance his great-uncle had been hoping to make. In 1546 he would marry Anna of Spain, granddaughter of King Juan. Together they would head the Counter Reformation in Germany, doing their best to subdue the Lutheran princes. Despite their conservative leanings, Ludwig and Anna were instrumental to bring the renaissance to the imperial courts, building grand places and being great patrons of the arts. They would have seven children of which, five would survive into adulthood.

Albrecht_V_Bayern_Jugendbild.jpg


Religious tension finally came to a head in 1560 when the Schmalkaldic War broke out. The Duke of Burgundy and Guelders, now calling himself the King of Lotharingia,threw his support behind the Schmalkaldic league, both in hopes of gaining the imperial crown himself and because despite of the religious Charles III, the Low Countries had been converting to the reformed faith, leading Philippe to convert as well in spite his Catholic upbringing (how genuine his conversion is up for debate as he only did so when it became convenient).

While Louis did manage to score a decisive vistory agianst the Schmalkaldic league in the Battle of Mühlberg, capturing Elector John Fredrick the Second, he recived an injury that would become infected. He would die in 1564, leaving another election to decide whom should succeed him.

images

[4] with the election upon the death of Ludwig V, a most strange occurrence did happen, with the three ecclesiastical Electors and the Elector Palatine voting in unison for a single individual; François, Duke of Orleans, the second son of François I of France and younger brother of the current King; Henri II.
Rumours of bribery and coercion resounded immediately, but with the four votes in hand, none could oppose the legality of his election.
Taking the throne as Franz I, the Emperor was tasked with finally defeating the Schmalkaldic League, and did so at the Battle of Schmalkalden in 1565.
With these victories, his throne seemed secure, and to secure himself further, he did marry Susanna of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the daughter of the loyal commander Albert Alcibiades, and in a few short years of marriage, had three children.
All well was not to last, for the nature of his birth (being French, that is) was not forgotten, and in 1569, Franz I was assassinated in Cologne by a protestant rhinelander. After his death, the electors did choose ________.
 
Holy Roman Emperors
1452-1493: Friedrich III (Hapsburg)
1493-1519: Maximilian I (Hapsburg) [1]
1519-1550: Wilhelm I (Wittelsbach) [2]
1550-1564: Ludwig V (Wittelsbach) [3]
1564-1569: Franz I (Capet-Valois) [4]
1569-1604: Wilhelm II (van Egmond) [5] - Also King of Frisia.




[1] To say Philipp the Handsome's death was devastating would be an understatement. The Hapsburg legacy was resting on his shoulders. Although there was a chance his father could have a son with his third wife, it was still a tragedy. His death also meant the alliance with the Catholics monarchs was now defunct. Maximilian pushed for the new Duchess of Burgundy, Margarete of Austria to be married to the Crown Prince of Spain, but her council of advisors wanted a more domestic mach. She was married instead to Karl II, Duke of Guelders in 1497, ruling together over Burgundy. King Fernando and Queen Isabel would marry their son, Juan to Anne of Navarre, their daughter Juana would marry King Manuel of Portugal. With Burgundy wanting to remain independent, although Margarete would never forget being jilted by the late King Charles of France, they would make a tentive peace with France, staying out of the Italian wars in the first years of the 15th century.

With Philipp's death, Maximilian's oldest male relative, before the births of his grandsons, was his nephew, Wilhielm of Bavaria, son of his sister Kunigunde of Austria and her husband, Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria. Kunigunde immediately began pushing her son forward, believing that he was the obvious choice, despite only being three-years-old. Meanwhile the Duchess of Burgundy and Guelders soon blessed her husband with a son in 1498, who she named Charles. The two women would often makes excuses to visit Maximilian in Vienna, often bringing their sons along with them.

Maximilian tried to have a son with his third wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, despite finding her uneducated and childish. Unfortunately, their union would only produced a daughter, albeit healthy, named Maria for Maximilian's first wife. When Bianca died in 1510, Maximilian tried for a fourth wife, but by then his health had become worse and he decided instead to invest his time grooming the heir he had, giving his chosen successor the kingdom of the Romans. He then gave hefty bribes to the Prince-Electors to ensure his chosen heir's victory. He is famously recorded saying "Wilhelm may not be of my dynasty, but blood of blood and will carry out the Hapsburg legacy all the same." In 1519, he died, ending the Hapsburg rule.

[2] Wilhelm was born in 1493 to Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria and Kunigunde of Austria. Wilhelm would ascend to the Dukedom in 1508 after the death of his father and would share it with his younger brother as Co-Regent due to him not seeking a spiritual career.

Wilhelm would ascend to the Holy Roman Emperorship in 1519 after the death of Maximilian I who named him as his heir. Wilhelm would face some scrutiny in his early reign as he was not direct blood of the previous Emperor but these complaints would be thrown out due to the Holy Roman Emperor being elected and not a hereditary succession. Wilhelm’s main issue during his reign would be the claim of Charles, heir of the and later Duke of Guelders as Charles III who before Wilhelm became Emperor was the other most likely successor to the Holy Roman Throne and would be a thorn in his side for years to come. Wilhelm would deal with Charles claim in his late reign when he would betroth his daughter Mecthild to Charles’ son to make a temporary peace between the two.

Wilhelm would also deal with the Reformation during his reign as well having been supportive of it early in his life but would become opposed to it after seeing its spread across the empire and would eventually ban all and any works of Martin Luther across the empire.

Wilhelm would marry Marie Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim in 1522 and they would have several children together of which his son, Ludwig would succeed him after his death in 1550.

View attachment 755102

[3] Ludwig, born in 1526, was named after the last Wittlebech Holy Roman Emperor. His father and his mother made sure that he had a strict Catholic upbringing. They also sought out a Spanish bride, in hopes of reinstating the alliance his great-uncle had been hoping to make. In 1546 he would marry Anna of Spain, granddaughter of King Juan. Together they would head the Counter Reformation in Germany, doing their best to subdue the Lutheran princes. Despite their conservative leanings, Ludwig and Anna were instrumental to bring the renaissance to the imperial courts, building grand places and being great patrons of the arts. They would have seven children of which, five would survive into adulthood.

Albrecht_V_Bayern_Jugendbild.jpg


Religious tension finally came to a head in 1560 when the Schmalkaldic War broke out. The Duke of Burgundy and Guelders, now calling himself the King of Lotharingia,threw his support behind the Schmalkaldic league, both in hopes of gaining the imperial crown himself and because despite of the religious Charles III, the Low Countries had been converting to the reformed faith, leading Philippe to convert as well in spite his Catholic upbringing (how genuine his conversion is up for debate as he only did so when it became convenient).

While Louis did manage to score a decisive vistory agianst the Schmalkaldic league in the Battle of Mühlberg, capturing Elector John Fredrick the Second, he recived an injury that would become infected. He would die in 1564, leaving another election to decide whom should succeed him.

images


[4] with the election upon the death of Ludwig V, a most strange occurrence did happen, with the three ecclesiastical Electors and the Elector Palatine voting in unison for a single individual; François, Duke of Orleans, the second son of François I of France and younger brother of the current King; Henri II.
Rumours of bribery and coercion resounded immediately, but with the four votes in hand, none could oppose the legality of his election.
Taking the throne as Franz I, the Emperor was tasked with finally defeating the Schmalkaldic League, and did so at the Battle of Schmalkalden in 1565.
With these victories, his throne seemed secure, and to secure himself further, he did marry Susanna of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the daughter of the loyal commander Albert Alcibiades, and in a few short years of marriage, had three children.
All well was not to last, for the nature of his birth (being French, that is) was not forgotten, and in 1569, Franz I was assassinated in Cologne by a protestant rhinelander. After his death, the electors did choose Charles of Frisia as Holy Roman Emperor.

[5] The Richest man in the rest of Europe, as King John of Portugal would famously coin him, or the Demon of the Rhine, as he would be called by Catholics Dutch, German and French alike, William of Egmont, Prince of Lotharingia and the Netherlands was born on a tempestuous night in Ghent, capital of the County of Flanders. Raised at the start of the great conflict between the inheritors of the House of Habsburg - the Dutch Egmonts and the Bavarian Wittelbachs, William would grow to become one of if not the most important member of the House of Egmont in this great conflict over the fate of Germany.

330px-Willem_Lodewijk_van_Nassau_1560-1620.jpg


Unlike his father, whom was essentially a crypto-catholic his whole life, William was raised a stalwart protestant, being educated in calvinist theology from the young age of 6 onwards. Complementing this religious education was the fact that William was, essentially, the bridge between the so called "Dutch Renaissance" and the "Frisian Age", or as some call it, the "Dutch Golden Age". Heavily inspired by the works of the likes of Erasmus and Botch, a frequent client and patron of Gerardus Mercator and his pupils, William would sponsor the beginnings of what would become "Dutch Baroque" and "Frisian Cartographing".

Made a commander in the Lotharigian armies of his father that served in the Schmalkaldic League, William would see conflict in Lorraine, the Rhineland and even in France, where he was handed his first big defeat at the hands of Duke Charles of Lorraine, who captured William and made him a hostage. The capture of William and his subsequent release came at a heavy price - the Dutch Kings would need to stop claiming, as such as prerogative already belonged to the Dukes of Lorraine, but would also not be able to claim the Duchy of Burgundy, which Charles of Guelders had earlier lost to the French already. In Exchange, the French would recognize the House of Egmont as "Kings of Frisia" in exchange for Dutch support in the election of Emperor Franz. Such support would not last for long.

Becoming King of Frisia in 1566, after the death of his father and the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League, William quickly become the center of "Protestant" allegiance in Germany. Marrying Christine of Hesse, William once more sought to connect the disunited Protestant Princes into an alliance that could shake Germany, and so on he succedeed. William's vast amounts of lands and riches made him confident enough to bid on his election after the assassination of Emperor Franz, (which has often been atributed to him), which he would be able to win through the protestant princes, bribery and military pressure apllied on the eclesiastic princes of the Rhineland.

Although there is a lot to talk about during his large reign, such as the birth of the first Frisian colony in the New World - New Holland in Manhattan island, whose capital become the small colonial outpost of New Amsterdam, alongside some islands in the caribbean - most importantly Jamaica. William would also try to prey on the Portuguese Empire, but the Portuguese navy would destroy his efforts. The Dutch East India Company would be founded with his blessing with the mission of finding another way of getting Indian goods without having to pay the Portuguese for it.

His religious driven cause, such as his scourging of many monasteries in Lorraine and the Netherlands was opposed by the French on one side and William's arch-rival, the self-proclaimed King Maximilian of Bavaria and Bohemia, also ruler of Austria. Maximilian and William would be the heads of the conflict now known as the "Nine Years War", a large stalemate that brought innumerable human suffering and economic devastation to Germany. William's famed lack of empathy for Catholics saw him attempt quasi-genocide against many Catholic populations, with his most infamous acts being in Wallonia and the Lower Rhineland. It was from these acts that he gained the nickname "the Demon of the Rhine" and became a rather infamous ruler for the time. William and Maximilian would finally come to the negotiating table and would essentially divide the Holy Roman Empire between Catholic and Protestant leagues led by each other, and the two would grow old without further conflict, although the deep hostility would remain for the rest of their life times. William would exhaust more resources in propping up and securing protestantism outside the Holy Roman Empire, such as in England or Scandinavia, and would lose the important cities of Lille, Tournai and Ypres to France in 1594, the last war of his reign. Afterwards, an aged and sick William would focus mainly on modernizing the governmental structure of his Kingdom and sponsoring the growing population of artists and masons that sprung up in the various urban centers of his realm.

He would die quietly into the night in 1604, just a few hours after his greatest rival.. He was succeded as Holy Roman Emperor by ____________.
 
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