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Maximilian I had not decelerated in the slightest since the end of the Swabian War. As an extension of the “Perpetual Peace” (Ewiger Landfriede) that the Diet of Worms intended to establish, Maximilian I personally participated in martial disputes between princes of the Empire - acting first as arbitrator, and, once a verdict had been reached, as the strong arm of the law. Likewise, Maximilian I declared, (first in 1505 then in 1507 both as a corollary to the Ewiger Landfriede) that any citizen of the Empire found within the ranks of a foreign power (read: France) with which the Emperor has hostile relations would be summarily executed. Consequently, the French-employed Swiss mercenaries, on which the French relied so heavily in Northern Italy, became far and in-between, while the number of Swiss mercenaries serving the Hapsburgs grew - all thanks to the thrifty Hapsburg bankroller Jakob Fugger and his impeccable credit. As France was still allied with Venice, there was also no difficulty in coaxing the Pope, concerned about Venice’s influence in Italy, over to the Hapsburg side. By the time Maximilian I declared war on France on May 19th of 1506, he was prepared. Louis XII, on the other hand, was similarly waiting for the Hapsburgs to make the first move. Despite the catastrophe that was the Second Italian War, its outcome had failed to create a deficit in the Royal Treasury thanks to Louis XII’s otherwise frugality and a brace of financial reforms he passed - regulating and gleaning the royal administration with a preference shown to non-noble appointees following the Spanish model. Louis XII also succeeded in keeping his nobility happy through a number of tax cuts and the distribution of hundreds of titles. It is understandable, then, how Louis XII was able to maintain a standing army of 32,000 in the duchy of Milan for nearly 7 years. The board was set for a long and bitter conflict.

For the next six years, Imperial forces squared off against French and Venetian forces in bloody, but minimally decisive engagements throughout Northern Italy. Meanwhile, the French made small incursions into Hapsburg Burgundy and the Netherlands, both governed by Maximilian’s son Philip IV, but there were no major gains made on either side. Eventually Maximilian forced France’s northern army to turn south when he arrived at Basel with 20,000 troops. Personally present at the battle, Maximilian chose his field near the Alsatian town of Rantzwiller, where the French army, under Charles II d’Amboise, was forced to retreat after sustaining heavy casualties, effectively ending the northern theater of the war for the time being. With thousands of Swiss mercenaries in the duchy of Milan switching loyalties practically overnight, the French situation became increasingly difficult to manage, and Milan fell to the Empire on the 11th of July in 1511. This phase of the war would be ended by two battles in 1512: those of Oleggio and Moncalvo.


At the battle of Oleggio, a joint Imperial force led by the Swissman Jakob Hanspeter and the pretender to the Milanese throne, Maximilian Sforza, shattered the French army of Northern Italy in its entirety, killing and capturing thousands, dispersing what Swiss mercenaries remained in the French ranks, and ousting the condottiero Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (who had been administrator of the duchy of Milan for the past 12 years). The Imperial army, given its fractious composition, failed to follow up this victory soon enough, and when it finally confronted the French again at Moncalvo three weeks later, the French, this time under the command Henri de La Trémoille and Gaston de Foix, routed the Imperials. The disparity in outcomes between the two battles and their proximity to the Milanese Savoyard border meant that the frontline would remain there for the next 20 years.


Another lucky development also brought Florence and its dependencies into the Imperial fold as well: the entrance of the condottiero Cesare Borgia. Cesare had primarily spent the years 1504 to 1510 consolidating the newly formed duchy of Romagna granted him by his father, Pope Alexander VI. However, always the opportunist, Cesare witnessed the expulsion of the French from Milan and decided that this sometimes ally was no longer a prudent investment. Likewise, the city of Florence had, since 1498, been free of Medici rule, and was therefore a lucrative target. In 1511, Cesare then invaded the city with his retinue, ignominiously deposed the standing gonfaloniere, Piero Soderini, and strong-armed the Signoria into electing him to Soderini’s position. In 1514, just as the Medici - who had been in exile in Rome - had been invited for a hearing with the Emperor concerning the re-establishment of their rule in Florence, a French army, some 30,000 strong and headed by Louis XII himself and his marshal, Charles II d’Amboise, crossed into the duchy of Savoy and was headed for Tuscany. Having re-occupied Emilia, the French army besieged Florence in early 1515, hoping to capture Cesare, whom they had deemed a traitor, and replace him with the capable Medicis - thereby gaining an ally in Central Italy and intimidating the papacy back into an alliance. However, this 7 month siege would be marked by a heroic defense on the part of Cesare, who earned the admiration and respect of the Florentines in the process. When a plague hit the French army in November, and with Maximilian I willing to discuss peace terms, Louis XII was forced to break the siege and withdraw to Savoy. Besançon was also put to siege at around the same time as Florence (with the intention of breaking up the Imperial army), but similarly achieved no results. Having proven his loyalty to the Empire, Maximilian opted not to favor the Medicis (who had been in correspondence with the French), and installed Cesare Borgia as the Duke of Florence. The Third Italian War, known afterwards as the Lombard War, was concluded on 7th of May, 1516, with the Treaty of Pavia: Louis XII would vacate the duchy of Milan of all his troops and officers, all else would return to status quo antebellum.





The Hapsburgs would be remembered by posterity for having perfected the art of expanding their domain through serial matrimony. The diplomatic marriages they organized in the early 16th century alone would put Hapsburgs on the thrones of Hungary, Bohemia, and Milan. These policies were much needed, however, as the Holy Roman Empire - especially under the Hapsburgs - was constantly threatened from both east and west. The Imperial Eagle would have to unfurl its wings, if you will, in both directions in order to put greater pressure on the Turks and the French. Accordingly, the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary were prime marital objectives for the Hapsburgs, while improved relations with the English Tudors would also be of great importance. Consequently, Philip IV’s son Charles (born February of 1500) would be wed to Anne, the only child of Vladislaus, king of Bohemia and Hungary, while Ferdinand (born March of 1502) would be wed to Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, king of England. After Maximilian II, Philip IV's third son, was born in 1508, he too would be joined in a political marriage, this time to Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza.


With the Barbary states beaten into submission for the time being, Miguel of Spain immediately turned his attention to the north. While the Italian War of 1506-1518 was indeed long and bloody as his grandfather Fernando had predicted, it did not bruise France to an extent that would have put Miguel at ease. Consequently, always taking an aggressive approach to defensive strategies, Miguel set about mending relations with Spain’s natural ally: the Hapsburgs. Maria von Hapsburg, the third daughter of Philip of Burgundy and Juana de Trastámara, had been born in 1505 and was more or less pledged to marry the male heir of Vladislaus of Bohemia and Hungary, if such an heir were to be born. When the Hungarian prince failed to materialize and Vladislaus died in 1518, Maria re-entered the market. Miguel very quickly arranged for Maria’s betrothal to his brother Fernando de Portugal (which would be consummated in 1521), in exchange for support for Charles V’s claim in Hungary and Bohemia and as part of a military alliance against the Ottomans. Miguel would also arrange for his son Juan Pelayo to be betrothed to Charles V’s daughter Isabella after the latter was born in 1520.


Hungary and Bohemia would prove to be difficult. When Vladislaus died in 1518, he had failed to sire a son, and, consequently, his two kingdoms were poised to fall to Charles, his son in law. Either out of legitimate patriotism or a desire to elect a more easily controllable king, a number of Hungarian and Bohemian nobles met at Olomouc in October of 1518 to oppose a Hapsburg accession. While the Estates had already elected Charles king of Bohemia and Hungary, the clout of the League of Olomouc was not to be trifled with. Vladislaus’ concessions to the nobility gave them the means to fund a powerful defense against the Ottoman incursions, but left them inordinately powerful at court, while also suffocating the middle class and keeping the peasantry destitute. Nonetheless - with Fugger-loaned bribes to a number of dissident nobles, promises made to legislate economic relief for the lower classes, and a quick, well-planned military campaign ending in a defeat for the League at Nitra on April 8th of 1519 - Charles emerged victorious with the help of his grandfather, allowing him to confiscate large tracts of the nobility’s land and show his new subjects, supporters and detractors alike, that, despite his age and appearance, Charles was no weakling, and certainly was not sheepish when it came to wielding the full weight of the scepter.

However, despite the phrase, "Let others wage war: thou, happy Austria, marry," there was much warring to be done by the Hapsburgs on all sides - indeed, “happy Austria” would be the abode of war for quite some time.



Meanwhile, in the abode of the Turk, Selim I had found the situation of his empire much less secure than it appeared. The Safavid dynasty had declared themselves the Shahs of Persia, and had effected a renewal of that ancient state. The Safavids, as Twelver Shias, had even more reason to safeguard themselves and act aggressively against the Sunni Turks, sponsoring a rebellion of the Shia Qizilbash in Anatolia. After securing a casus belli from his Sunni jurists, Selim began organizing an army to be sent east. However, attempts to send subsidies of troops and funds to the collapsing Barbary states slowed the mobilization process, and, once the expedition was finally prepared, its morale and organization was nearly broken by the forced march over the Taurus mountains. When the Ottoman army met that of the Safavid shah, Ismail I, at Chaldiran on a blistering September day in 1514, the Turks’ disorganization could not be remedied and what should have been a rout of the Persians and the Qizilbash turned into a pyrrhic victory for the Ottomans, who suffered 23,000 dead out of their 60,000 - included in which was the eldest son of Selim I, Suleiman, who had been brought along to cut his teeth on the battlefield, only to end up cut down himself. The Safavids fled the field, but only with 12,000 dead or wounded out of their 40,000. Their regrouping would be much easier.

The Prince of Wales, Arthur, had succeeded his father Henry VII after the latter had died in 1512. Married to the Trastámara princess, Catalina, and having Ferdinand von Hapsburg as his brother-in-law, Arthur would continue his father’s anti-French policy. Yet problems were brewing, and difficulties of religion and succession were on the horizon for the isle of Albion.