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On the cusp of greatness when Sancho III seized Castile. Sancho's dominions were divided between his sons after he died in 1035, and it was Castile, rather than Navarre itself, which was eventually destined for major power status.

Vilnius lying almost exactly on the border suggests a partition of Lithuanian territory among the sons of Gedimin, with Vilnius held in common. [There was one, but these weren't the borders]. The Eastern divisions later combine.

Come on -- I don't take this tone with you, no matter how strongly we disagree and even if I don't think you've treated my arguments fairly. My original point was that for the long term survival of the empire, it would have been a good thing if Adrianople hadn't happened. It's clearly...

More troublesome than the Goths? They didn't wipe out an army and kill an emperor. Toxandria, for those who don't know, occupied part of the present-day Netherlands. It was a long way from the heart of the empire, and not all of the Franks were moved there. Not sure about the Alemanni -- all...

The main issue was that there was a barbarian tribe living autonomously inside the empire with its own territory, the chief difference from the status quo ante bellum. The end didn't come immediately, and at first the Visigoths acted as allies, but they couldn't be expelled. The Balkans...

Since Siberia wasn't an SSR, Russia would have been within its rights to put down a secession. It was easily strong enough to do that for all of the problems it had in 1991. So there's a legal prerequisite of creating a Siberian SSR, preferably before 1991. If that's done, would going it...

Adrianople put the barbarians inside the empire's borders and the Romans couldn't get them out. The East Roman Empire was damaged first, but some 32 years later, the Visigoths moved from the East Roman Empire to the West. If you back up Adrianople, the precondition for that migration...

Back things up to Adrianople. If Valens waits for his nephew's reinforcements and expels the Visigoths, the empire's borders are secure again.

Meanwhile, the Third Crusade needs a new English leader. How about Marshall himself, who maybe feels some pangs of guilt from killing the man who would have been his future king. Although Marshall, like Richard, was a good field general, so there are good chances of a partial success as in...

I knew Rick Santorum from working at the same law firm before he ran for office. He wouldn't have done this.

Germany had been sympathetic to the Boer Republics during the Boer War. Following a restoration of Southwest Africa, Germany would work on either trying to detach South Africa from the British orbit to the German (as an ally, not a colony) or else to restore the Boer Republics, which would be...

Ragusa is well situated but had a tiny population compared to the others. It would need to have a population influx, and to acquire enough surrounding territory to support the increased numbers. Gaeta and Amalfi: both had some dangerous neighbors. For either of them to have long term...

Those of us around at the time remember this as (i) an unlikely, but not quite impossible, outcome and (ii) as a horrible choice. Throw in Ted Kennedy and Evan Meacham as the VP candidates and you have the ticket from hell on both sides.

Maybe you could have both: in the course of negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase, the US and Napoleonic France decide that GB is a common enemy. The US and France agree that the US will provide the navy to transport an army from the French New World (Louisiana Territory and Haiti) to...

Richard II's overthrow was avoidable. If he has children, the competing Lancastrian and Yorkist claims don't arise.

If they show up at court, he would put them back in the Tower. Elizabeth would not want any harm to come to her brothers, but neither would she wish her own children disinherited for their benefit. I think Henry would agree.

Henry's own claim was as the Lancastrian heir, so he did not accept Edward V's claim as a Yorkist claimant. Surviving Princes in the Tower would not damage Henry's support from Lancastrians, but he couldn't unite his claim with a Yorkist one by marriage with Elizabeth unless Edward V and his...

1. Richard III survives Bosworth. He escapes to Burgundy and leads its armies effectively. His sister, the dowager duchess, in gratitude, backs his claim with a fleet and an army. It helps if Henry VII has proved divisive. 2. The princes in the Tower are actually still alive. In a...

The eventual Andronicus I of Byzantium would be an intriguing candidate. Also Theobald V of Blois (nephew of king Stephen), who tried to kidnap and marry Eleanor after her divorce from Louis VII.

For what it's worth, Hanover wasn't a surname. It was the name of the state the kings came from. In Germany, they used the family name (Welf or Guelph; both versions were used). Same goes for their Saxe-Coburg successors (family name Wettin). The change in name was prompted by an article by...