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Minor note, but until the end of XVI century latin was the official language. Only well in XVII century polish supplanted it, and it was a bit of a natural drift. First two kings elected by PLC actually didn't know polish at all. Latin as official language was still important in mid XVII...

Geographical conditions are somewhat problematic. Mountain ranges create a natural border, not impassable, but it is clear that they tend to shape the borders. There was a number of attempts to control lands on both sides of Sudetes-Carpathian mountain ranges - Great Moravia, then...

I nominate for: Best Mediaeval Timeline: And All Nations Shall Gather To It - A Crusades TL author @Rdffigueira

True, but Yaroslav is already around and is twice bound to Piast dynasty - by his sister being Casimir wife and by his wife, Ingegerd/Irene/Anna, being Mieszko I great-granddaughter. He could easily push one of his kids as heir or himself as guardian of Polish lands (especially that the...

Hmm, perhaps Casimir the Restorer is killed somewhere in the early 1040s (maybe as late as in the 1047 during the battle against Mieclav) and Yaroslav the Wise is either ensuring stability for his nephew before Boleslav, Casimir heir, reaches majority, or is asked by population as Casimir...

Getting to the city from Black Sea is perfectly doable. Zaporozhian Cossack fleet did it in 1615, 1621 and 1624 (ok, slightly earlier than the OP suggests) and plundered the outskirts of Constantinople. This could easily serve as a basis for a more dedicated attack (or even a larger one). Taking...

It is possible in theory. Alexander has to live long enough to have a chance to create a new elite, and outlive the set in old ways macedonians. It is quite possible, he is young enough. He just needs time. At the point of his death majority of power was still in the hands of people who were...

Easter european (Polish, Hungarian, Russian) experience noted in XV and XVI century that horse archer based armies, mainly Tatars, were quite vulnerable to firearms fire and this kinda lasted well into mid XVII century (with Poles specifically turning the firearm heavy centre at Beresteczko in...

Lithuanians were constantly riding polish lands together with various other tribes. Before XIII century there wasn't much of a state there, so of course it wasn' t treated as an equal - there were no polities to treat as such. Most of Lithuanian interactions with others at the time were slave...

Well, both? Poland and I guess Hungary were constantly fighting against pre-mongol Rus, as neighbors did in those times. It would be similar here, with the religious angle probably being used for propaganda and seeking some help if possible. Neither of those countries really has the capability...

There is the issue of definition of literacy. In Europe it meant mostly people capable of reading and writing latin. You can read and write vernacular? Well, sorry, you are illiterate. And I have no idea how China defines (or defined) literacy, taking into consideration the complexity of their...

In what state the Treasure fleet arrives to Europe? It is around 3 times the distance of their longest voyages, alongside weakly developed and hostile coasts of southern africa with pretty much no harbors for thousands of miles of coast between Kenia and Mali, maaaybe with Benin as the...

A different idea, but suits the topic. I once had an idea for TL in which the assassination attempt against Sigismund III in 1620 succeeds due to the perpetrator using guns instead of a pick, leading to death of both Sigismund and Vladislav (future IV). End result was an election of Gustavus...

But is it even plausible for Bismarck magazines to explode in similar manner to Hoods if they are hit? German handling of explosives appears to be far better that other and I remember no German ship blowing in such manner. During Bismarck last fight there was a number of internal explosions...

In both cases its hard to say. Regarding elective monarchy, all the kings from Jagiellon dynasty were sort of elected - they had to obtain agreement of nobility to ascend the throne. After death of Sigisumnd August in 1572 the final form of popular elections was estabilished; before that it...

If PLC isn't loosing war on two other fronts, its likely that the Swedes will decide that another invasion direction is more interesting. In all descriptions of the Deluge perceived military weakness of PLC is mentioned as one of the main reasons for the invasion. More like instead of...

Very hard. His political camp actually tries doing this immediately after election, but it caused some serious backslash among the nobles and action from Russia. What would be necessary for any major reforms is something that takes the attention of Russia and Prussia for such a long time that...

I was once writing a timeline based on this premise, but I abandoned it before posting for... some reason. Anyway, my proposals were: -some civil war among the Ottomans concerning succession after Murad; this allows Christian forces to capitalize on their victory and take part of Ottoman...

Oh, I can see where it is going - nice part, well done. And August behavior is certainly in line with his rare non-leacherous tendencies

No, it wasn't badass, it was stupid, he was damn lucky to have survived campaign against PLC. His dumb luck simply eventually run out. If he doesn't die at Lutzen he dies probably at some other battle.