Anaxagoras
Banned
How would the Hapsburg Empire have fared in the 16th Century had it not had access to the gold and silver it obtained from the conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires in the New World?
Surely the North German Protestants will still be able to rely on their main historical supporter, France. Even without New World gold, the French are going to feel threatened by being surrounded by Hapsburg powers, and want to take action to weaken them. Later on the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden may get involved as well.You've also probably butterflied away the death of Juan of Asturias and possibly the marriage of Katherine of Aragon to Arthur of Wales. This might mean that England could stay Catholic, with the end result that the Protestants of northern Germany lack a strong patron state throughout the 16th century, which might see their movement become marginalized, thus ending a lot of headaches for the Holy Roman Emperors, whoever they might be.
Surely the North German Protestants will still be able to rely on their main historical supporter, France. Even without New World gold, the French are going to feel threatened by being surrounded by Hapsburg powers, and want to take action to weaken them. Later on the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden may get involved as well.
England's importance in the German Wars of Religion was far less significant than it was in France or the Netherlands, and even there it was quite probably replaceable. Between the death of Henry V and the Glorious Revolution (with a brief revival under Cromwell), the English Army was generally a joke by continental standards, and English finances were far less able to support the massive foreign subsidies that it would use in later centuries.
Well, it's very probable that the threat of Hapsburg encirclement will not exist ITTL, because there will be no Charles V.
For John of Asturias, I don't see any good reason on why he would avoid tuberculosis.
Because he's a member of a family whose fortunes were enormously transformed by the discovery of the New World. None of these people are going to be in the same place as OTL in this 1497.
I think you're right in that the lack of a firm POD makes debate on this topic difficult. Perhaps Anaxagoras could firm it up for us, and propose a specific POD? Because the only ways I can see to have the Hapsburg Empire not get the New World gold are to a) have them not conquer Mexico and Peru (something that given the massive depopulation due to infectious disease seems so unlikely as to stretch the boundaries of plausibility), b) for there to be no gold there in the first place (in which case this should be in ASB), or c) for Europeans not to discover the New World at that particular time, but have it pushed back by a few decades. And if that last one happens, then there will be no Hapsburg empire, because the Hapsburgs won't marry into the Spanish line.
But I agree, not having an actual POD makes debate largely pointless and at cross-purposes.