A Different House of Lorraine

So, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine divorced his first wife, Nicole de Lorraine, Duchess of Lorraine et Bar on the grounds that "he had not been free to choose" at the time of the match. He sentenced to death the presiding priest (Melchior de la Vallée) on charges of witchcraft. And then married Beatrice de Cusance (the union was denounced as bigamous by the Catholic church and both parties were excommunicated.

Beatrice bore him three children, of whom a son, the prince de Commercy and a daughter, later princesse de Lillebonne, survived infancy. This side-line of the house of Lorraine eventaully died out in the male-line in 1876.

What if Charles had gone the regular route, and simply applied to the papacy for an annulment on grounds of consanguinity or some such? Or even a legitimizing bull from a friendly pope to insert his male-line descent after that of Nicole's sister, Claude, but before the Guises.
 
So, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine divorced his first wife, Nicole de Lorraine, Duchess of Lorraine et Bar on the grounds that "he had not been free to choose" at the time of the match. He sentenced to death the presiding priest (Melchior de la Vallée) on charges of witchcraft. And then married Beatrice de Cusance (the union was denounced as bigamous by the Catholic church and both parties were excommunicated.

Beatrice bore him three children, of whom a son, the prince de Commercy and a daughter, later princesse de Lillebonne, survived infancy. This side-line of the house of Lorraine eventaully died out in the male-line in 1876.

What if Charles had gone the regular route, and simply applied to the papacy for an annulment on grounds of consanguinity or some such? Or even a legitimizing bull from a friendly pope to insert his male-line descent after that of Nicole's sister, Claude, but before the Guises.

I'm not sure how this changes much of anything, except to put slightly different individuals intermittently in charge of Lorraine during periods between French occupations, and eventually, to marry Maria Theresa to a slightly different Lorrainer (or not even that, if the Commercys are put into the succession behind Nicolas's descendants).

What did you have in mind?
 
I'm not sure how this changes much of anything, except to put slightly different individuals intermittently in charge of Lorraine during periods between French occupations, and eventually, to marry Maria Theresa to a slightly different Lorrainer (or not even that, if the Commercys are put into the succession behind Nicolas's descendants).

What did you have in mind?

Well (to nitpick), Maria Theresia might not be OTL Maria Theresia, if she even exists.

What I have in mind is that the Commercy branch is pro-French, and by various marriages ties itself to the French royal family. It gives France a handy puppet ruler to prop-up whenever they take over the duchy.
 
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