A More Personal Union - Who Should Elizabeth I Marry?

Who Should Elizabeth I Marry?

  • Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Henry of Navarre

    Votes: 12 11.8%
  • Christopher Hatton

    Votes: 3 2.9%
  • Eric XIV of Sweden

    Votes: 13 12.7%
  • Sebastian of Portugal

    Votes: 4 3.9%
  • She should have Robert Dudley push his wife down the stairs, and then marry him.

    Votes: 17 16.7%
  • Charles II of Austria

    Votes: 21 20.6%
  • Frederick II of Denmark

    Votes: 9 8.8%
  • Nobody. She should stay a swingin' single!

    Votes: 22 21.6%

  • Total voters
    102
Charles has much to recommend him, but I don't think the religion thing is surmountable. A Catholic monarch, even a tolerant and passive one, would create more problems for Elizabeth than it would solve and I think she knows it. That leaves Denmark and Sweden, methinks, and if I recall she actually didn't loathe Denmark.
 
Mary Queen of Scots. They actually would have if one of them would have been a male if only for the power they each had to offer... Too bad that Liz had her executed in the end. "Oh, Marie, if only you would have become my ... mari ... Now, die."
 
Yeah, its not as if Mary isn't all kinds of problematic for Elizabeth.

Not sure why a male Lizzy would want to marry Mary, or female Lizzy to marry male Mary.

What does Mary have to offer again?
 
Charles has much to recommend him, but I don't think the religion thing is surmountable. A Catholic monarch, even a tolerant and passive one, would create more problems for Elizabeth than it would solve and I think she knows it. That leaves Denmark and Sweden, methinks, and if I recall she actually didn't loathe Denmark.

I'm also surprised people are ignoring that it is not necessarily in England's interest for the Netherlands to remain Spanish.
 
I'm also surprised people are ignoring that it is not necessarily in England's interest for the Netherlands to remain Spanish.
I mean which interest ITTL is more important, I would think keeping the Auld Alliance in check. IOTL I completely agree it's in England's interest to see the Netherlands as not a part of Spain, but here Elizabeth might have to deal with it, and honestly there are far worst things.

Although an idea popped into my head that perhaps, to help further cement the Anglo-Habsburg Alliance, Philip II is willing to give the Netherlands to Charles II, or (depending on the date Charles II & Elizabeth marry) orders that in the event Isabella and Albrecht die childless (which they likely still will) the Netherlands passes to Charles or his descendants. Philip certainly had toyed with the ideas of independence or passing the Netherlands to a English successor before, so the idea wouldn't come out of a void.

The knowledge that they eventually will be ruled by a more tolerant English Monarch might temper the Dutch, and an Anglo-Dutch Union would be a prefect counterweight in everyone's eye (well except the Franco-Scottish) to the Auld Alliance. Plus in the long run, it means that the English Habsburgs will likely be able to operate independently of continental Habsburg Family politics, ironically by having a foot on the continent.
 
Charles has much to recommend him, but I don't think the religion thing is surmountable. A Catholic monarch, even a tolerant and passive one, would create more problems for Elizabeth than it would solve and I think she knows it. That leaves Denmark and Sweden, methinks, and if I recall she actually didn't loathe Denmark.

Eric XIV was a lunatic. This consideration might sway her choice.
 
So far the trend seems to be keep Elizabeth single, with marrying the ten-year-old Henry of Navarre coming in a close second. I'll give this poll until the end of Monday, then I'll go with the results.


Also, this just in: AH.COMMERS LOVE ROBERT DUDLEY.
 
Although an idea popped into my head that perhaps, to help further cement the Anglo-Habsburg Alliance, Philip II is willing to give the Netherlands to Charles II, or (depending on the date Charles II & Elizabeth marry) orders that in the event Isabella and Albrecht die childless (which they likely still will) the Netherlands passes to Charles or his descendants.

Philip II being Philip II I really doubt he would give Netherlands to any relative that isn't a child of him.

Philip certainly had toyed with the ideas of independence or passing the Netherlands to a English successor before, so the idea wouldn't come out of a void.

His idea was to give Netherlands to his possible child with Mary I of England, while the rest of his territories would go to his elder son Don Carlos. I don't think he would accept the idea of giving his inheritance to a younger Austrian cousin.
 
Philip II being Philip II I really doubt he would give Netherlands to any relative that isn't a child of him.

His idea was to give Netherlands to his possible child with Mary I of England, while the rest of his territories would go to his elder son Don Carlos. I don't think he would accept the idea of giving his inheritance to a younger Austrian cousin.
Agree to disagree? I firmly believe Philip would be much more of a Pragmatist in the instance, I guess you don't, there's not much point in bantering back a forth.
 
Emmanuel Philibert is, apparently, the nerdy guy standing in the corner during the high school prom, too shy to ask the homecoming queen to dance.
 
Emmanuel Philibert is, apparently, the nerdy guy standing in the corner during the high school prom, too shy to ask the homecoming queen to dance.

I don't know anything much about him, but for some reason this has made me want to vote for him just out of ornery contrariness.

Realistically, is this marriage to secure Elizabeth's position, or merely the succession?

If the latter, marry some single English earl. If the former, Austria is sounding attractive - Henri's age gets in the way of what sounds like a good match.
 
Looks like the Dudleyites have the larges minority.

The main reason would be that Mary and Philip didn't exactly work out, so there is a desire to try a home-made match.

Henry VIII pretty much decapitated the nobility (literally most often) and tho Norfolk remains, is he not a Catholic?

Are there any Talbots eligible?

It would also be a question of whether Elizabeth is marrying to beget an heir, or to have an older man there as a stable element, whilst accepting some kind of Stuart succession (whether James or Arabella)

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
I chose Robert Dudley because I can't see Elizabeth really wanting a foreign husband, given she was all about personal strength and ruling by her own right not by marriage or anything. But what can I say, I'm a fanboy.

Failing Dudley, I think she could marry Christopher Eccleston ;)
 
I chose Robert Dudley because I can't see Elizabeth really wanting a foreign husband, given she was all about personal strength and ruling by her own right not by marriage or anything. But what can I say, I'm a fanboy.

Failing Dudley, I think she could marry Christopher Eccleston ;)

Well, he does have a TARDIS...
 
I think the fact remains that there is no one best match for Elisabeth available.
I believe that she set aside an heir of her body for a more stable succession.

That being said there is an alternative to a Stuart Succession: the heirs of Edward Seymour Earl of Hertford (son of the disgraced Earl of Somerset) and Lady Catherine Grey (sister to Jane).
If Edward and Catherine's marriage is not secret and unlawful - i.e. they get Elisabeth's permission - she could recognise Catherine as her heir. OTL their son Edward was the senior qualified heir of Henry VIII's will which stipulated that Margaret Tudor's heirs should be passed over for Mary Tudor's.

If this union is blessed then we may see an earlier and more lawful match of the younger Edward with Arbella Stuart (OTL his son secretly married her and was imprisoned by James I/VI for it).

Such a thing could lead to war with Scotland over the succession.
 
I agree that there is no perfect match for Elizabeth (as much as I've argued Charles II is), and that IOTL she made the best decision. But staying single, at least from my vantage point here just isn't viable. She needs to secure succession, if not for herself than for her people (and I'm sure Parliament would make it abundantly clear in their view). Their pressure might piss her off, but I think she'd ultimately come to agree with them. Succession ITTL isn't nice and clean to the Stuarts because of their personal union with France, so I think Elizabeth would find it better to suck it up, sire an heir (even if she only has one daughter), and prevent a massive succession war, which could devastate her country.
 
Especially since in this scenario, it's not just Scotland that potentially succeeds to England, as the King of France is married to the Queen of Scotland.
 
So whatever the result is tomorrow morning (0700 PST, 1500 GMT), that's what I'll go with. So you Hapsburgians and Dudleyites, this is your chance for one final push! You only need four votes to win!
 
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