Well Juana and Manuel were certainly effective, and their descendants certainly used the resources of Spain well to ensure that North Africa could never pose a threat to Iberia again...
A reborn Lotharingia - A Renaissance TL
- Thread starter isabella
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Without doubt. Well Juana and Manuel were not too much animated by the desire of fight the infidels but their son Juan was another thing and was fully supported by his brother Fernando…
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Epilogue 2 - France
King Louis XII and Queen Germaine of France had a good wedding as Germaine was a sweet woman of kind temperament with little interest to politics and quite fertile, giving in the years two surviving sons and two girls to her husband, consenting to France to remain at least stable, if not powerful as it had been before the “era of regencies”.
Queen Germaine’s brother, Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours, who had inherited many of the Orleans land and patrimony (meaning everything who his uncle had been able to leave to him) had married their second cousin, Marguerite of Angouleme, heiress of the junior branch of the Orléans. While politics and the late Orleans’ desire to secure to his nephew what he was able to get for him of the Angouleme’s inheritance had dictated the match, for the bride and her groom theirs had been a love match since before the celebration of the wedding… The letters of Marguerite of Nemours to her husband are quite ardent, like his answers, so is not surprising who they ended having seven children, three boys and four girls, who all reached adulthood.
The Bourbons remained the first nobles of the Kingdom, and among the few to keep a certain level of independence from the crown together with the heirs of the Duke of Berry, who acquired all the French possessions of the Albret family and also the ones of the Foix who do not belonged to the Duke of Nemours.
Charles d’Alençon and Suzanne of Bourbon’s wedding was plagued by the fact who they were childless with reciprocate accusations of being the guilty party. After Charles’ death in 1519, Suzanne would remarry to her second cousin Charles of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier, dying in childbirth with her child two years later.
Louis XII’s sisters also made good matches with Anne marrying Christian II, King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, to which she gave many heirs, while Charlotte would marry William III of Bavaria and Elisabeth would marry John of Lorraine, Count of Provence.
Queen Germaine’s brother, Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours, who had inherited many of the Orleans land and patrimony (meaning everything who his uncle had been able to leave to him) had married their second cousin, Marguerite of Angouleme, heiress of the junior branch of the Orléans. While politics and the late Orleans’ desire to secure to his nephew what he was able to get for him of the Angouleme’s inheritance had dictated the match, for the bride and her groom theirs had been a love match since before the celebration of the wedding… The letters of Marguerite of Nemours to her husband are quite ardent, like his answers, so is not surprising who they ended having seven children, three boys and four girls, who all reached adulthood.
The Bourbons remained the first nobles of the Kingdom, and among the few to keep a certain level of independence from the crown together with the heirs of the Duke of Berry, who acquired all the French possessions of the Albret family and also the ones of the Foix who do not belonged to the Duke of Nemours.
Charles d’Alençon and Suzanne of Bourbon’s wedding was plagued by the fact who they were childless with reciprocate accusations of being the guilty party. After Charles’ death in 1519, Suzanne would remarry to her second cousin Charles of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier, dying in childbirth with her child two years later.
Louis XII’s sisters also made good matches with Anne marrying Christian II, King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, to which she gave many heirs, while Charlotte would marry William III of Bavaria and Elisabeth would marry John of Lorraine, Count of Provence.
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Oh, yes.. Gaston and Marguerite were extremely happy and that letters were extremely scandalous, not leaving any doubt on the love between them…
Gaston and Marguerite are in my top three pairings for this era along with Margaret of Austria/Philibert of Savoy and Mary Tudor/Antoine of Lorraine.
Epilogue 3 - German and Eastern states
Frederick IV, made heir presumptive of the imperial lands by his elder brother’s matrimonial misfortunes, would find a very good match, under any aspect, in Beatrice of Hungary, who would provide him with children and support anywhere he needed it.
His brother Edward also had no reason for being unhappy with his fate as he was extremely suited to the military religious order to which his father had destined him and his ascent over the ranks was owed to his own skills and talents at least as much was determined by his family connections.
Margaret of Austria, Electress of Saxony would always regret the losses of her first beloved husband and their unborn child, who had deprived her of the Spanish crowns, and would never truly stop of mourning them. That in part was because her second husband Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, while a good man, was definitely unable to stand up to comparison to the late Juan, at least in Margaret’s mind. Still they established a comfortable companionship and had three children: Johanna, Ernest and Frederick.
Eleanor and Elizabeth, the first two daughters of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Elisabeth had similar characters and similar fates as they were married for political reasons to much older men, who were brothers and both Kings: neither Eleanor in Bohemia or Elisabeth in Poland would be able to say who they were happy, but still would be hard pressed to definite themselves as unhappy… their weddings were dominated mostly by indifference, while their husbands would be hard pressed to find them at faults as they executed admirably their duties, giving many heirs to their husbands (three surviving children each, two sons and a girl for Eleanor and Vladislaus and two girls and a son for Elisabeth and Sigismund)
Archduchess Anne was married to Matthias II of Hungary, elder brother of Frederick’s future Empress, in a match who had the objective to repair the relationships between Austria and Hungary once for all.
Queen Isabella was extremely happy for the prestigious matches of her elder son and daughter (Frederick was almost guaranteed to inherit at least the whole Austria from his elder brother at the time of their wedding), but she was more glad of her youngest child and namesake’s match as Elizabeth of Hungary married Ludovico II, Duke of Bari, the younger son of her cousin and great friend Beatrice d’Este.
The second boy, Stephen, instead made a domestic match, to Barbara Zapolya, daughter of one of the most powerful nobles of Hungary, who was a good ally of Janos, reason for which he was rewarded with that wedding for his daughter and a good ecclesiastic career for his younger son, George, while the elder son, Janos, who married Erzebeth Teledgi (daughter of the royal treasurer Stephen and sister of Katalin, wife of the Voiovode of Transylvania Stephen Bathory) would follow his father as Palatine of Hungary.
Maximilian and Elisabeth’s youngest daughters Helena and Magdalena married respectively the Elector Palatine Frederick II and the Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II Hector and are without doubt the less known among Maximilian’s children, as we know very little about them. They had happy weddings and were able to secure the succession of their husband’s lands but sadly died early.
His brother Edward also had no reason for being unhappy with his fate as he was extremely suited to the military religious order to which his father had destined him and his ascent over the ranks was owed to his own skills and talents at least as much was determined by his family connections.
Margaret of Austria, Electress of Saxony would always regret the losses of her first beloved husband and their unborn child, who had deprived her of the Spanish crowns, and would never truly stop of mourning them. That in part was because her second husband Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, while a good man, was definitely unable to stand up to comparison to the late Juan, at least in Margaret’s mind. Still they established a comfortable companionship and had three children: Johanna, Ernest and Frederick.
Eleanor and Elizabeth, the first two daughters of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Elisabeth had similar characters and similar fates as they were married for political reasons to much older men, who were brothers and both Kings: neither Eleanor in Bohemia or Elisabeth in Poland would be able to say who they were happy, but still would be hard pressed to definite themselves as unhappy… their weddings were dominated mostly by indifference, while their husbands would be hard pressed to find them at faults as they executed admirably their duties, giving many heirs to their husbands (three surviving children each, two sons and a girl for Eleanor and Vladislaus and two girls and a son for Elisabeth and Sigismund)
Archduchess Anne was married to Matthias II of Hungary, elder brother of Frederick’s future Empress, in a match who had the objective to repair the relationships between Austria and Hungary once for all.
Queen Isabella was extremely happy for the prestigious matches of her elder son and daughter (Frederick was almost guaranteed to inherit at least the whole Austria from his elder brother at the time of their wedding), but she was more glad of her youngest child and namesake’s match as Elizabeth of Hungary married Ludovico II, Duke of Bari, the younger son of her cousin and great friend Beatrice d’Este.
The second boy, Stephen, instead made a domestic match, to Barbara Zapolya, daughter of one of the most powerful nobles of Hungary, who was a good ally of Janos, reason for which he was rewarded with that wedding for his daughter and a good ecclesiastic career for his younger son, George, while the elder son, Janos, who married Erzebeth Teledgi (daughter of the royal treasurer Stephen and sister of Katalin, wife of the Voiovode of Transylvania Stephen Bathory) would follow his father as Palatine of Hungary.
Maximilian and Elisabeth’s youngest daughters Helena and Magdalena married respectively the Elector Palatine Frederick II and the Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II Hector and are without doubt the less known among Maximilian’s children, as we know very little about them. They had happy weddings and were able to secure the succession of their husband’s lands but sadly died early.
Oh, yes we have an Austrian Queen of Hungary and an Hungarian Holy Roman Empress here so the two families are well tied…
Epilogue 4 - Lorraine, England, Scotland and Brittany
Katherine of Austria married her maternal first cousin Nicolas I of Lorraine in a match who was an ardent wish of her father, who had kept an extremely close relationship with Charles II of Lorraine, Nicholas’s father, who had been his stepson from his first marriage. Katherine and Nicholas were well paired for age and temperaments and while their wedding was not to become a love match, they would still find great happiness together and would become parents of many children, securing the succession in Lorraine and its independence for long time.
Their elder son, Charles III of Lorraine was lucky in marrying Sybille of Julich-Cleves-Berg, who would become heiress of her parent’s lands after the childless death of her still unmarried younger brother, who happened some years after their wedding, thus consenting to Lorraine to incorporate other lands in the Holy Roman Empire
Meanwhile Nicholas’s brother Jean had inherited Provence, Anjou and Maine and married another maternal first cousin, the French princess Elisabeth in what was another good marriage as Elisabeth, youngest surviving child of her parents and raised almost entirely by her aunt Anne, was beautiful, kind, smart and graceful, sharing many traits with her namesake aunt, the Holy Roman Empress.
Unlike his double brother-in-law, Edward V was not keen on marrying his children to first cousins, so only his heir made a foreign match, and an highly prestigious one as the future Richard III of England married infanta Isabella of Spain, with many children to secure the succession.
Edward V’s other children made domestic matches, with great joy of Queen Isabelle, who was able to keep close her beloved daughters as the elder, Isabella, married Henry Stafford, heir of the Duke of Buckingham (son of Edward and Alianore Percy) and the younger, Anna, married Richard Plantagenet, heir of the Earldoms of Warwick and Salisbury (and so grandson of Clarence but also of Dorset), while their other brother John, Duke of Bedford made a very advantageous match to a great heiress, Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Worchester (who had inherited a great patrimony from both her parents).
Edward V’s brother, Richard, Duke of York and Brittany had five surviving children by his two marriages: from his first marriage to Anne Mowbray he had Edward John, Earl of Surrey at his birth, who would become Duke of Norfolk at 15 years old, when his father renounced to that title in his favour (as Norfolk was young Edward’s maternal inheritance) and another four by his second wife Anne, Duchess of Brittany. Their firstborn was the future Francis III of Brittany, then Anne, Richard, Count of Vertus and Valentina.
Edward John, Duke of York and Norfolk married Eleanor Stafford, Buckingham’s youngest daughter by Catherine Woodville (so aunt of his cousin Isabella’s husband), whose elder sisters had married the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Kent and Viscount Mohun.
Francis III of Brittany married princess Isabella of Naples, while Anne married John III, Duke of Bourbon and cousin of Louis XII of France. Richard, Count of Vertus married Isabella of Navarre, sister-in-law of the King of Spain and of the Duke of Berry, while Valentina married Philibert of Chalon, Prince of Orange, and all their weddings were reasonably happy.
James IV’s wedding to Catherine of York was happy and while only two of their four children reached adulthood, the fact who both of them were boys consoled the Scottish King, who was seeing the succession secure enough with three Stewart boys (as he added his cousin John of Albany to his sons) and would see all them having sons of their own before dying: King Alexander IV married princess Beatrice of Naples, sister of two Kings of Naples and the Duchesses of Brittany and Romagna, while his brother Robert married a French heiress, Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne and Lady of St Saturnin, cousin and sister-in-law of John, Duke of Albany (who was son of her paternal aunt and had married her elder sister Anne, Countess of Auvergne and Lauraguais). Scotland would continue for long time a politics of keeping friendly relationship with all his neighbors: France, England, Lorraine and Brittany…
Their elder son, Charles III of Lorraine was lucky in marrying Sybille of Julich-Cleves-Berg, who would become heiress of her parent’s lands after the childless death of her still unmarried younger brother, who happened some years after their wedding, thus consenting to Lorraine to incorporate other lands in the Holy Roman Empire
Meanwhile Nicholas’s brother Jean had inherited Provence, Anjou and Maine and married another maternal first cousin, the French princess Elisabeth in what was another good marriage as Elisabeth, youngest surviving child of her parents and raised almost entirely by her aunt Anne, was beautiful, kind, smart and graceful, sharing many traits with her namesake aunt, the Holy Roman Empress.
Unlike his double brother-in-law, Edward V was not keen on marrying his children to first cousins, so only his heir made a foreign match, and an highly prestigious one as the future Richard III of England married infanta Isabella of Spain, with many children to secure the succession.
Edward V’s other children made domestic matches, with great joy of Queen Isabelle, who was able to keep close her beloved daughters as the elder, Isabella, married Henry Stafford, heir of the Duke of Buckingham (son of Edward and Alianore Percy) and the younger, Anna, married Richard Plantagenet, heir of the Earldoms of Warwick and Salisbury (and so grandson of Clarence but also of Dorset), while their other brother John, Duke of Bedford made a very advantageous match to a great heiress, Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Worchester (who had inherited a great patrimony from both her parents).
Edward V’s brother, Richard, Duke of York and Brittany had five surviving children by his two marriages: from his first marriage to Anne Mowbray he had Edward John, Earl of Surrey at his birth, who would become Duke of Norfolk at 15 years old, when his father renounced to that title in his favour (as Norfolk was young Edward’s maternal inheritance) and another four by his second wife Anne, Duchess of Brittany. Their firstborn was the future Francis III of Brittany, then Anne, Richard, Count of Vertus and Valentina.
Edward John, Duke of York and Norfolk married Eleanor Stafford, Buckingham’s youngest daughter by Catherine Woodville (so aunt of his cousin Isabella’s husband), whose elder sisters had married the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Kent and Viscount Mohun.
Francis III of Brittany married princess Isabella of Naples, while Anne married John III, Duke of Bourbon and cousin of Louis XII of France. Richard, Count of Vertus married Isabella of Navarre, sister-in-law of the King of Spain and of the Duke of Berry, while Valentina married Philibert of Chalon, Prince of Orange, and all their weddings were reasonably happy.
James IV’s wedding to Catherine of York was happy and while only two of their four children reached adulthood, the fact who both of them were boys consoled the Scottish King, who was seeing the succession secure enough with three Stewart boys (as he added his cousin John of Albany to his sons) and would see all them having sons of their own before dying: King Alexander IV married princess Beatrice of Naples, sister of two Kings of Naples and the Duchesses of Brittany and Romagna, while his brother Robert married a French heiress, Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne and Lady of St Saturnin, cousin and sister-in-law of John, Duke of Albany (who was son of her paternal aunt and had married her elder sister Anne, Countess of Auvergne and Lauraguais). Scotland would continue for long time a politics of keeping friendly relationship with all his neighbors: France, England, Lorraine and Brittany…
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Some ATL matches of English nobility
Margaret of Clarence (b. 1473) married Richard Lovell, Viscount Lovell (b. 1475)
Edward of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury (b. 1475) married Eleanor Grey (b. 1478)
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (b. 1462) married Margaret FitzAlan (b. 1475)
Elizabeth de la Pole (b. 1468) Thomas de Berkeley, Marquess of Berkeley (b. 1470)
Edward Grey, Marquess of Dorset (b. 1476) married Catherine de la Pole (b. 1477)
Thomas Grey, Earl of Exeter (b. 1477) married Anne St Leger (b. 1476)
Richard Grey (b. 1457) married Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert (b. 1476)
Eleanor Spencer (b. 1472) married Henry Tudor, Earl of Somerset (b. 1457)
Catherine Spencer (b. 1477) married Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (b. 1478)
Sir Thomas Howard (later Viscount Howard) (b. 1473) married Alice Stanley (b. 1475)
Elizabeth Howard (b. 1480) married Thomas Boleyn (b. 1477)
Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (b. 1478) married Alianore Percy (b. 1474)
Anne Stafford (b. 1483) married Thomas Stanley, Baron Stanley and Strange (later Viscount Mohun) (b. 1484)
Richard Neville, Baron Latimer (later Viscount Neville of Middleham) (b. 1468) married Isabel Bourchier (b. 1469)
Edward Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (b. 1469) married Cecily Bourchier (b. 1464)
John of England, Duke of Bedford (b. 1497) married Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Worcester (b. 1503)
Edward John of York, Earl of Surrey (1489) married Eleanor Stafford (b. 1488)
Joan Le Strange, Baroness Strange of Knockin (b. 1463) married George Stanley, Baron Stanley (b. 1460)
Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (b. 1485) married Anne Percy (b. 1485)
Elizabeth Woodville (b. 1489) married George Hastings, Earl of Leicester (b. 1488)
Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex (b. 1472) married Elizabeth Stafford (b. 1479)
Richard Grey, Earl of Kent (b. 1481) married Catherine Stafford (b. 1485)
William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundell (b. 1476) married Anne de la Pole (b. 1476)
Edward FitzAlan (b. 1480)
Joan FitzAlan (b. 1483) married George Neville, Baron Bergavenny (b. 1469)
Edward of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury (b. 1475) married Eleanor Grey (b. 1478)
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (b. 1462) married Margaret FitzAlan (b. 1475)
Elizabeth de la Pole (b. 1468) Thomas de Berkeley, Marquess of Berkeley (b. 1470)
Edward Grey, Marquess of Dorset (b. 1476) married Catherine de la Pole (b. 1477)
Thomas Grey, Earl of Exeter (b. 1477) married Anne St Leger (b. 1476)
Richard Grey (b. 1457) married Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert (b. 1476)
Eleanor Spencer (b. 1472) married Henry Tudor, Earl of Somerset (b. 1457)
Catherine Spencer (b. 1477) married Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (b. 1478)
Sir Thomas Howard (later Viscount Howard) (b. 1473) married Alice Stanley (b. 1475)
Elizabeth Howard (b. 1480) married Thomas Boleyn (b. 1477)
Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (b. 1478) married Alianore Percy (b. 1474)
Anne Stafford (b. 1483) married Thomas Stanley, Baron Stanley and Strange (later Viscount Mohun) (b. 1484)
Richard Neville, Baron Latimer (later Viscount Neville of Middleham) (b. 1468) married Isabel Bourchier (b. 1469)
Edward Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (b. 1469) married Cecily Bourchier (b. 1464)
John of England, Duke of Bedford (b. 1497) married Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Worcester (b. 1503)
Edward John of York, Earl of Surrey (1489) married Eleanor Stafford (b. 1488)
Joan Le Strange, Baroness Strange of Knockin (b. 1463) married George Stanley, Baron Stanley (b. 1460)
Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (b. 1485) married Anne Percy (b. 1485)
Elizabeth Woodville (b. 1489) married George Hastings, Earl of Leicester (b. 1488)
Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex (b. 1472) married Elizabeth Stafford (b. 1479)
Richard Grey, Earl of Kent (b. 1481) married Catherine Stafford (b. 1485)
William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundell (b. 1476) married Anne de la Pole (b. 1476)
Edward FitzAlan (b. 1480)
Joan FitzAlan (b. 1483) married George Neville, Baron Bergavenny (b. 1469)
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All the matches for the York children sure are interesting, especially with Richard managing to get a Spanish Infanta!
Well, once excluded the first cousins, Spain was the logical place in which search a bride for him and Joanna and Manuel had daughters to marry off so…
Epilogue 5 - the Italian states
Archduchess Cristina of Austria, Duchess of Milan, would often joke who while she was far below her sisters in status, as she had married a simple Duke, instead of a King or Prince Elector, she was the one with the richer court as only the court of Lorraine was able to compete with the splendours of Milan, who was seen as the richest and most magnificent court in the world, followed and rivalled only by the fellow italian courts of Naples, Romagna, Florence and Rome as other italian states (Venice, Savoy, Genoa, Urbino, Ferrara, Mantua and the minor ones, were unable to compete on the same level to the other five).
Ludovico and Beatrice had been really happy to welcome Cristina as bride of their eldest son Francesco as such wedding, together with the imperial investiture and the confirmation of the status of Imperial Vicar in Italy to the Duke of Milan, reinforced a lot their position and preeminence over the other states, but would soon start to appreciate Cristina for her own qualities and not for her family.
Still Beatrice’s greatest satisfaction was seeing all her children happily married: not only Francesco and Ludovico (heir of his father in Bari and husband of Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of Beatrice’s cousin and dearest friend Isabella of Naples) would quickly fall in love with their brides, but their daughters (Eleonora in Urbino, Bianca in Savoy and Beatrice in Florence) also would have at least a very good relationship with their respective husbands.
The wedding between Alfonso I d’Este and Anna Maria Sforza was close to a disaster, but at least they had four children, who all reached adulthood: their eldest child was a daughter, called Eleanor after Alfonso’s beloved mother (who was then recently dead), who would become Marchioness of Montferrat, then a son the future Ercole II of Ferrara who would marry the very beautiful, cultured and brilliant Lucrezia Borgia, eldest daughter of Cesare and Maddalena, in a political match who would soon become a great love story (repeating the story of his grandparents Ercole I and Eleanor of Aragon). After Ercole, another daughter, called Beatrice after the Duchess of Milan, her aunt and godmother, who would marry in the French house of Bourbons and another son, Francis, who would remain unmarried…
Still Ercole and Lucrezia would secure the line and rule well over Ferrara and Modena, who would belong to their heirs for many generations
Isabella d’Este was a complicated woman and well know for her inability to be content with her fate: she loved her husband and was happy to rule Mantua, during his frequent absences, but often regretted the “cruel fate” who had sent Beatrice in Milan, as her replacement, feeling who she would be better suited to Milan than she was to Mantua… Beatrice knew well of her sister’ jealousy for her preeminence and wisely never commented on it, as gifting often precious and costly fabrics to Isabella and her children was a much better revenge as she knew who Isabella felt humiliated in accepting them…
Isabella’s jealousy and envy for Beatrice’s position would not be diminished in seeing the different matrimonial prospectives of their children as only two of Isabella’s children married: the elder daughter, another Eleanor, who was married to Francesco della Rovere, a minor lord who was nephew of Pope Julius II, and her most beloved son Frederick III, heir of Mantua, who married Maddalena Borgia, Cesare’s younger daughter.
In Naples the wedding between Alfonso III and the spanish Caterina collapsed over the stillbirths and miscarriages of Catalina, specially when both the children who were born alive died few months after the birth, pushing Caterina to find comfort in the religion. With the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Calabria always on the brink of collapse Ferrante had no intention to taking risks about the succession so he arranged the wedding between his younger namesake son, Ferrante, Duke of Rossano and Isabella of Taranto, elder daughter of his cousin Ferrante and their half-aunt Giovanna, for guaranteeing who if Ferrante (or his children) was to inherit the crown after Alfonso, also his line would have the blood of the legitimate line of the Trastamaras (and really in the next generation only the most junior legitimate line of the Aragon of Naples, that of the Dukes of Venosa, descending from Ferrante of Taranto’s younger brother would not descend from both Alfonso V and John II of Aragon).
Florence under the Medicis, Romagna and Urbino under their respective branches of the Borgias and Parma under the Farnese would know a lot of splendor in the artistic and cultural world and the political stability who consented to them to shine. The duchy of Savoy also benefitted a lot from the alliance with other italian states, cemented with the wedding of Duke Charles III to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan, as the troubles of succession, caused by the deaths of many young Dukes as in the 25 years between 1472 and 1497 four Dukes died, with only the last of them older than 40 years, wiping out the main branch, whose last heiress Yolande Louise, was married to her cousin Philibert II, then heir of Savoy. Philibert and Yolande were able to secure the succession and keep together their inheritance as Charles III was then elder of their four surviving children and his line would rule for long over Savoy
The Republics of Genoa and Venice had similar but different fates as both would be eventually victims of the Milanese territorial expansion, but while Genoa was fully annexed, being given by the French King as fief to the Duke of Milan since the days of Gian Galeazzo, Venice’s loss would be limited a part of the mainland, with the Republic able to keep control over most of Veneto and all his marittime possessions as the independence of the republic would be always respected for its status as first opponent of the Ottomans
After the short pontificate of Leo X, the last Pope (at least for long time) to be better as secular prince than as head of the Church, Rome’s leaders were effective on the spiritual plane, starting and completing a total reform of the Church (Marcellus II was unable to do anything in either direction, but that is understandable considering who his reign lasted less than three months) as the long reigns of Paul III and Benedict XIII and the short but intense Pontificate of Innocent VIII left an irreversibly changed Church, reason for which the length of their pontificates was know as “the Age of Reform” or the “Reformation (of the Church)”.
Ludovico and Beatrice had been really happy to welcome Cristina as bride of their eldest son Francesco as such wedding, together with the imperial investiture and the confirmation of the status of Imperial Vicar in Italy to the Duke of Milan, reinforced a lot their position and preeminence over the other states, but would soon start to appreciate Cristina for her own qualities and not for her family.
Still Beatrice’s greatest satisfaction was seeing all her children happily married: not only Francesco and Ludovico (heir of his father in Bari and husband of Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of Beatrice’s cousin and dearest friend Isabella of Naples) would quickly fall in love with their brides, but their daughters (Eleonora in Urbino, Bianca in Savoy and Beatrice in Florence) also would have at least a very good relationship with their respective husbands.
The wedding between Alfonso I d’Este and Anna Maria Sforza was close to a disaster, but at least they had four children, who all reached adulthood: their eldest child was a daughter, called Eleanor after Alfonso’s beloved mother (who was then recently dead), who would become Marchioness of Montferrat, then a son the future Ercole II of Ferrara who would marry the very beautiful, cultured and brilliant Lucrezia Borgia, eldest daughter of Cesare and Maddalena, in a political match who would soon become a great love story (repeating the story of his grandparents Ercole I and Eleanor of Aragon). After Ercole, another daughter, called Beatrice after the Duchess of Milan, her aunt and godmother, who would marry in the French house of Bourbons and another son, Francis, who would remain unmarried…
Still Ercole and Lucrezia would secure the line and rule well over Ferrara and Modena, who would belong to their heirs for many generations
Isabella d’Este was a complicated woman and well know for her inability to be content with her fate: she loved her husband and was happy to rule Mantua, during his frequent absences, but often regretted the “cruel fate” who had sent Beatrice in Milan, as her replacement, feeling who she would be better suited to Milan than she was to Mantua… Beatrice knew well of her sister’ jealousy for her preeminence and wisely never commented on it, as gifting often precious and costly fabrics to Isabella and her children was a much better revenge as she knew who Isabella felt humiliated in accepting them…
Isabella’s jealousy and envy for Beatrice’s position would not be diminished in seeing the different matrimonial prospectives of their children as only two of Isabella’s children married: the elder daughter, another Eleanor, who was married to Francesco della Rovere, a minor lord who was nephew of Pope Julius II, and her most beloved son Frederick III, heir of Mantua, who married Maddalena Borgia, Cesare’s younger daughter.
In Naples the wedding between Alfonso III and the spanish Caterina collapsed over the stillbirths and miscarriages of Catalina, specially when both the children who were born alive died few months after the birth, pushing Caterina to find comfort in the religion. With the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Calabria always on the brink of collapse Ferrante had no intention to taking risks about the succession so he arranged the wedding between his younger namesake son, Ferrante, Duke of Rossano and Isabella of Taranto, elder daughter of his cousin Ferrante and their half-aunt Giovanna, for guaranteeing who if Ferrante (or his children) was to inherit the crown after Alfonso, also his line would have the blood of the legitimate line of the Trastamaras (and really in the next generation only the most junior legitimate line of the Aragon of Naples, that of the Dukes of Venosa, descending from Ferrante of Taranto’s younger brother would not descend from both Alfonso V and John II of Aragon).
Florence under the Medicis, Romagna and Urbino under their respective branches of the Borgias and Parma under the Farnese would know a lot of splendor in the artistic and cultural world and the political stability who consented to them to shine. The duchy of Savoy also benefitted a lot from the alliance with other italian states, cemented with the wedding of Duke Charles III to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan, as the troubles of succession, caused by the deaths of many young Dukes as in the 25 years between 1472 and 1497 four Dukes died, with only the last of them older than 40 years, wiping out the main branch, whose last heiress Yolande Louise, was married to her cousin Philibert II, then heir of Savoy. Philibert and Yolande were able to secure the succession and keep together their inheritance as Charles III was then elder of their four surviving children and his line would rule for long over Savoy
The Republics of Genoa and Venice had similar but different fates as both would be eventually victims of the Milanese territorial expansion, but while Genoa was fully annexed, being given by the French King as fief to the Duke of Milan since the days of Gian Galeazzo, Venice’s loss would be limited a part of the mainland, with the Republic able to keep control over most of Veneto and all his marittime possessions as the independence of the republic would be always respected for its status as first opponent of the Ottomans
After the short pontificate of Leo X, the last Pope (at least for long time) to be better as secular prince than as head of the Church, Rome’s leaders were effective on the spiritual plane, starting and completing a total reform of the Church (Marcellus II was unable to do anything in either direction, but that is understandable considering who his reign lasted less than three months) as the long reigns of Paul III and Benedict XIII and the short but intense Pontificate of Innocent VIII left an irreversibly changed Church, reason for which the length of their pontificates was know as “the Age of Reform” or the “Reformation (of the Church)”.
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Congrats! Always nice to see a TL concluded 
I need to give this a full re-read now that it is finished, well done!!
I need to give this a full re-read now that it is finished, well done!!thanks, very much.…Congrats! Always nice to see a TL concluded
I hope to have left no plot hanging, but if you have questions feel free to ask
Awww poor Catalina, to have such a fruitless marriage, though I suppose at least she's slightly better off here than IOTL. Nice to see that Savoy is pretty stable too! Lovely tl, I really enjoyed it!
Catalina got again a bad deal (as I wanted see on the throne of Naples a line descending from her cousin Giovanna and her OTL husband) but she is definitely better than OTL as hers was NEVER a love match and her position was NEVER in any danger.
Savoy was barely named before this epilogue, as was not much involved in the Italian politics, but leaving it outside the epilogue would be strange, considering who one of the Milanese princesses married there…
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