AHC: Christina of Sweden burns down Rome

"The entry into Rome proper took place on 23 December [1655], on horseback through Porta Flaminia, which today is known as Porta del Popolo." - Wikipedia about Queen Christina of Sweden

In the year 1654 Christina abdicated as queen of Sweden, became a Catholic and spend the rest of her life in Rome as guest of the pope.

Your challenge is to have Christina, daughter of Gustav II Adolf the Defender of Protestantism, to sack and burn Rome in the December of 1655.
 
"The entry into Rome proper took place on 23 December [1655], on horseback through Porta Flaminia, which today is known as Porta del Popolo." - Wikipedia about Queen Christina of Sweden

In the year 1654 Christina abdicated as queen of Sweden, became a Catholic and spend the rest of her life in Rome as guest of the pope.

Your challenge is to have Christina, daughter of Gustav II Adolf the Defender of Protestantism, to sack and burn Rome in the December of 1655.

I'm afraid I just don't see it. At least, not without a POD at least a century back so as to make Rome's position more precarious to Protestant powers (which in that case would probably butterfly Christina). Sweden just does not have the naval power projection to enter the Med, and such an army would have to go cover a lot of hostile ground to get to Rome.
 
"The entry into Rome proper took place on 23 December [1655], on horseback through Porta Flaminia, which today is known as Porta del Popolo." - Wikipedia about Queen Christina of Sweden

In the year 1654 Christina abdicated as queen of Sweden, became a Catholic and spend the rest of her life in Rome as guest of the pope.

Your challenge is to have Christina, daughter of Gustav II Adolf the Defender of Protestantism, to sack and burn Rome in the December of 1655.

Complete ASB. There's no way a Swedish Army could reach Italy, let alone Rome.

That being said I can see Christina accidentally setting Rome on fire. She did fire a cannon when she was mad and the dent where the Cannon hit is still there. Perhaps a fire starts in her Palazzo spreads to parts of Rome but other than that impossible.
 
I'm afraid I just don't see it. At least, not without a POD at least a century back so as to make Rome's position more precarious to Protestant powers (which in that case would probably butterfly Christina). Sweden just does not have the naval power projection to enter the Med, and such an army would have to go cover a lot of hostile ground to get to Rome.

I was more thinking on the lines of having her father march over the Alps after crushing the Habsburgs and let him die there in battle and Christina and Oxenstierna lead his army to Rome ... but I do not know how realistic that is ... maybe Gabriel Bethlen of Transylvania not dying 1629 might help ...
 
I was more thinking on the lines of having her father march over the Alps after crushing the Habsburgs and let him die there in battle and Christina and Oxenstierna lead his army to Rome ... but I do not know how realistic that is ... maybe Gabriel Bethlen of Transylvania not dying 1629 might help ...

Marching over the Alps would be pretty disastrous. Just ask Hannibal Barca.
 
Marching over the Alps would be pretty disastrous. Just ask Hannibal Barca.

Hannibal had less problems with the Alps than the Roman strategy of avoiding him ...
I am no expert about the 30y-war but if Gabriel Bethlen survives and the Swedish invasion occurs as OTL I could see the Austrian splitting up and loosing in Hungary (maybe little Ottoman help for Gabriel) as well as in Germany. Gustav Adolf's mercenary army takes Bohemia and Bavaria. The latter surrenders, the former goes to Palatinate and helps the Swedes out with troops. Austria is soon taken and Gustav Adolf spends several years in Germany, restructuring the country. Maybe getting parts of Brandenburg and land on the Elbe from his Hohenzollerian family-in-law in exchange of Saxon land (the Elector of Saxony betrayed the protestants in OTL).
Gabriel would probably become king of Hungary and he is also be related to the Hohenzollern trough marriage.
The Swedish land in Germany would probably cover all of the Baltic coast and maybe also areas at the North Sea.
Christina would probably marry a German prince (House Wettin, Hohenzollern or Palatinatian Wittelsbach comes to mind). Their potential child could be heir to two countries and a reason for Gustav Adolf to stay even longer in Germany.
The Habsburg might attempt to retake their homeland and unite the Swedish-German-Hungarian-French Alliance once more ... Germany suffers even more in this scenario. The crown of the empire might go to the french because they helped so much ... but their power is limited to the Rhineland ... Bohemia turns protestant, Bavaria maybe too...

Just my ideas :)
 
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