AHC: Create an illegitimate/cadet branch of a Dynasty/Royal Family/Nobility

[GameBawesome]

A thread spiritual successor to my previous thread, AHC: Form an alternate Dynasty/Royal Family/Nobility, which was based off the List of Alternate Monarchs and Aristocratic Lineage, AH Royal/Imperial/Noble Titles Game and AHC: Form alternate/new ethnic groups of the world.

In the long history, there are multiple royal houses that has come and gone. And in those houses were usually cadet branches, whether that was formed from a younger son, or an illegitimate bastard child. The most famous example was the House of York and House of Lancaster, and another founded by an illegitimate son was the House of Aviz.

So, similar to the Alternate Dynasty/Royal Family/Nobility game, this game is coming up with an illegitimate branch of a royal house. Here is the template (Which is similar to the first template):

Parent House:
Name:
Title(s):
Region of Origin: [Insert region of origin]
*Region of Rule: [Insert region of Rule, Optional]
Founder: [Insert Founder]
Timespan: [Insert Timespan]
History: [Insert History]

Side note: Like before, it doesn't have to be an Imperial Dynasty or Royalty. It can be nobility, aristocrats, or even Political Families of republics. Also, as a spiritual continuation, if you made a fictional Royal House beforehand (IE if you made one on my previous game), you can use those.

*Also, the cadet branch doesn't have to become the head of state or reigning house of a nation, but there are historical examples like the House of Bourbon or House of Aviz that did rule, so it's optional

For example:

Parent House: House of Borgia
Name: House of Romagna
Title(s): Duke of Romagna
Region of Origin: Italy
Founder: Alexander Borgia da Romagna
Timespan: 1501 - 1527
History: A illegitimate cadet branch of the House of Borgia, Alexander Borgia da Romagna, the Bastard son of Cesare Borgia, was declared by his father to become the next Duke of Romanga. After his father's fall from grace of the papacy and went to live with his aunt in Ferrera, Lucrezia Borgia. As he grew into adulthood, he claimed the title of Duke of Romagna and remained himself with the House of Romagna. He had ambitions to reclaim his father's lands and rose as a Condottiero, where he sided with the HRE, during the War of the League of Cognac. However, his ambitions never came to be, as Alexander would die during a bold but foolish campaign into Tuscany, ending the House of Romagna.

 

[Dragonboy]

Parent House: House of Tudor
Name: House of FitzRoy
Title(s): Dukes of Richmond and Somerset
Region of Origin: England
Founder: Henry FitzRoy
Timespan: 1525-Present
History: The sole recognized Natural son of Henry VIII of England was pampared by his sire from an early age due to the fact that he was his only living son. After surviving his brush with death in 1536, Henry went onto secure his own line by having 7 children (4 boys and 3 girls ) with his wife Duchess Mary Howard. Although there were rumors that he intented to Usurp the Crown of England upon the passing of his father, Henry Fitzroy proved to be a man of honor in serving faithfully all three of his remaining siblings, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, while they were on the English Throne, going so far as to formally renounce any and all claims he and his descendants would have to it. Dying at the, for the time, ripe old age of 70 in 1589, his firstborn son and heir Henry became the second holder of the dual Dukedoms, continuing to serve his aunt as faithfully as his father had done the Hose of Fitzroy served the monarchs of the British Isles faithfully for centuries to this day.

 

[Kaiser Bill]

Parent House: House of Plantaganet
Name: House of Gloucester
Title(s): Earls, later Dukes of Gloucester, King of Scots
Region of Origin: England
*Region of Rule: Scotland
Founder: Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester
Timespan: 1090-
History: The illegitimate son of Henry I of England; Robert, Earl of Gloucester, became very prominent after the rise of his half-sister Queen Matilda in 1140. He and his children became the premier noblemen of England and were eventually created dukes. After the death of Alexander III of Scots in 1286, Margaret I came to the throne at three years old. In 1298, she married Robert, 4th Earl of Gloucester and so the House of Gloucester reigned in Edinburgh. They reigned over the Scots until 1667 when Margaret II came to the throne and the isles were unified under the House of York. The Dukes of Gloucester still sit in Sudeley Castle and faithfully serve the Kings of York.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

Parent House: House of Aviz
Name: House of Crato
Title(s): Prior of Crato, King/Queen of Portugal
Region of Origin: Portugal
*Region of Rule: Portugal
Founder: Antonio I
Timespan: 1580-present
History:
Antonio I and his supporters prevailed over Philip II of Spain and the Spanish Habsburg armies in the battle of Alcantara, and he was soon crowned and anointed king. His bastard son, Manuel de Portugal became his heir apparent as he was not permitted to marry. In a letter to the infuriated Pope he wrote that "as I spring from a bastardly union, so shall bastards rule Portugal" and he would be proved correct. He would successfully revive the Portuguese economy through trade with France, England and even Russia. Although his military was never as powerful as Spain's, the fact that his bastards were all married off into foreign royal families was what kept him on the throne for his lifetime. After the death of both himself and Philip II, his descendants continued to rule Portugal.

 

[material_boy]

Parent House: Plantagenet
Name: Clarence
Title(s): baron Dundrum (1399-present), earl of Down (1534-present), duke of Tyrone (1679-present)
Region of Origin: Ireland
Founder: Edward of Clarence
Timespan: 1364-present
History: Edward of Clarence was the son of Lionel of Antwerp, duke of Clarence, and an unknown woman. The duke's account books include a 1364 expenditure that makes reference to a "bastard of Clarence," likely the time of the child's birth. The child, unnamed and its sex unstated, disappears into obscurity until 1394, when chroniclers mention that King Richard II knighted his bastard cousin Edward of Clarence while on campaign in Ireland. Sir Edward of Clarence was made lord of Dundrum upon Richard's return to Ireland in 1399. He was succeeded by his son of the same name as the 2nd baron Dundrum, beginning a line of unremarkable minor lords that only rarely enter the historical record until the Tudor era.

In 1532, John of Clarence, 5th baron Dundrum, was raised to earl of Down by King Henry VIII. This may have been due in part to the 5th baron's marriage to Jane Boleyn, who was the aunt of the king's second wife. The Clarences became intense Tudor partisans and supported several of the crown's military ventures in Ireland over the next several decades.

In 1676, John Clarence, 6th earl of Down, was raised to duke of Tyrone after his marriage to Catherine FitzCharles, a bastard daughter of King Charles II.

John's father, Sir Richard Clarence, died fighting for the crown at the Battle of Rathmines in 1649, shortly after John's birth. As John's mother had died in childbirth, he was put in the care of his aunt, Catherine Clarence. Catherine's father (the infant John's grandfather), John Clarence, 5th earl of Down, urged Catherine to go into exile with the infant John. She fled Ireland for France in 1650.

The 5th earl of Down survived Oliver Cromwell's rule over Ireland, but the family was impoverished. The 5th earl died in 1661, shortly before the coronation of King Charles II. He was succeeded by his grandson of the same name, who was now 12. The young 6th earl was still cared for by his aunt Catherine, who was rumored to have had an affair with Charles II when they were both exiles in France. This affair may explain the royal favor shown toward the young earl, whose marriage to Catherine FitzCharles was arranged early in Charles's reign and celebrated on the girl's eighteenth birthday in 1676. John was raised to his dukedom on the same day. Their marriage was apparently happy and they had seven children together, though only six survived.

James Clarence, 13th duke of Tyrone, is the current head of the house of Clarence. As he has only daughters, the title is set to go extinct upon his death, though his brother Henry has petitioned to inherit the title instead.

As the Clarence family is one of only two families of direct male line descent to King Edward III, along with the Somerset dukes of Beaufort, they were crucial to the DNA testing of the skeleton of King Richard III upon its discovery. Tests of anonymous members of the Clarence and Somerset families showed Y chromosome matches between each other, but not with Richard III. This proves that a false paternity event occurred somewhere between Edward III and Richard III.

 

[Kaiserreich333]

Parent House: Habsburgs of Austria
Name: Habsburg-Burgundy
Title(s): King of Burgundy, Duke of Holland, Duke of Lorraine
Region of Origin: Holy Roman Empire
*Region of Rule: Kingdom of Burgundy
Founder: King Leopold I Wilhelm
Timespan: 1636-Present
History: The House of Habsburg-Burgundy is the ruling house in the Kingdom of Burgundy, in the Holy Roman Empire, being, after the Habsburgs of Austria, the greatest power in the Holy Roman Empire.
The house arose after the end of the Twenty Years' War (1618-1638), after the victory of the Habsburgs against the Protestant alliance, and the fall of the Dutch Republic, in a unique situation, the lands of the council of Flanders, which included the Spanish Netherlands, the recently defeated Dutch Republic and the County of Burgundy were merged into the Kingdom of Burgundy within the Holy Roman Empire in an attempt to make Holland more loyal by having much more autonomy within the new kingdom and convert them back to Catholicism.
The throne of the new kingdom was given to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, who had been an important general during the war, being responsible for the invasion and capture of the Dutch Republic, during the Hundred Days Campaign of 1634, the new king adopted the name of Leopold I Wilhelm and at the same time married Claude Françoise of Lorraine, securing the Duchy of Lorraine for her new kingdom
The house of Habsburg-Burgundy has reigned over Burgundy ever since, expanding its lands during the Nine Years' War (1748-1757) and being an important artistic and mercantile center in Europe.
List of Heads of the House of Habsburg-Burgundy/Kings of Burgundy (1636-Present):

• Name of Monarch / Lifespan / Age at which he died / Reign / Years of Reign / Relationship to previous monarch
• Leopold I Wilhelm (1614-1684) (70) (1638-1684) (46) (Son of Ferdinand II of the Holy Roman Empire and Maria Anna of Bavaria)
• Karl I Leopold (1638-1720) (81) (1684-1720) (36) (Son of Leopold I Wilhelm and Duchess Claude of Lorraine)
• Leopold II Karl (1661-1742) (81) (1720-1742) (22) (Son of Karl I Leopold and Mary Stuart)
• Leopold III Franz (1689-1771) (81) (1742-1771) (29) (Son of Leopold II Karl and Marie Louise of France)
• Ferdinand I (1713-1798) (84) (1771-1798) (27) (Son of Leopold III Franz and Maria Magdalena of Austria)
• Karl II (1739-1818) (78) (1798-1818) (20) (Son of Ferdinand I and Antonia of Spain)
• Karl III (1765-1845) (80) (1818-1845) (27) (Son of Karl II and Eleonore Maria of Palatinate)
• Rudolf I (1768-1850) (82) (1845-1850) (5) (Brother of Karl III, Son of Karl II and Eleonore Maria of Palatiante)
• Leopold IV (1791-1861) (70) (1850-1861) (11) (Son of Rudolf I and Elisabeth Ursula of Poland and Saxony)
• Friedrich Leopold (1794-1872) (78) (1861-1872) (11) (Brother of Leopold IV, Son of Rudolf I and Elisabeth Ursula of Poland and Saxony)
• Rudolf II (1818-1903) (85) (1872-1903) (31) (Son of Friedrich Leopold and Princess Charlotte of the United Kingdoms)
• Ferdinand II Franz (1843-1926) (83) (1903-1906*) (3) (Son of Rudolf II and Maria Karolina of Austria)
• Sigismund (1845-1927) (82) (1906-1927) (21) (Brother of Ferdinand II Franz, Son of Rudolf II and Maria Karolina of Austria)
• Karl IV Leopold (1867-1939) (72) (1927-1939) (12) (Son of Sigismund and Maria Luisa of Spain)
• Rudolf III (1890-1968) (78) (1939-1968) (29) (Son of Karl IV Leopold and Augusta Wilhelmina of Baden-Baden)
• Leopold V Wilhelm (1914-1997) (83) (1968-1997) (29) (Son of Rudolf III and Vittoria Emanuella of Savoy)
• Karl V Leopold (1939-Present) (61) (1997-Present) (3) (Son of Leopold V Wilhelm and Alexandra of Greece)

*Forced to abdicate due to mental illness

 

[AztecXVII]

Parent House: House of Tudor, House of Wittelsbach
Name: House of Palatine
Title(s): Duke of Palatine-Neuburg, Duke of Somerset, Prince of Orange, King of England
Region of Origin: England
*Region of Rule: England,
Founder: Louis I and II "the Just"
Timespan: England- 1558-1705, Holland- 1598-1675, Palatine-Neuburg- 1552-1799
History:
The house of Palatine is founded with the birth of Louis, illegitimate son of Princess Mary Tudor (Mary I) and Philipp, Duke of Palatine-Neuburg. Born during the reign of his maternal grandfather, the infamous Henry VIII, his birth was met with outrage from both Henry and Otto Henry, older brother of Philipp. In the following few days, however, Henry VIII recognized his grandson and offered Philipp the hand of his daughter (possibly to legitimize his only grandson). While accounts are scarce on Philipp's reaction on hearing of his son's birth they all agree that he was overjoyed and decided to journey to England to wed his beloved. Unfortunately, he would catch an unknown illness on his journey and die, having never met his only child. On the death of his younger brother, Otto Henry declared his nephew and closest blood relative the heir to the Duchy of Palatine-Neuburg, and acknowledged him as a legitimate member of the house of Wittelsbach, having asked king Henry to do the same. Henry, though joyous with his first grandson, was not thrilled with the idea of recognizing him as a member of the Wittelsbach for he feared that it would challenge the legitimacy of his only son, future king Edward VI. He did award him the duchy of Somerset and accepted him as a member of the royal dynasty. At the age of 12, the good-looking and intelligent Louis inherited the duchy of Palatine-Neuburg from his uncle. He would leave for the duchy and return only on the mother's coronation in 1553, a year later, when he was crowned the Prince of Wales and duke of Cornwall. Having grown up with a protestant upbringing, it surprised even his devout mother on his willing conversion to Catholicism. His ideals were, however, much less fanatical than his mother's whom he succeeded at the age of 17, becoming Louis II (the I being french king Louis "the Lion" who was offered the throne by english nobles but never properly crowned due to his refusal to allow nobility the power to control the english crown in his behalf). The first half of his reign was spend fighting radical protestants and Catholics alike and securing his crown which was done by marrying his cousin, archduchess Barbara daughter of Ferdinand I HRE. In 1566 he solidified the house of Palatine (the name Wittelsbach was considered too german and so was Neuburg) by bethrowing his newborn son, future king Louis III, with Anne Dudley, the only daughter of his aunt Elisabeth Tudor, was married to Robert Dudley, 1st earl of Leicester. His reighn is remembered as beign peaceful and prosperous and after hisdeath he was succeeded by his oldest son Louis as king of england and second son Philipp II as duke of Palatine-Neuburg . A third son William became William II, Prince of Orange through marriage.

The house of Palatine would rule 3 major European states with varied religious policies until 1799, when Philipp VII the last Palatine duke of Neuberg would die without heirs. The house in England would be ended with the reign of Mary II, who would be succeeded by her niece Elisabeth I while the one ruling Orange, then subsequently all of Holland, would fall in 1675 when the only son of William IV, Fredrick William, would predeceases his father in 1674.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

Parent House: House of Tudor
Name: House of Tudor-Dudley
Titles: Queen of England and Ireland, Princess of Asturias, Queen of France
Region of Origin: England
*Region of Rule: England
Founder: Anne I
Timespan: 1551-
History:
Anne Dudley was the bastard daughter of Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, born just after his marriage to Amy Robsart. This birth infuriated Edward VI and Mary I in turn, but it was too late. When Mary came to power, she tried to convince Elizabeth to disavow her daughter and marry a man of her choosing, but Elizabeth refused. The death of Amy Robsart in 1555 of a miscarriage was a blessing to Elizabeth, as she quickly became Robert's second wife and they produced another three daughters (named Mary, Elizabeth and Margaret in that order). Mary had the couple locked up in the Tower separately, so the fact that these children were conceived anyway infuriated her. However she did not condone any suggestions of executing Elizabeth, and instead simply forced little Anne Dudley to marry her husband's son Carlos and shipped her away to Spain. Thus, upon the accession of Elizabeth I, she only had three daughters with her in England. Since she respected the line of succession she did not try to tamper with it, instead negotiating with Philip II so that her daughter could spend six months in Spain and six in England. The childless marriage of Carlos and Anne ended with his death and young Anne would remarry to Charles IX of France, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Since the daughter could not inherit France, she was shipped over to England to be trained by her grandmother as her heiress (never mind that Anne was still alive). In 1603 Anne I finally became Queen of England, ruling for two decades before dying and allowing her daughter to become Elizabeth II (and Elizabeth II had four children with her husband and reigned for seventy years). Thus, the Tudor-Dudley line still lives on today.

 

[FouDuRoy]

Parent House: House of Capet
Name: House of Vexin
Titles: Count of Vexin, Lord of Cyprus, Emperor of Constantinople, King of Jerusalem, King of Greece
Region of Origin: France
Region of Rule: Cyprus, Empire of Constantinople, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Greece
Founder: Hughes, count of Vexin (aka Hugues Auguste)
Timespan: 1192-1525, then 1827-present

History:

In 1167, Adèle de Champagne, Queen of the Franks, gave birth to a second son, just two years after the first one. King Louis VII was overjoyed. For decades, he had hoped for a son and, now, he had two. He had named his first son Philippe after both his grandfather Philippe I and his deceased older brother. He named the second one Hugues, after both his ancestor Hugues Capet and his great-uncle the count of Vermandois. He also gave him the title of count of Vexin. Four years later, Adèle also gave birth to a daughter named Agnès who married two Byzantine emperors.

Louis VII died in 1180 and Philippe became king of the Franks as Philippe II. In 1190, Philippe II left for the Third Crusade. After some hesitations, Hugues decided to come with him. During the Crusade, some disagreements appeared between Philippe and the king of England, Richard Lionheart. Especially, they did not support the same claimer to the throne of Jerusalem : Richard supported Guy de Lusignan, widower of the deceased Queen Sibylla, while Philippe supported Sibylla’s half-sister Isabella and her husband Conrad de Montferrat. After having contracted some sickness, Philippe came back to France, letting the command of his troops to his brother Hugues. Richard and Hugues found an agreement. Guy stayed king of Jerusalem but Isabella and Conrad became his heirs. Also, Hugues married Richard’s sister Joan, the queen dowager of Sicily, and Richard gave them the island of Cyprus, that he had conquered during the Crusade. However, Guy was so much of a fool that most of the barons of Jerusalem rebelled aginst him and pressured Richard until he reluctantly agreed to depose Guy and give the throne to Isabella and Conrad. Unfortunately, Conrad was assassinated soon after. Instead of giving back the throne to Guy, the barons chose Henri de Champagne, paternal half-nephew and maternal first cousin of Philippe and Hugues and maternal half-nephew of Richard, and he married Isabella, despite her being pregnant by Conrad. Richard left the kingdom of Jerusalem soon later and Guy died in 1194, putting an end to his claim. Henri died too in 1197 and Isabella needed a new husband again. Hugues, now lord of Cyprus alongside his wife Joan, suggested his friend Geoffroy V « Le Trouillard » de Joinville and the marriage was quickly celebrated. Just one year later, Queen Isabella gave birth to a son who was named Baldwin, like so many kings of Jerusalem. He was the heir to the throne, Isabella having only daughters from her previous marriages. Around the same time, Joan, after two miscarriages, also gave birth to a healthy son. He was named Henri after the late Henri de Champagne, but also after both Joan’s father King Henry II of England and Hugues’ uncle Henri, bishop of Beauvais.

In the West, a new crusade was organized, under the impulse of Pope Innocent III. These new Crusaders made a pact with Venice in order to get ships and invaded the Western Christian city of Zara, much to the scandal of entire Christendom, leading Innocent III to excommunicate them. After that, they were hired by a Byzantine prince called Alexios Angelos to overthrow his uncle, Emperor Alexios III. King Hugues was quickly informed of that and decided to go to Constantinople in order to take control of the Crusade. When he arrived, Alexios III had already escaped and his namesake nephew Alexios Angelos had become emperor as Alexios IV. However, Alexios IV seemed reluctant to pay the Crusaders (It is true that Alexios III had taken most of the imperial treasure with him when he escaped). As a result, the Crusaders, who were waiting for their payment next to the city, were much dissatisfied. But Alexios IV did not reign for long. He was overthrown, killed and replaced by a new emperor who was very much anti-Latin : Alexios V. After that, the Crusaders realized they could not expect anything from the Byzantines and they decided to take Constantinople for themselves. Hugues realized the Crusaders had no obvious candidate to the imperial throne anymore, Alexios IV being dead. The main leader of the crusade, Boniface de Montferrat (Conrad’s brother) would like to become emperor but had no legitimate claim. Thus, Hugues offered himelf as a candidate to the imperial throne, arguing he had a legitimate claim due to the Capets’ (alledged) imperial Byzantine ancestry through both Constance of Arles and Anna of Kiev. The Crusaders invaded Constatinople and plundered the city for three days. Boniface de Montferrat was killed in the battle (some people suspected Hugues to have killed this rival to the imperial throne). During the plunder, Hugues went to Saint Sophia Basilica and was crowned emperor by a mere Latin priest who had come with him. Also, Hugues was reunited with his sister, Emperess Dowager Agnès (or Anna as the Byzantines had renamed her). Agnès/Anna and her paramour, General Theodore Branas, sent letters to Byzantines officers in the entire empire in order to inform them they had a new emperor : Hugues. This recognizance of the emperess dowager and a prominent general led many Byzantine officers to recognize Hugues as emperor. But not all crusaders agreed with Hugues being emperor. And the Venitians disliked the idea even more. Boniface de Montferrat being dead, Hugues negociated with the other leaders of the Crusade and granted them some territories, making them his vassals. As for the Venitians, Hugues simply sent them back to Venice with nothing.

Hugues still had competitors to the imperial throne. Alexios V had joined Alexios III to the city of Mosynopolis and the two had made an alliance, Alexios V marrying Alexios III’s daughter Eudokia and becoming his heir. Theodore Laskaris, husband of Alexios III’s other daughter Anna, also claimed the imperial throne and had control over a large part of Anatolia, around the city of Nicaea. Finally, there were the Komnenos claimers, in Trebizonde.

Hugues firstly assured peace with Kaloyan, tsar of Bulgaria. He offered Agnès/Anna as a wife to Kaloyan’s nephew and designated heir, Boril. Then, he attacked Mosynopolis and easily defeated and killed the two Alexios. This victory assured him control over entire Greece. He also got rid of a guy named Michael Komnenos Doukas, a bastard with some Komnenos ancestry, who had tried to build a lordship around Epirus.

Hugues was less successful with Nicaea. Hugues had promised this city as a fief to his half-nephew/first-cousin Louis de Blois but Theodore Laskaris managed to defend his territories. However, after Theodore’s two sons death in 1212, Hugues made him a proposal. Theodore’s eldest daugher Irene would marry Louis’ son Thibaut. After Theodore’s death, Thibaut and Irene would become duke and duchess of Nicaea and Hugues’ vassals. In exchange, Louis, as Louis VII’s grandson and descendant of Constance of Arles and Anna of Kiev, would become next-in-line for the imperial throne after Hugues and his descendants. It implied Thibaut and Irene, or their descendants, could inherit the imperial throne if Hugues’ line ever came to an end. This scenario was far from unlikely at this time : Hugues had only one child, his son Henri, and his wife Joan was already 47 years old. Theodore was reluctant but finally agreed. As a result, Nicaea became part of the Empire of Constantinople after his death. Hugues also arranged a great marriage for his son : Henri married none other than Maria of Jerusalem, daughter of Isabella and Conrad. As for Trebizonde, it was far away and separated from the Empire of Constantinople by muslim territories so Hugues simply did not care.

In France, Philippe II was as successful as Hugues : he managed to conquer most of the Plantagenets’ continental territories and he defeated a coalition that gathered the king of England (not Richard anymore but his younger brother John), the count of Flanders and the Holy Roman Emperor. But, of course, this is another story we all know.

As a praise for their respective victories, the two brothers Philippe and Hugues were both nicknamed « Auguste ».

For around two centuries, the House of Vexin consolidated the Empire of Constantinople, reconquered some former Byzantine territories and even achieved personal union with the kingdom of Jerusalem thanks to Henri’s marriage to Maria : Isabella’s son Baldwin became king as Baldwin VI of Jerusalem but his bloodline came to an end after two generations, leading to Maria’s descendants to inherit the throne of Jerusalem. The House of Vexin seemed so invincible that some Christians began to dream about a reconquest of Alexander the Great’s empire. After all, weren’t the Capets also descendants of the Argeads through the Arsacids ? But this dream was broken by the rise of a new power : the Ottomans. For the entire XVth century, the Ottomans fought the Empire of Constantinople. The Vexins resisted as much as they could. They even managed to defeat the terrible Sultan Mehmed II who had foolishly tried to conquer Constantinople. But, in 1525, Suleiman the Magnificent achieved what Mehmed II had unsuccessfully tried. Not only Constantinople but the entire Empire was conquered by Suleiman and became the Ottoman Empire. The princes from the House of Vexin initially took refuge in Spain as they hoped Emperor Charles V, the king of Spain, would help them to recover their throne. However, they quickly realized Charles V and his family did not believe in their cause and did not care about them. Thus, the Vexins came back to their original land : their county of Vexin that they had never renounce to.

The Vexins lived as mere French counts for two centuries. They were not allowed to appear in French court as their cousins the kings of France had made an alliance with the Ottomans against the Habsburgs. Oddly, it was the French Revolution that helped them to come back to favor. In 1789, the head of the House of Vexin, Charles de Vexin, was one the many noblemen who escaped from France. He and his wife and kids took refuge in England. However, when he learnt about the royalist resistance in Vendee, he quickly came back and joined L’Armée Catholique et Royale. Of course, it did not change the end of this civil war and Charles de Vexin was killed alongside the Vendeans. His children grew up in England. There, they met their distant cousins, the exiled Bourbons. Charles’ son Louis de Vexin joined Wellington’s forces and took part to the battles in Spain and France against Napoleon Bonaparte. He was alongside his cousin Louis-Antoine d’Artois (aka Louis XIX) when he entered Bordeaux.

In the 1821, the Greeks rebelled against the Ottomans in order to make Greece independant. King Charles X of France supported this movement and naturally offered Louis de Vexin as a candidate to the throne of Greece. The independance was achieved and Louis de Vexin was officially crowned king of Greece as King Louis I of Greece the 15 of august 1827. The House of Vexin is still on the throne of Greece today. As for the empire of Alexander the Great, it is still to reconquer.

 

[material_boy]

Parent House: Bonde
Name: Karlsson
Title(s):

• feudal lord of Viborg
• "prince of Karelia" (unofficial)
• co-regent of Sweden
• king of Finland
• duke of Joensuu
• duke of Sundholmen
• duke of Viborg
• prince of Karelia (official)
• others

Region of Origin: duchy of Finland
Region of Rule: duchy and later kingdom of Finland
Founder: Karl Karlsson
Timespan: 1488-present
History:

Born in 1465, Karl Karlsson was the bastard son of King Karl VIII of Sweden and the king's Finnish mistress, Kristina Abrahamsdotter. It was a chaotic time for the Swedes.

Queen Margarete of Denmark, Norway and Sweden had joined the three Scandinavian kingdoms in a personal union in the late 14th century. The three kingdoms remained sovereign states with their own laws and customs, but under a shared monarch. This arrangement, known as the Kalmar Union, came about in part because the local nobilities wanted closer relations to provide a check against the power of the Hanseatic League and in part because of Margarete's unique political and diplomatic talents.

Margarete's successor, King Erik VII of Denmark, III of Norway, and XIII of Sweden, envisioned a closer union between the three kingdoms. His attempts to centralize power provoked a fierce backlash and he was eventually deposed in all three kingdoms.

Denmark elected King Christoffer III after Erik's deposition, but the Swedes withheld their endorsement of the new king for two years. They were governed by Karl Knutsson Bonde as regent in the interim. Christoffer died childless in 1448, at which time the Swedes elected their former regent as King Karl VIII while Denmark and Norway elected King Christian I. The two kings fought for control of Sweden on and off for the next two decades.

Karl VIII wed Birgitta Turesdotter Bielke, whose family hailed from the lower nobility, long before his election to the throne. They had a son and a daughter, but their son died in adolescence. Birgitta died in 1436. Karl remarried to Katarina Karlsdotter Gumsehufvud. They had four sons and four daughters, but all four sons died in infancy. Katarina died in 1450. (All of Karl's daughters survived to adulthood.)

Christian I gained the upper hand against Karl and was crowned king of Sweden in 1457. Karl fled to Turku, in Swedish Finland—where he first met Kristina Abrahamsdotter and took her as his mistress—before going into exile in Danzig. Restored to the throne in 1464, Karl brought Kristina with him to Stockholm. She gave birth to their son Karl the following year.

By 1470, Karl VIII was an old man and dying. Twice widowered and with only one surviving son—his bastard, Karl—the king wed Kristina on his deathbed, legitimized Karl, and disinherited his sons-in-law by his many daughters. In his will, the king named his nephew, Sten Sture the Elder, both guardian of the king's personal land (his share of the Bonde family lands he had inherited from his father and the Ulv lands that he had inherited from his mother) until young Karl came of age and also guardian of the crown's lands until a regent could be elected.

Sture was elected regent in 1471. He crushed Christian I in battle later that same year, ending the prospect of Kalmar restoration for a generation. Sture's victory in battle made him a national hero and cemented his position as leader of Sweden. The Dowager Queen Kristina, however, was despised. The upper nobility considered her too lowly-born to have been made queen and the lower classes, with whom Sture was incredibly popular, saw her as a threat to the regency. She left Stockholm and returned to Finland with her two children in 1472. Young Karl was thus raised far away from the halls of power, despite being his father's chosen successor.

In 1488, Karl appeared in Stockholm to claim his father's lands. Sture, who had profited greatly from control of the Bonde and Ulv estates, denied Karl his inheritance. Karl eventually agreed to a cash settlement, selling his patrimony to Sture for large sums of gold and jewels.

Karl made no claim to the Swedish throne during his brief time in Stockholm, perhaps recognizing that his claim was worthless. Sture was broadly popular and had grown accustomed to rule after nearly two decades in power. Sture had a wide coalition of supporters—the lower nobility, wealthy merchants, artisans, miners and the peasantry. The upper nobility was generally opposed to Sture, but these lords supported the restoration of the Kalmar Union. Karl returned to Finland in 1489.

Christian I had died in 1481 and was succeeded by his son, King Hans of Denmark and Norway. Tensions between Sture and Hans rose in the late 1480s and early 1490s. Sture began to increasingly lean on one of his top lieutenants, Knut Jönsson Posse, for the defense of Finland during this time. Posse brought Karl into his service and, impressed by the young prince, arranged for Karl to wed his (Posse's) niece, Gertrud Nilsdotter Posse.

Karl and Posse gained fame for their spirited defense of Finland during the Russo-Swedish War of 1495–1497. Posse became an almost-legendary figure for his defense of the fortress at Viborg, but he was entering old age and retired from warfare soon thereafter. Karl, who had chased the Russian invaders from the gates of Turku back to their homeland, was made feudal lord of Viborg after Posse's retirement. A war hero of royal blood, Karl was hailed as the "prince of Karelia" by the local population.

Sweden had won the war with Russia in the east, but the conflict presented King Hans with an opportunity to invade from the west. After nearly three decades, Swedish lords finally broke Sture's hold on power and crowned Hans king of Sweden in 1497. Hans, who was also duke of Schleswig and Holstein, was soon preoccupied by a peasant revolt in his ducal territories. Loss in battle to the peasants in 1500 was an extraordinary embarrassment for the king and a clear sign of weakness. Sture deposed Hans from the throne of Sweden and returned as regent in 1501. His second regency was dominated by war with Hans, which continued on after Sture's death in 1503.

Hans's deposition and Sture's death led Karl to finally press his claim to the throne. He was hugely popular with the people in the east and swept through Finland in 1504, setting up court in Turku before the end of the year. Karl lacked a base of support in Stockholm, though, and was unable to depose Svante Nilsson, Sture's successor as regent of Sweden. The new regent and the pretender king became intense rivals, but never actually engaged in direct hostilities. Karl lacked the resources to invade Sweden or take Stockholm by force, and the regent was too preoccupied with the war against Hans to attack Karl in Finland. Stalemate ensued. During this time, Karl began signing documents as the "prince of Karelia," the title which had been given to him by the people, and the "rightful king of Sweden."

Svante died in 1512, shortly before a peace deal was signed with Hans. Svante's son was quickly elected regent and took the name Sten Sture the Younger, despite being only a distant relative of Sten Sture the Elder. Sture the Younger recognized that peace with Denmark was fragile and that renewed war was inevitable. As such, he made peace with Karl. They negotiated an arrangement that stopped short of electing Karl as king, fearing that such a move would invite war with Denmark sooner rather than later. Instead, they established a "co-regency," with Sture the Younger and Karl as its heads. Though both were titled "co-regent of Sweden," Sture the Younger had control over the affairs of Sweden and Karl had control over the affairs of Finland. In this, both men committed to the pretension that there was still one united kingdom of Sweden while, in effect, formalizing the split between Sweden and Finland.

King Hans died in 1513 and was succeeded by his son, King Christian II of Denmark and Norway. Christian began the Danish reconquest of Sweden in 1517, which ended three years later with Sture the Younger's execution and Christian's coronation as king of Sweden. Christian summoned Karl to Stockholm to offer his submission, hoping to gain control of Finland quickly and peacefully. Karl rejected this summons and instead had himself crowned King Karl I of Finland on Christmas Day 1520, finally and fully breaking Finland from Swedish rule.

---

I got a little carried away. I might make a short TL about this

 

[LeoII]

Parent House: Artaxiad Dynasty/Artashesian dynasty
Name: Tigranids/Tigranyans
Title(s): Kings of Sophene, Heirs of Armenia, Kings of Armenia
Region of Origin: Armenia
Region of Rule: Sophene/Tsopk, Armenia
Founder: Tigrannes the Younger
Timespan: Sophene 65 BC-1 AD, Armenia 55 BC-36 BC, 1 AD-54 AD
History: Tigran the Great, King of Kings of the Armenian Empire had three sons that history remembers: Artavasdes II, Zariades, and Tigranes the Younger. Tigranes the Younger was his eldest son and heir to the throne. But in 66 BC, he had a falling out with his father. Allying himself with Phraates III of the Parthians, he betrayed his father and nation, and attempted to aid the Parthian Empire in conquering Armenia. His father was able to resist the attacks long enough for Civil War to draw Phraates back to Parthia, while Tigranes the Younger was left to siege his father at Artaxata. Defeated by Tigran the Great, Tigranes the Younger was forced to flee.

He allied himself with Pompey of Rome, and this ally was able to defeat Tigranes the Great. However, Tigran the Great surrendered his crown, and Pompey allowed him to keep the Kingdom. Tigranes the Younger was instead made King of Sophene, a region of the Kingdom of Armenia, that had at times been a separate Kingdom itself. He was also promised to be the King of Armenia once his father died. Deciding patience was the wiser course, and that remaining friendly with Pompey would be best, Tigranes the Younger ruled Sophene with his wife, the Daughter of Phraates until 55 BC, when his father died. With the help of the Triumvirate of Rome, Tigranes was made King of Armenia. However, his younger brother, Artavasdes only pretended to accept this, waiting for the chance to overthrow his traitor brother. Tigranes the Younger, now Tigranes III, would have chaos in his reign soon after his ascencion as Phraates III had been assassinated by his sons Mithridates IV and Orodes. The two brothers had then started waging war over the kingship of Parthia. Throwing his lot in with his fellow older son and heir, Mithridates IV, Tigranes the Younger helped Mithridates regain his throne from Orodes in 55 BC. Mithridates was later usurped and killed by his brother once again. Tigranes, facing a revolt from within by Armenian nobles lead by his own brother, Artavasdes, had been unable to help. He managed to retain his home and exile his brother. This would be his undoing. Once Orodes had won, Tigranes the Younger accepted the new King of Parthia at the urging of his wife, the new King's sister. Thus when Marcus Licinius Crassus tried to invade Parthia, Tigranes offered tacit support only to betray Crassus and give him up to the Parthians. This would come back to haunt him, as Rome would be angered by the betrayal, and would throw their support with Artavasdes. In 36 BC when Mark Antony came to wage war on Parthia, Artavasdes was with him. Tigranes was overthrown and Artavasdes became King of Armenia. Tigrannes the Younger was executed by his brother, but his son, Guras I was kept as King of Sophene to keep Artavasdes in line.

From then on, the Artaxias Dynasty was forever split. The main branch, the descendants of Artavasdes II would denounce Tigran the Younger as Tigran the Traitor, or Tigran Davajan. The line of TIgran the Younger of Sophene, meanwhile, would claim themselves to be the true line of Artaxias, and would denounce the line of Artavasdes as usurpers. History has more or less accepted the Artavasdes view, with the Artaxiads of Sophene being named the Tigranids after their founder to distinguish them from the main branch of the Artaxiad Dynasty. The most ironic thing would be that while Artavasdes was hailed as the restorer, who avenged his father Tigran Metz of the traitorous heir, he would not live long enough to have his reign compared to his brothers. The flighty Mark Antony, after losing to the Parthians, would capture and execute Artavasdes, and Guras I, King of Sophene and heir of Tigranes the Younger would try to press his claim to his Uncle's throne, but would be rebuffed by his cousin Artaxes II with the help of Phraates IV.

From then on the Artaxiads and Tigranids would be rivals for the throne of Armenia, and the Romans and Parthians would often use one or the other to gain influence over Armenia. The main branch would usually have the support of the Armenian nobility, until the year 1 AD when Tigranes IV of the Artaxiad Line had been killed in battle, likely a revolt against his rule. The Romans would appoint Zariades III, King of Sophene as King of Armenia. He would marry the wife and paternal half-sister of Tigranes IV, Erato, and together they would rule Armenia, uniting the warring branches of the Artaxiads, and uniting Sophene with Armenia proper. Their descendants and heirs would reign until 51 AD when Guras V was assassinated by his nephew Mithridates of Parthia before being supplanted by Rhadamistus with the support of Rome, who would become the founder of the Pharnavazid Dynasty of Armenia.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tigran the Younger presented a rare oppurtunity of the older son and heir being the founder of a cadet branch, while the younger son continued the main branch. In actual history, Tigran the Younger was quickly supplanted from the rulership of Sophene and is lost to history. It is thought that this either happened because he was still plotting against his father with Phraates III, or because he and Pompey had a falling out over the treasury of Sophene. In this ATL, I covered both bases by having him wait for his father to die this time, and comply with Pompey to retain Roman support.

 

[30PrincesAndAKing]

Parent House: Staufer dynasty
Name: House of Capua
Title(s): King of Sardinia and Corsica, Judge of Arborea, Prince of Capua
Region of Origin: Sicily
Region of Rule: Sardinia
Founder: Federico di Messina
Timespan: 1285-1538
History:

Federico di Messina was an illegitimate son of Manfred, King of Sicily, himself a bastard of Emperor Frederick II. He was born to a Messinian woman around 1255, during the breakdown of Manfred's marriage to Beatrice of Savoy, at which time his father Manfred acted as regent for his absentee nephew Conradin. Federico was only three years old when his father used false rumours of Conradin’s death to usurp the throne in 1258.

Federico's position at court during these years was ambiguous. King Manfred's only legitimate children were daughters, and since Manfred was widely believed to be illegitimate himself, Federico was seen in some Sicilian circles as his natural successor. Yet Manfred likely regarded himself as legitimate, owing to the 'marriage' of his parents on his mother's deathbed, and thus historians see it as unlikely that Manfred saw Federico as a legitimate heir to the throne. Still, as the only son of the king--legitimate or otherwise--Federico was groomed to be a trusted agent of the king and was even granted the lofty title of 'Prince of Capua,' though this was merely an empty honour given Federico's youth.

When the Sicilian throne was offered to Charles of Anjou by Pope Urban IV, Federico was only eight years old. Even while a veritable crusade preached against his father, Federico's early life was spent in relative tranquility; excommunication being not an uncommon state for members of the Staufer dynasty. Moreover, it took several years for Charles of Anjou to amass the resources necessary for his campaign, during which time Federico grew into a squire of some renown, being only twelve or thirteen at the time.

Even so, the Angevin invasion proved successful, and Federico's father was defeated and killed in early 1266. Unable to resist the vast ambitions (and even vaster support) of Charles of Anjou, Federico was nevertheless determined to avenge his father's defeat, and uniquely among his kindred managed to escape from Angevin grasp and thus fled to neighboring Sardinia, where he was greeted with some friendliness by the Judges there. They had little love for Federico, but even less for Charles of Anjou and the Papacy. Given their mutual animosity for both, and having nothing to lose, the Judges pledged support for Federico's cause, though some modern historians argue that this was merely given as an excuse to send Federico away as soon as possible.

Orphaned, Federico entered into the service of Judge/King Marianus II of Arborea and acted as a foster-son to the powerful lord. Though Pope Innocent V offered Marianus to abandon his young ward, the Judge refused, as the promised rewards did little to benefit the Judge. Upon the childless death of Marianus’s son John, Marianus contracted a marriage between Federico and his illegitimate daughter Barisone. This match would prove very fortuitous for the young Federico. Upon Marianus’s death without legitimate issue, Federico became a quasi-legitimate representative of one of the largest Judicates in Sardinia, gaining him much-needed local support and connections in his future endeavors.

Despite these advances, Federico was not yet the center of Staufen resistance to Angevin rule. It was only after his cousin Conradin died attempting to retake his throne from Charles of Anjou that Federico saw any measure of support to claim Sicily, though he declined to make any overt overtures. Though he was unable to take any actions to resist Angevin rule in Sicily, Federico did see some success endearing himself to the Sardinians. With the early death of Nino Visconti, the Judge/King of Gallura in 1285, Federico was left as the most powerful ruler on the island. Following in the example of his father, Federico used this as an opportunity to enact a coup, claiming the title "King of Sardinia and Corsica."

A fledgling Staufer king greatly alarmed the Papacy, and Pope Innocent V even offered the Sardinian crown to his own rival Peter III of Aragon, in the hopes that his adventures in Sardinia would distract his intentions away from the island of Sicily while at the same time removing a common enemy. Peter, Federico's brother-in-law, landed in Palmas, and the two kings met in battle. Federico was defeated, but critically, not killed. While Peter dutifully received his papal 'inheritance,' he just as swiftly returned home to Aragon aiming to plan another Sicilian campaign. Upon his departure, Federico simply took back the territories Peter had 'conquered' and resumed his kingship. Federico’s position was further strengthened by Peter’s death that November.

Commonly disparaged as a "bastard's bastard," he received little sympathy for his cause in Western Christendom. Nevertheless, Federico greatly benefited from the scientific and artistic atmosphere of his father's court at Palermo, as it enabled him to enhance the prestige of his newly minted Sardinian court, ensuring it stood above a mere novelty. His tutelage under Tosorat Uberti is also credited with expanding Pisan influence in the fledgeling kingdom, though the extent of this is disputed by some historians.

When the Angevins issued an order of expulsion for the Jewish population of the Regno in 1288, Federico happily invited them to take sanctuary in Sardinia, further earning him the enmity of the papacy. When King Edward I of England expelled the Jews from England two years later, Federico invited them as well, though given the distance historians do not believe many made the journey. While this did little to enhance Federico’s prestige or earn him allies at home or abroad, the skilled mercantile immigrants he invited are thought to have had a positive impact in expanding Sardinia’s economy.

After a long and surprisingly effective reign, Federico passed his throne to his eldest son, Marianus I. Marianus I was able to establish ties with the Papacy on the condition of making his kingdom a papal fief, to which the Pope agreed, finally smoothing over relations between Federico’s dynasty and the papacy.

Despite the occasionally major successes of Federico’s reign and subsequent dynasty, the first Sardinian kingdom was ultimately annexed by Spain in 1538, finally ending the last line of Staufers occupying a throne.

 

[The Gybson Boy]

Parent House: House of Lorraine, Capetian Dinasty, House of Valois-Angoulême
Name: Guise
Title(s):

• King of France
• Duke of Aleçon
• Duke of Anjou
• Duke of Berry
• Duke of Orleans

Region of Origin: France and Lorraine
Region of Rule: France
Founder: Henri IV of France
Timespan: 1589-Present
History:
The house of Guise is the reigning house of the Kingdom of France. The house came about as a result of the War of the Three Henrys (1585-1590), the death of François, Duke of Anjou caused a terrible succession crisis in France that made the Protestant Henry of Navarre heir to the throne of the childless Henry III, whose death would extinguish the House of Valois.
The increasing popularity of Henri, Duke of Guise and the incompetence of King Henri III meant that in 1589 open war broke out between the royalists and the Catholic League, King Henri III was assassinated by the Duke of Guise in January 1589 , in the same month the Duke of Guise convinced the States-General to proclaim him King Henri IV, to guarantee his own reclaiming of the throne he married his eldest son, now Charles, Dauphin of France with Princess Marie Elisabeth de Valois, only daughter of the late King Charles IX.
The War of the Three Henrys ended at the Battle of Ivry in March 1590, when King Henri III of Navarre was killed in battle, ending the Huguenots' hopes of a Protestant King in France. purge of Protestant Huguenots and the house of Guise has remained the supreme ruler of France to this day.
List of Heads of the House of Guise/Kings of France (1555-Present):

• Name of Monarch / Lifespan / Age at which he died / Reign / Years of Reign / Relationship to previous monarch
• Henri IV (1550-1620) (70) (1589-1620) (31) (Assassinated Henri III and was elected king by the Estates-General)
• Charles X (1571-1640) (69) (1620-1640) (20) (Son of Henri IV and Catherine of Cleves)
• Henri V (1592-1664) (72) (1640-1664) (24) (Son of Charles X and Marie Elisabeth of France)
• Charles XI (1613-1671) (58) (1664-1671) (7) (Son of Henri V)
• François III (1636-1712) (76) (1671-1712) (41) (Son of Charles XI)
• Henri VI (1659-1725) (66) (1712-1725) (13) (Son of François III)
• Louis XIII (1683-1762) (79) (1725-1762) (37) (Son of Henri VI)
• Charles XII (1706-1777) (71) (1762-1777) (15) (Son of Louis XIII)
• Charles XIII (1729-1792) (63) (1777-1792) (15) (Son of Charles XII)
• Henri VII (1752-1811) (59) (1792-1811) (19) (Son of Charles XIII)
• Robert III (1799-1881) (82) (1811-1881) (70) (Grandson of Henri VII)
• François IV (1822-1901) (79) (1881-1901) (20) (Son of Robert III)
• Robert IV (1844-1921) (77) (1901-1921) (20) (Son of François IV)
• Louis XIV (1868-1944) (76) (1921-1944) (23) (Son of Robert IV)
• Charles XIV (1890-1952) (62) (1944-1952) (8) (Son of Louis XIV)
• Henri VIII (1894-1967¹) (73) (1952-1967) (15) (Brother of Charles XIV, Son of Louis XIV)
• François V (1951-Present) (71) (1967-Incubent) (55) (Grandson of Henri VIII, Son of Charles, Duke of Britanny)

1-Assassinated while leaving the opera with his nephew Charles, Duke of Brittany

 

[Tosa Inu]

Parent House: House of Habsburg (Spanish and Austrian ancestries)
Name: House of Pizza (or Habsburg-Pizza)
Title(s): Viceroy of Pizzaria (original), later King of Pizzara, later Emperor of Gran Pizzaria
Region of Origin: Spain, Austria
Founder: King Juan-Jose I of Pizzaria, formerly Don Juan-Jose of Austria, bastard son of Philip IV Habsburg
Timespan: 1665 - present

History:
Don Juan-Jose's career in Europe took a bad turn after being perceived as too successful as a Military Leader and Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands. Especially since (alt) Charles II of Spain was born even more sickly (the POD). To avoid potential usurpation, the Spanish Habsburg sent him to govern the least developed region of South America, giving him the lofty, but supposedly rather empty title of Viceroy of Pizzaria (South America IOTL, named after Francisco Pizarro).

After his father's death, and his brother's not-so-surprising death soon afterward, the War of Spanish Succession happens earlier, and someone in Spain, pretending to be Charles II's regent, recalled him to Spain, but someone else tells Don Juan-Jose that it was a trap to murder him, eliminating another potential claimant for the Spanish Throne.

Don Juan Jose, being extremely popular with the Spanish Colonials and also the Natives due to his reconciliatory approach, then proclaimed as King Juan-Jose I of Pizzaria in 1677, all while the various European Powers ransacked Spanish proper. During the confusion, he somehow managed to gain the allegiance of various Governors of Spanish Americas, and the Bastard son of the previous Emperor suddenly found himself becoming the King of Two Continents. Of course, he soon learn to share his powers with others and created several hereditary Grand Duchies made from various Governorships, Indigenous Chieftains, and Military Strongmen in Spanish Americas.

Due to sheer luck, and policies of intermarrying with Catholic Indigenous Chieftains' Families, which gave the lineage of Habsburg bastard new, non-inbred blood, the new House of Pizza managed to breed themselves a series of relatively competent Kings, being Tall, Dark, and Handsome all the way.

Later on, co-opting Enlightenment and testing more liberal policies caused the Kingdom of Pizzaria to be highly regarded as a beacon of Progress in the West. Ruling a large swathe of land, from California to Tejas in the North, Mexica Gulf, Caribbean Islands, central Panama, and also the Pizzaria itself, their neighboring colony of Brazil got a bad case of Slave Rebellion and King Juan-Jose IV managed to sway the Slaves to their side by promising equality "Under God", so much that the Entirety of Brazil falls to them in the 1770s, causing the reigniting King to try to get his conquest recognized by the Pope, and much to his surprise, the Pope gave him hints that he should be Emperor instead Because those European "Emperors" now held fewer lands than him... A large donation to the Catholic Church is definitely not the reason the Pope crowned the King of Pizzaria as Emperor of Gran Pizzaria by the way.

In this alt early 20th Century there are only two "Sovereign Nations" in the Americas, the United States of America (because they rebelled from the Brits and took the entirety of Canada and Alaska), and the Empire of Gran Pizzaria, causing people to eventually call the continents as North Pizza and South Pizza, instead of America, the latter who now being synonymous only with the English-Speaking Northern parts of North Pizza. By the early 21st century, the name of North and South Pizza stuck, based on how Pizzaria was perceived to be the stronger Sovereign Entity than the other one.

Spoiler: ASB ending when our OTL meet this ATL Earth

Cue year 21XX, a Wormhole portal from another 22nd Century Earth from another dimension happened, and the People of Pizzaria wondered why the hell these Gringos laughed their asses off when hearing the name of their Glorious Empire.

 

[Declan]

Parent house: House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha
Name: O'Connell family(House of O'Connell)
Title: Duke of Curragh
Region of Origin: London/Curragh Camp(Ireland)
Founder: Dorothy O'Connell(nee Clifden) & Luke O'Connell
Timespan: 1862-present
History:
Edward VII was a womanizer. He was quite sexually active, inside and outside of marriage; in stark contrast to the surrounding Victorian era values of society at the time. Edward VII, then the 19 year old Prince of Wales and unmarried, first engaged in sex with an Irish woman he met named Nellie Clifden while he was at the Curragh military camp in Ireland. The two even continued their relationship in England when Edward returned with her.

The POD is that Edward simply knocks her up. Edward accepts that Nellie is pregnant with his child. In 1862, Nellie gives birth to a baby girl. To say the least, these causes great shame to Queen Victoria and the royal family as a whole. Not only did the crown prince engage in sex outside of marriage, he also sired a bastard child. Edward and Nellie give her the name Dorothy. As a bastard, she takes her mother's surname, Clifden and receives no titles upon her birth.

Edward would like the child to move to England and Nellie agrees to give her up; but Queen Victoria refuses to allow Dorothy to live with Edward. So Edward uses his own money to pay for home in London, close to his residence, and for caretakers as well. Throughout her childhood, Edward visits her very frequently and is active in how she is raised: even as he gets married and has other children. He has his other children meet and bond with Dorothy as they allgrow up. He also arranges for Nellie visit Dorothy, until Nellie dies while Dorothy is in her teens. To those outside royal circles, the truth kf Dorothy's paternity is kept a secret to avoid bringing shame to the royal family.

Eventually, Dorothy becomes a legal adult and will be looking to marry, a process her father would have a heavy hand in. As she is a bastard with no royal rank, she's definitely not going to marry a prince, but she still has to marry a person of equal status. Edward thus arranges for her to be married to the son of a high ranking Irish bureaucrat: Luke O'Connell. Thus Dorothy become Dorothy O'Connell. The pair move to Ireland to start their married life. They have children and lead mostly insignificant lives, until Edward succeeds his mother to become Edward VII.

In the first months of his reign, Edward VII grants Luke the title of Duke of Curragh, named after the place where he first met Dorothy's mother. Thus, Dorothy becomes the Duchess of Curragh.

Dorothy and her family are invited to Edward's coronation. For the next few years, nothing major happens to the family until the war of Irish war of Independence, when Dorothy, Luke, their kids and grandkids flee to England; as members of nobility they oppose Irish independence.

It will not be until the 30s when George V publicly reveals that Dorothy, Duchess of Curragh, is his hal?f sister.

The family purchase property in southern England after leaving Ireland and builds a manor. The title of Duke of Curragh remains and gets passed along the O'Connell family to this very day.

 

[The Gybson Boy]

Parent House: Plantagenet (York)
Name: De la Pole
Title(s):
King of England
King of Ireland
King of France (Claimed)
Lord of Ireland
Region of Origin: England
Founder: John II of England
Timespan: 1485-1596
History:
After the defeat of King Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth the Lancastrian pretender, Henry Tudor assumed the power of England declaring himself King Henry VII by right of Conquest, his reign however would be incredibly brief, the arrival of Henry VII's troops also brought with it a terrible disease known as "Sweating Sickness" that soon spread, bringing an epidemic that on November 30th would end up taking the life of Henry VII himself, after his death he would be known as the King of 100 days, period for which ruled England.
The king's death caused the end of the Lancastrian bloodline as well as great uncertainty as to who would be the new king, after Edward Plantagenta, Earl of Warwick died in mysterious circumstances on 12 December 1485, the throne ended up in the hands of John De la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk who was proclaimed King John II on Christmas Day 1485, to secure his throne he married Elizabeth Plantagenet, eldest daughter of King Edward IV.
During his reign he rebuilt England after the end of the Wars of the Roses and in 1503 secured the marriage of his eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Catholic Kings, consolidating his lineage for years to come after his death their son became King Edward VI.
Edward VI and Catherine of Aragon had six children, Elizabeth (1504), Arthur (1505), Mary (1508), Joan (1511), John (1513) and Edwina (1516) on his death in 1546 Edward VI was succeeded by his firstborn Arthur I, Arthur married Catherine of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Philip I in 1522, their marriage produced 5 children, unfortunately Arthur's two sons, John (1524) and Edmund (1530), died in infancy, after not to be able to have more children he decided to raise his eldest daughter Catherine to be his heir and married her to his second cousin Edmund De la Pole in 1545, their marriage however would produce only three girls, Catherine (1546), Cecily (1549 ) and Elizabeth (1553), after Edmund's death in 1552, Catherine married Phillip, King of the Romans and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1554, the couple 5 children, Phillip (1555), Catherine (1558 ), Charles (1560), John (1562 and Mary (1562)
Catherine I became queen in 1565, the same year she became Holy Roman Empress when Charles V died and her son succeeded him as Emperor, she ruled for the next 30 years, and after her death she was succeeded by Phillip II, giving end of the De la Pole Dynasty and beginning of the Habsburg-De la Pole Dynasty
List of Heads of the House of De la Pole/Kings of England (1485-Present):

• Name of Monarch / Lifespan / Age at which he died / Reign / Years of Reign / Relationship to previous monarch
• John II (1460-1522) (62) (1485-1522) (36) (Nephew of Richard III, Distant Cousin of Henry VII)
• Edward VI (1486-1546) (1522-1546) (24) (Son of Henry VII and Elizabeth Plantagenet)
• Arthur I (1505-1565) (60) (1546-1565) (19) (Son of Edward VI and Catherine of Aragon)
• Catherine I (1526-1596) (70) (1565-1596) (31) (Daugther of Arthur I and Eleanor of Austria)
• Jure Oxuris Phillip I (1527-1598) (1565-1596) (31) (Husband of Catherine I, King Jure Oxuris)