AHC: Put the House of Medici on a Major European Throne

Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to put a member or descendant of the House of Medici on the thrones of say England, France, Scotland, or one of the Iberian countries, for as long as possible.

Ever since I show the PBS Empires Special "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" the Medici have been something of a pet dynasty of mine and historically they've been successful with a couple of popes, queen consort and regent of France, and a duchy, but what would it take for their to be a branch of the Medici family on a royal throne.

I think it would have to be a throne that allows for females to inherit and having a male member of the dynasty marry a queen, probably during the dynasty's peak in the early-to-mid-1500s. Anybody have any ideas on specifics or scenarios?
 

Philip

Donor
Phillip IV of Spain pays off Maria Teresa's dowry. Margarita Teresa is married to Cosimo III of Tuscany. Charles II dies before Phillip. Phillip ensures Margarita and Cosimo inherit Spain.
 
Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to put a member or descendant of the House of Medici on the thrones of say England, France, Scotland, or one of the Iberian countries, for as long as possible.

Ever since I show the PBS Empires Special "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" the Medici have been something of a pet dynasty of mine and historically they've been successful with a couple of popes, queen consort and regent of France, and a duchy, but what would it take for their to be a branch of the Medici family on a royal throne.

I think it would have to be a throne that allows for females to inherit and having a male member of the dynasty marry a queen, probably during the dynasty's peak in the early-to-mid-1500s. Anybody have any ideas on specifics or scenarios?

Well, three French kings were descended from the Medici?
 
True, but they were still Valois kings before Medici because of the way dynasty names work and only had a chance for an unfortunate 30 years.

Yeah but your first post said members OR descendants. They qualify as descendants. However yeah they failed at producing their own descendants.
 
Poland would be doable-IOTL Queen Bona looked for Italian husband for her oldest daughter, so the two could inherit Bona's Italian possessions in Bari and Rossano. Say Medici duke is choosen. Sigismund Augustus dies childless like IOTL and his Medici nephew happened to be his closest adult Catholic male relative.
From Poland you can go further north-say Sivismund Vasa converts to Catholicism, but his sister Anna remains Catholic (reverse of OTL). Anna marries Medici King of Poland. Sigismund diess childless, so he designed one of his Polish nephews as his heir. That nephew came to Sweden, converts to Lutheranism and starts Swedish Medici line.
 
Why not Italy itself? Would not be exceedingly difficult if the House can survive the xviii century and then co-opt Italian nationalism im the xix.
 
Why not Italy itself? Would not be exceedingly difficult if the House can survive the xviii century and then co-opt Italian nationalism im the xix.

Agree. The dynasty could easily survive couple centries longer and be leaders of the unification. Tuscany could easily unite the country when it would be quiet prosperous region and there could be strong Italian nationalism.
 
Agree. The dynasty could easily survive couple centries longer and be leaders of the unification. Tuscany could easily unite the country when it would be quiet prosperous region and there could be strong Italian nationalism.

Machiavelli believed the Laurent of Medici could unite Italy, that's why he wrote "The Prince". But that's not the topic here, it's about matrimonial stuff.


I think Catherine could manage some stuff while marrying her children, but I lack informations. You could have an early PoD with Jeanne de Navarre inheriting France and creating a precedent of French Queen, and from this get things done.
 
Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to put a member or descendant of the House of Medici on the thrones of say England, France, Scotland, or one of the Iberian countries, for as long as possible.

Ever since I show the PBS Empires Special "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" the Medici have been something of a pet dynasty of mine and historically they've been successful with a couple of popes, queen consort and regent of France, and a duchy, but what would it take for their to be a branch of the Medici family on a royal throne.

I think it would have to be a throne that allows for females to inherit and having a male member of the dynasty marry a queen, probably during the dynasty's peak in the early-to-mid-1500s. Anybody have any ideas on specifics or scenarios?

Since you said descendants, Louis XIII OF France, son OF Marie de Medici, Queen Of France, and his descendants.
 
Phillip IV of Spain pays off Maria Teresa's dowry. Margarita Teresa is married to Cosimo III of Tuscany. Charles II dies before Phillip. Phillip ensures Margarita and Cosimo inherit Spain.
With either Margarita Teresa or Maria Antonia alive or with surviving descendants Louis XIV can not claim Spain for the (partailly) unpaid dowry of his wife because both Margarita and her daughter Antonia were recognized as heiresses of Carlos II
 
But Marie De medici’s descendants did produce their own descendants.
For instance: the monarchs who ruled England and Scotland from 1660 to 1714, those who ruled Spain from 1700 onward (excepting a certain Corsican), those who ruled France from 1610 onward (excepting a certain, more famous Corsican), and those who ruled Portugal from 1777 onward.
 
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