An Alternative Wife of Erik of Pomerania, King of Denmark
- Thread starter Kellan Sullivan
- Start date
I think the issue with it is that for Denmark the Hansa was more or less a permanent rival, whereas the Teutonic Order was a circumstantial one. An alliance with Poland would make both the Hansa and the Order permanent enemies, and remove the option to play them against each other like Margaret did several times.
However, whether or not this is taken into consideration depends a lot on Olafs personality aa well as his relationship to his mother. If she can continue to control him like she did for his otl short life then I think this marriage is unlikely, but if Olaf asserts himself as the one in charge and has similar ambition and disregard for balanced diplomacy as Eric of Pomerania did, then it’s probably possible from the Danish side at least.
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I don't think do. Olaf doesn't bring anything worth looking for to the table.
Fair enough. Would a match between Olaf and say...Margarethe of Luxemburg (Emperor Sigismund's youngest sister) be possible?
I think it's possible, Margaret was keen on an imperial match in otl. It depends on some factors however. First of all she either needs to not marry her otl husband, or he needs to die earlier, preferably before they have kids.
It's a bit of a question of timing. When Margaret arranged Eric of Pomerania's wedding in otl she was pretty much on the peak of her power, and could seemingly pick and choose for her adoptive son. Unless Olaf marries relatively late (like in his 30's) then his wedding is going to take place during a period of conflict, which may greatly affect both his ability and wishes in finding a wife.
If Olaf feels like he needs more support back home I'd also suggest Sofia of Holstein (sister of Count Gerhard VI of Holstein-Rendsburg who also was de-facto Duke of Schleswig), could lead to some intersting dynastic shenanigans as well.
Bit of an out there suggestion for Erik: a French princess. It sounds ASBish, but Ludwig VII of Bavaria did make an offer of one of his nieces apparently. Margareta herself had previously considered Isabelle of Bourbon for Olaf II. However, I suspect the whole France-England war would've meant that either or both sides wanted Margareta to intervene on their behalf.
But could a French match have gone through if the stars aligned? Or...perhaps even more extravagant - Erik to a French princess and Katharina of Pomerania to HenryV
But could a French match have gone through if the stars aligned? Or...perhaps even more extravagant - Erik to a French princess and Katharina of Pomerania to HenryV
I think Margaret originally wanted a French match for Erik but interest was lacking. With the right changes it could probably happen. As for the intervention, Philippa didn’t make Erik any more keen on joining the war so there’s no reason a French bride should be different.
An Anglo-French double marriage is probably far fetched though, since it destroys even the illusion of the Kalmar Union picking a side in the HYW.
To be honest, I can't remember the exact source, but I know there's also a tree on geneanet that mentions the Danish betrothal (link to a source included in the tree). Although it lists Isabelle as being betrothed to Erik - but Erik is also born the same year as Olaf II (according to the tree), hence my suspicion that they simply got the names mixed up. It only lists "Isabelle of Bourbon" but fails to specify which branch of Bourbons (both the main and cadet lines had an Isabelle born around the same time, both Isabelles became nuns IIRC). Someone pointed out to me that it's unlikely the French would've offered a Bourbon-Vendôme girl ahead of the king's cousin
This is true. Would Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxemburg, have ever been suggested for Erik had they been available at the same time? She had the connections to both the empire and Mecklenburg/Sweden
There’s a bit of a timing problem there, Margaret was looking into imperial marriages but the Luxembourg are off the throne between 1400-1410, when Erik is most likely to marry. Her grandfather might also not be too keen on her marrying into those that usurped him in Sweden, and he’s still alive until 1412.
That said, if the marriage did come to pass I think Erik would be very happy. He adores his cousin Sigismund and would probably love to be married to his niece.
Looking around on wikipedia, several languages' pages of Anne of Auvergne state that Isabelle was engaged to Eric, though no source on either of them.
Okay, so I was playing around with a scenario with Olaf II marrying Isabelle of Bourbon, and I was looking for a bride for a potential son of theirs, probably born between 1400-1410. I wanted to look for potential imperial, I.e Luxembourg matches but they are notoriously short on princesses in this era - except for Elizabeth of Luxembourg of course, but I doubt Sigismund would give her to a foreign king.
That lead me down looking for potential Luxembourg-related ones, and it led me to her: She’s Sigismund of Luxembourg’s first cousin twice removed, so not a very close connection, but seemingly the closes female Luxembourg-related woman I could find. How’d she be for a son of Olaf and Isabelle?
I mean, it’s a bit random, but not more so than Blanche of Namour a few generations back. And early 15th century is pretty short on princesses in general I find.
That lead me down looking for potential Luxembourg-related ones, and it led me to her: She’s Sigismund of Luxembourg’s first cousin twice removed, so not a very close connection, but seemingly the closes female Luxembourg-related woman I could find. How’d she be for a son of Olaf and Isabelle?
I mean, it’s a bit random, but not more so than Blanche of Namour a few generations back. And early 15th century is pretty short on princesses in general I find.
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I can't think of a reason why, if her Bavarian fiancé still jilts her as OTL she wouldn't suit. As you admit, the Luxemburgs are pretty low on available princesses.
A Cleves match could also be interesting IMO
Margaret of Cleves maybe? Half Burgundian, so there’s some interesting connections to be made there