An illegitimate son to Joseph I HRE

Say Joseph I has an illegitimate son. Can Charles VI legitimise him and marry him to Maria Theresia to keep the Habsburg inheritance in the family? (Not the best genetic legacy i know but technically the House of Habsburg would continue in the male line)
 
Say Joseph I has an illegitimate son. Can Charles VI legitimise him and marry him to Maria Theresia to keep the Habsburg inheritance in the family? (Not the best genetic legacy i know but technically the House of Habsburg would continue in the male line)

This would require so many Papal dispensations it's not even funny, plus it would require the support of ALL the Electors, and even then there's enough material there to spark a war after Karl VI's death over the succession.

So theoretically he could have his daughter marry his bastard relative and have the Habsburg name continue on, but the actual title of Emperor HAS to go to man and that means that the Electors would have to stop looking down their noses long enough to elect a BASTARD to the Imperial Throne.

It's... A stretch. But possible if Karl VI has a strong enough silver tongue, and he did sweet talk people into accepting his daughter's succession in RL, so this is plausible.

So... All hail Emperor Leopold Joseph Balthasar, the first of that name!
 
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