An Imperial Match: Anne Boleyn marries Charles V
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
12th of September, 1526.
Castello Sforzesco, Duchy of Milan. 12th of September, 1526.
Beatrice Sforza was calmly sleeping in her cot, her mother’s palm rubbing her little stomach as she stared venomously at her husband and father of her child, the Duke of Milan. Catalina tried to maintain her composure, mindful of the babe just next to her, and took a deep breath, willing herself to relax.
“Don’t expect me to support you in this endeavour, husband,” she murmured, “For what you do goes against everything I believe.”
“I do this for Milan,” Francesco responded, “For Italy, for the family.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I hope you will understand one day.”
“For the family?” she repeated. Catalina removed her hand from her daughter’s cot, standing up. Francesco offered her a hand, aware of the soreness in her body still present although it had been over a month since she gave birth, but she waved him away. “You betray my brother and claim it’s for the family?”
“The Emperor is your brother, Cata,” he replied, “Not mine.”
“By the laws of God and men, Charles is your brother, as Massimiliano would’ve been mine, had he lived,” she said. “And I can say the same about Giovanni.” Giovanni Paolo Sforza was the illegitimate half-brother of her husband, born from a dalliance of Il Moro with one of his wife’s ladies-in-waiting.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Francesco. “Sometimes, my interests will not align with your brother’s. It’s high time you’ve made your peace with it.”
“I shall never!” she replied. Catalina walked away from the crib, leading herself to the window of the room. She didn’t want to disturb her daughter in her sleep, lest she loses her composure and starts screaming, and Francesco seemed to understand it well for he followed her. Her husband placed a hand at her elbow and she looked at him. “I will die before I betray Charles.”
“Do you choose your brother over your own children?” he asked. “Is Charles more important than Ludovico, Massimiliano, Margherita or Beatrice? Is that what you are telling me?”
Catalina took a step back. “You know it isn’t,” she said. “But I was a Habsburg well before I was your wife and I don’t take kindly to you making friends with the enemy of my family. The enemy of our sons!” She grasped his hand, pulling him as close as possible with her skirts between them. Catalina touched his cheek, leaning their foreheads together, and Francesco closed his eyes. “The French kings have longed for Milan since Charles VIII. Do you think Francis will be satisfied with stealing Burgundy back? Do you not think he will turn his eyes to our lands?”
“Why should he?” Francesco replied. “Francis has sent me an offer if I were to join the League of Cognac.”
Catalina frowned. “What offer?”
“His youngest daughter with Queen Claude, Marguerite, for our Ludovico,” said Francesco. “He would will his claim to Milan to her and give us a large dowry in return for our military assistance against the Emperor.” He smoothed his face down, mouth set in a tense line. “And I intend to accept it.”
“The King of France is a libertine hedonistic sinner,” said Catalina, “And you would give our precious boy away to his sickly daughter without a moment’s hesitation? And for what? For glory? For Italian hegemony in Italy?”
“Yes!” he replied. Beatrice, alone in her crib, began to whine and Catalina gave looked at her husband full of what she hoped was censorship and reproach before she walked to pick up her little daughter. “It’s not just France or Milan, Caterina. The Pope, Venice, Florence and even England have talked about joining our enterprise against the Emperor’s ambitions.”
“And that makes it alright?” she asked. “Neither Venice nor Florence nor England owe their spouses and their thrones to the Emperor, Francesco, unlike you. Would you truly reward his kindness with treachery?”
“I’m not an Imperial vassal, Catalina,” said her husband as she rocked Beatrice from one side to the other, slowly calming her down. “I’m an independent ruler and I shall do what is best for Milan, whether or not your brother is pleased by it.”
“Well,” she said, “If that’s what you want, then do it, but do not expect to have my blessing when you go off to war!”
Catalina gave him one final curtsy before she turned her back to him, determined to put her daughter back to sleep by her own hands.
Charles' youngest sister, OTL Queen of Portugal:
Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal - Wikipedia
Well shit...why is her husband like this?Charles' youngest sister, OTL Queen of Portugal:
Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
There is actually no intelligent guy IOTL or ITTL who was associated with the Habsburg dynasty. Ferdinand of Aragon is only possible exception if you squint. It is shocking I tell you.
... are you bashing the Habsburgs IN MY CHRISTIAN TIMELINE?
Well the Habsburg tended to be quite intelligent actually, Charles V and Phillip II were far more shrewd than their French counterparts ever thought of being. Anyways, it is too bad that Catalina is unable to sway her husband, I hope if Charles wins he doesn't punish his brother-in-law too much.
Associated with...not born into
Charles V and Philip II were intelligent men who made the stupid decision of not spreading these genes out wider and this bit their descendants in the ass quite badly later on
Let us hope Charles is as considerate to his sister as she is to him and not keep the guy locked up for god knows how long, like he did with the future kings of France...
Well as for associated with, well Manuel of Portugal was intelligent for one...
I think you need to catch up to your reading, cause Charles never locked Francesco up, even after he kicked him out of Milan during the War of the League of Cognac.
I know that he didn't lock Francesco up IOTL.
I said I hope he doesn't do that ITTL, like he did with the dauphins of France. (EDIT: dauphin + duke d'orleans)
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There's only one Dauphin of France. His brother is called the Duke of Orleans.