An Iron Eagle in Krakow - How Germans, Slavs, and Balts United

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Chapter 1 : How a Bethrothal changed History
the 15th Century was perhaps...the most interesting in terms of European affairs. While Central Asia had been peaceful since the fall of the Timurid Dynasty and East Asia ever since the Ming Conquests of the Yuan Dynasty, Europe was still embroiled in the wars that had consumed them centuries prior. In the West, England continued her far too long struggle against the French in an effort to seize the French throne for themselves and rule two kingdoms at once, in the Caucuses mountains, the Kara Koyunlu that had recently thrown off the rule of the rapidly crumbling Timurid Empire invaded the Kingdom of Georgia with the intention of destroying the Christian Kingdom. In central Europe, the Hussite Wars raged on in an attempt to either reform the Catholic Church or expel and destroy the heretics that spread such ideas. During this entire series of conflict, however, there seemed to be one bright spot in Central Europe.

Frederick I of Brandenburg, seeking any aid in their long standing conflict with Pomerania, sought out an alliance with King Wladyslaw II of Poland, one of the more powerful states in Europe thanks to his personal union between his Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The two men would meet several times for the following weeks before they finally made an agreement on the 12th of April, 1421. According to it's terms, Frederick's son, also named Frederick, would be bethrothed to Wladyslaw's Daughter (and at this time, only child following the death of Elizabeth Bonifacia in 1399), Hedwig Jagiellon. The young couple would marry in the winter months of 1427-1428 during an unspecified month, so Frederick would be 14 while Hedwig would be 16 when they married. Five years following that, Frederick, at the age of 19, would be eligible to become King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. To complete this agreement to its fullest, the young Brandenburg prince had to live in Poland as soon as was possible to become acquainted with the language and culture of the country he would soon rule over. However, the agreement would be void if the King had a surviving son.

Ten months later, King Wladyslaw would marry Sophia of Halshany in a marriage that didn't have the support of perhaps the most powerful man in Europe, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of House Luxembourg but also by the Polish Nobility, who saw the Ruthenian woman as an insult on Polish culture and identity, as well as too ambitious and power hungry for her own good. Another person dissatisfied with the marriage was Frederick himself, who believed that with Sophia in the way, any potential alliance was dead in the water,. The elector of Brandenburg decisively sent his son to Krakow, Poland's capital city, to be with his fiance. Upon arriving, Sophia herself faced a great deal of opposition from the supporters of Emperor Sigismund and individuals supporting the popular Hedwig, such as Clergyman, Statesman, and Diplomat Zbigniew Oleśnicki, as well as the powerful Tęczyński and Tarnowski families.

Tensions would only continue to grow as, likely due to the marriage and his own conflict with a Mecklenburg-Pommeranian alliance seeking the region of Uckermark, Frederick failed to send any support in the Gollub War against the Teutonic Knights in 1422. Sigismund did not agree with Frederick marrying Hedwig and lobbied against it and Eric, King of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark renewed his proposal for a Polish-Scandanavian-Pomeranian Alliance against Brandenburg. Despite mounting political pressure, for some unknown reason, most likely him being unwilling to see his country become the pawn of the Holy Roman Empire or Scandanavia, refused to annul the agreement he had made with the elder Frederick. Despite this, Queen Sophia was quietly growing further and further jealous of the younger couple and how quickly they were growing in popularity while rumors were abound that Scandanavian and Imperial Agents were plotting the assassination of Prince Frederick and Princess Hedwig. While no such evidence exists for anything of the sort, the proper Grand Duke of Lithuania that favored the marriage, Vytautas, made sure to get Frederick out of Krakow and into his own country, where Frederick would begin to learn Lithuanian and Ruthenian as well [1].

The relationship between the young princess and the Queen had always been rocky and it was clear that both women despised one another. Hedwig was able to secure plenty of support in the power struggle between the two thanks to her maternal grandmother, Anna, Countess of Celje, but when Sophia became with child in January of 1424, it seemed like it could be the beginning of the end as, if Sophia had a son, than any claim to the throne that Hedwig had could be immediately overruled and if Anna, already in her late 50s, passed away, then the power struggle would forever be tipped in Sophia favor. On October 31st, the fateful day came and Sophia went labor for an excruciating 13 hours, during which, her screams could be heard throughout Wawel Castle and the Princess herself, situated several rooms away, stated "By god, I hope my own labor isn't as painful." When it was all said and done, however, Hedwig's worst fears had been realized, as Queen Sophia had given birth to a young baby boy that she named Wladyslaw. However, what seemed to have been a death knell for her future instead turned into a victory, no matter how saddening it would be for her father. As it had turned out, several complications had arose during the labor and Sophia was suffering from heavy blood loss. She would die just half an hour after giving birth to Wladyslaw. [2] While the king now had to find a new wife, he had a son, or so it seemed, as a week after Sophia's death, the young prince would pass away in his sleep, making Princess Hedwig Wladyslaw's only child once more and allowing her to retain full political power and sway in Poland. [3]

A week after the prince's death, Frederick would be allowed to return to Krakow, where the two would once more continue their blossoming relationship. It is worth noting that, despite it not being the norm for the time, Frederick and Hedwig truly did love one another, as evidenced by them giving gifts to one another or taking walks or rides on their horses in the outdoors. It was this relationship that Frederick's father hoped would give him a powerful ally in the East that he could finally use to defeat the pesky Pomeranian dukes that constantly threatened his northern border and it would also allow for Brandenburg to become more powerful as a nation as it's elector would rule a realm outside the Empire, something that happened for very few, upon Frederick's own death and his son's ascension to the throne. Meanwhile, King Wladyslaw himself was saddened by the loss of his fourth wife, an individual that he likely adored himself, but eventually, in the Summer of 1425, he was convinced to get over it and marry the woman the Emperor supported, his brother's, the deceased Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia and King of the Romans, widow and former interim regent of Bohemia, Sophia of Bavaria, who Sigismund initially wanted Wladyslaw to marry instead of Sophia of Halshany.

Despite initial concerns about a second power struggle, Sophia quickly met with Princess Hedwig and conceded that, as she was more popular with the peoples of Poland and Lithuania, that she would not attempt to steal any of the power Hedwig held nor did she have any ambition to do so. This, as expected, shocked the Princess, as her most powerful ally, Anna, had died weeks before the marriage of Sophia and Wladyslaw, leaving her exposed to the obviously more powerful Sophia, seeing as she was the Widow of the Brother of the Holy Roman Emperor. Instead, however, the second Queen Consort Sophia taught the young couple economics while both learned the importance of diplomacy, religion, and warfare, with Frederick learning the bulk of the final one. Throughout this entire time, despite Wladyslaw consistently trying, he failed in obtaining a male heir that could continue his dynasty and, on December 9th, 1427, Frederick would marry his fiance to everyone's applause and appraisal. For Hedwig, however, it was the happiest day of her life. After consistently being thought of as nothing but a political tool for her father, she wrote in her memoirs : "I have finally found the man who loves me for who I am. We may have been bethrothed to one another for diplomatic purposes, but despite that, we have grown extremely close in our relationship and now can't bear the thought of being without one another for too long." As for Frederick, he said "This woman, Hedwig, is the woman of my dreams. Smart, politically savvy, quick witted, endearing, and kind, this is the traits I believe all women should have and it seems my newly declared wife and, god willing, future Queen, is the perfect example of all those things. I hope nothing comes between us, for I want us to remain together no matter what."

Following the marriage, the newlyweds would go on a honeymoon touring Europe, going to the cities of Vienna, Prague, Breslau, Munich, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Ravenna, Rome, Paris, Orleans, Madrid, Coppenhagen, and London before returning back to Krakow by September 16th, 1428. For the next 3 years, Sophia would continue to tutor the royal couple on how to effectively run the Kingdom once they took over and during that time period, Hedwig became pregnant and soon gave birth to her and Frederick's son, one who they would name Leopold/Poldek/Leopoldas in 1429 with the three names representing the three realms the child would hopefully rule over one day, though it was clear he was mainly going to be called Leopold by his parents and extended family. The king himself saw the irony in the situation, stating "It seems God himself mocks me as my own daughter gains a male heir while I cannot." With Prince Leopold, Hedwig's claim to the throne had been achieved and thusly, there was no other proper claimant that could challenge the Frederick-Hedwig marriage that would eventually unite Brandenburg with the Polish-Lithuanian lands via personal union.

In June of 1430, Frederick was visited by his father and his younger brother, future Prince of Ansbach and King of Bulgaria Albrecht Achilles [4] who hoped to get themselves acquainted with their future polish allies and learn some things from Frederick and Hedwig while maintaining that his true loyalty still lay with Brandenburg. Funnily enough, at this point, many nobles at court began to learn German and German customs to get acquainted with their likely future king even if there were some who disagreed. However, Hedwig was able to maintain an aura of political power and influence that was barely rivaled in Eastern Europe at that time and thusly, many Polish nobles listened to whatever she requested and she requested they learn her husband's native language as she had began doing herself. In May of 1431, Hedwig's claim was made yet stronger when she gave birth to a daughter, the future Duchess of Milan, Helen.

When Frederick became 19 in late 1431, any potential hopes of replacing him with someone else were all but erased and Wladyslaw officially began to allow the young man into his council as an advisor and student where the Brandenburger would learn a great many things about the politics of his eventual realm. As the last years went by, Sophia would pass of old age on May 18th, 1434 and, like a line of dominoes ending, Wladyslaw II himself would pass away two weeks later on June 1st, leaving Frederick and his sole surviving child Hedwig to succeed him as Ruler of Poland. The two would quickly declare a month of mourning to happen before finally, on July 2nd, Frederick was crowned as both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania with Hedwig being crowned as his equal in Krakow, giving Brandenburg a strong ally in the east for any future wars against Pomerania. As hoped for, Father and Son joined in alliance and readied for any war be it against rebels or those seeking to invade Brandenburger or Polish-Lithuanian lands. In order to make sure family relations stayed strong, Frederick had Albrecht Achilles stay with his brother as both a military advisor and bodyguard, hoping the younger man would learn from his brother how to rule and how to wage war.

For now, however, Frederick and Hedwig would have to focus on maintaining their rule and consolidating it before anything else could be done.

[1] - No evidence of this, but I'd believe it considering how he took to learning polish and polish customs

[2] - First POD. Initially she survived and was rumored to have poisoned Hedwig. No Sophia of Halshany, no death for Hedwig.

[3] - Second POD. No male surviving heir for Wladyslaw gives Hedwig a straight path for future rule and allows for the agreement for Frederick to marry her to go on.

[4] - Future spoiler that I'll expand upon as we get to the Crusade of Varna of TTL.

And there we go, the 'rewrite' of the TL I tried to make a while ago but gave up on due to the many corners I had inadvertently written myself into. Here, I'm starting small as everything that happens right now is only effecting Poland-Lithuania and, to a lesser extent, Brandenburg but as I go further, I do hope to expand to other significant changes, as you've seen from my posts in the request maps/flags/hearldies thread. To anyone who has knowledge of a certain subject or something or would be interested in helping with my ideas and such, feel free to contact me via PM. I'd love the help. Also, for those looking forward to my Arminius TL...sorry, but I'm going to have to put that idea on hold for now. Too many things get in the way for it to be plausible and until I can find proper work arounds for that, I'll keep it on hold. However, I do have an alternate Roman Dynasty lineage for those interested in seeing. Please give thoughts and opinions via the poll and the comments as I'd love to read them, thanks.
 
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Chapter 2 : Consolidation of Poland and Lithuania, Taking over Brandenburg, and Gearing up for War
In the immediate aftermath of King Frederick I's coronation as King of Poland, he immediately went to work to try and consolidate his and his queen's control over the country, which was easier than expected due to the years Queen Hedwig had spent before the throne rallying much of the nobility behind her. While there still remained some detractors, they were surprisingly easy to sway by promising of allowing them within the Polish royal council, which Frederick did for the most competent nobles while he could afford to ignore the rest. His main goal, however, was to create a power that could handle the ever growing threat of the Ottoman Empire effectively. First, he went instituting military reforms, creating crack, hardened troops known as the Winged Hussars soldiers riding on horseback covered in armor and wearing giant wings on their backs while holding 16 foot long lances made of wood or fur, having 2500 trained for any future conflict that came. At the same time, Frederick would begin to rigorously train the Polish army in such a way they'd become one of the most elite fighting forces in Europe, training them to have the front rank fire before they withdrew to the back to reload as the next rank opened fire, with the Polish army being 5 ranks deep.

Due to there being no external conflict between Poland and any of its neighbors as well as Brandenburg and Pomerania at this point in time, the area was relatively stable and allowed for Frederick to gather more power over the burgeoning Sejm that he knew could become a threat if he allowed it to remain a threat to his reign. He decided the best way to do this was to shape the Sejm in much the same way as the French Estates-General, having the three main groups be the clergy, the nobility, and the peasantry, and with him popular with all three, he slowly eroded their actual abilities to contain the crown and what it planned to do. Beginning with a slight 3.7% increase in taxes across the Kingdom to pay for the military as well as the slowly implementation of a proper professional army that could equipped, trained, and ready for use at all times, though it was clear that it wouldn't and couldn't be as large as the King would've liked simply due to Economic strain, being 10,000 strong instead of the originally planned 25,000 strong. Frederick's father, taking note, followed his son's advice and did as many of the reforms that the younger Frederick did, though due to him not having to worry about a body like the Sejm, he went about it quite easily and efficiently.

At the same time, Lithuania's Civil War was finally winding down with Sigismund Kęstutaitis being declared the proper and true Grand Duke of Lithuania while the ancient Kalmar Union began to fall apart due to the Engelbrekt Rebellion, knocking out an enemy that Poland would have to deal with for the future, at least for the time being. But perhaps the most interesting of moments happened in 1437 when Emperor Sigismund finally passed away at age 69 in 1437. Following his death, there was a scramble to find the next Holy Roman Emperor with most individuals settling with Sigismund's successor as King of Hungary, Albert of House Habsburg. However, it seems that Albert was uninterested with the position as Emperor or King of Germany and thus never went to Frankfurt to be crowned, effectively remaining King-elect until his own sudden death in 1439 at age 42. In the following 1440 Imperial Election, the two major candidates were King Frederick I of Poland and Regent of Austria and Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, Frederick of House Habsburg.

Initially, early in the voting, it seemed that Frederick I was favored to win the election with the backing of his father and Frederick II of Saxony. However, any potential victory he would've had crumbled as the Elector Palatine, as well as the Electors of Cologne, Trier, and Mainz, voted for Frederick of Styria, giving him the Majority and seeing him be crowned Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Despite this loss, however, the King of Poland continued his plans unabated, first with the taking of Lithuania for himself as Sigismund would be assassinated a month after the Imperial Election and this would allow the Lithuanian ruling families to recognize Frederick, who was married to Jogaila's (Wladyslaw II's) only living child, Queen Hedwig Jagiellon-Hohenzolllern, he was declared the hereditary Hospodar and was thusly given the position of Grand Duke. However, he would not have long to celebrate his victory in gaining the Grand Duchy as personal tragedy would strike as his father, Frederick I of Brandenburg, would pass away in September at age 68. As such, Frederick, now crowned Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg (As well as Fryderyk I of Poland/Frederikas I of Lithuania), inherited the situation his father was in, such as the Pomeranian-Brandenburger Alliance against Mecklenburg-Stargard and the war that would end in 1442 with the small princedom falling to a partition between the two states. A following pact of non-aggression was signed between the two states for at least 6-8 years following the signing of the treaty.

As he had done with Poland, he did the same in Lithuania and Brandenburg to varying degrees of success while his brother, the newly declared Prince Albert Achilles of Ansbach, signed an alliance with Frederick and pledged to support him no matter the situation. In return, Frederick plotted to give his brother a territory larger than the Principality of Ansbach, though his successors would have to renounce their claims to it in favor of Frederick's own successors. Meanwhile, Frederick would lobby for alliance with Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, the Holy Roman Empire, Wallachia, Moldavia, the Papal States, and the Teutonic Knights in a united front against what he perceived was the greatest threat to Europe, the Ottoman Empire. As the planning for this modern crusade began, the King of Poland also looked to increase the size of his family as well as it's influence. In 1434, shortly after he became King, he and Queen Hedwig had a second son, Phillip, whom they promptly planned to be given the title of Count of Warzawa once he reached the proper age and in 1441, they had a fourth child, a daughter named Augusta. Prince Leopold was to be betrothed to Catherine of Valois, daughter of King Charles VII the Victorious, of France, who was 4 months older than him while Princess Helen would be betrothed to Giovanni Visconti, Son of Duke Filippo Maria of Milan and the heir to the Duchy of Milan who was born in 1433, and Prince Phillip was betrothed to Elanor of Portugal while it wouldn't be until Princess Augusta reached the age of 6 that she would be betrothed. As Frederick begin to ready his forces to move into the Balkans, Hedwig told him she was pregnant with a fifth child and it was likely the two were planning to have around seven children, however, at the time, now motivated by the knowledge he would be a father for the fifth time, was hopeful for a quick and easy campaign that would see the Ottomans knocked out as a threat for at least a decade or two.

And with that, Chapter 2 is finished. The only real change from OTL is the birth of Giovanni Visconti, which never happened IOTL. I hope all of you do enjoy this TL so far and I'll work on CH3 either today or tomorrow and it'll be involving the Crusade of Varna, the following Brandenburg-Pomeranian War, and the aftermath of both. If anyone would be interested in helping me with PMs, feel free to send me a message. I'll greatly appreciate it.
 
I quite love this TL, and I'm ready and waiting for more! Any timelines about the Hohenzollerns I would usually quite like! Good luck! ^-^
 
I quite love this TL, and I'm ready and waiting for more! Any timelines about the Hohenzollerns I would usually quite like! Good luck! ^-^

Thanks. As of right now, I'm doing something separate from from this, but I'll start to write it later today after researching the Crusade of Varna a tad bit more as well as figuring out if John Hunyadi should or shouldn't be King of Hungary and what will become of Fruzhin once the Crusade is finished. Any ideas? And as of the Hohenzollerns, I agree, as they were perhaps the luckiest dynasty in european history with how many 10s they rolled compared to the 1s or 5s other powers got.
 
Theres a lot of good options in the 15th century for an AU, but this one has to be on top of my list.

Can he actually do it, can the Catholics unite agains the Turks?

Im guessingthe title might be a mistake, Poles are West Slavs
 
Theres a lot of good options in the 15th century for an AU, but this one has to be on top of my list.

Can he actually do it, can the Catholics unite agains the Turks?

Im guessingthe title might be a mistake, Poles are West Slavs

Ah, thanks for correcting that. Are the Lithuanians, Belarussians, and Livonians West Slavs too or East Slavs?
 
Ah, thanks for correcting that. Are the Lithuanians, Belarussians, and Livonians West Slavs too or East Slavs?
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Lithuanians are Baltic, so not Slav. Belarussians are Eastern, and Livonian is Finnish, though if you mean the region it is mainly Latvian with some German.
 
Ah, thanks for correcting that. Are the Lithuanians, Belarussians, and Livonians West Slavs too or East Slavs?
Lithuanians are Balts

Livonians are complicated, they are ethnically Latvians(Balts), but the period in which the territory was called Livonia it was ruled by mostly German nobility. Not quite sure on the details of this though

Belarussians are East Slavs
 
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Lithuanians are Baltic, so not Slav. Belarussians are Eastern, and Livonian is Finnish, though if you mean the region it is mainly Latvian with some German.

Lithuanians are Balts

Livonians are complicated, they are ethnically Latvians(Balts), but the period in which the territory was called Livonia it was ruled by mostly German nobility. Not quite sure on the details of this though

Belarussians are East Slavs

Thanks. I'll go ahead and change it to How Germans, Slavs, and Balts United.
 
Just to clarify, which specific slavs do you have in mind? Also, how important will the Baltic Germans be?

The Slavs of Belarus and Poland. As for the importance of the Baltic Germans, they'll be important in a sense of combining the two ethnic groups as German populations move eastward without forced removal taking place, mainly due to the Hohenzollerns descended from Frederick knowing the Languages of the people they rule over as well as their customs.
 
I’m definitely enjoying this timeline, but I do have a few suggestions/questions.
  1. I think you’re underestimating the ability of the Sejm and Szlachta in their power struggles with the new King. Fryderyk has few bargaining chips to offer and the Sejm isn’t going to give up privileges just because they like Fryderyk and Jadwiga.
  2. The Winged Hussars don’t really exist yet IIRC. They started as light cavalry and were based on the Hungarian version of the Hussars. It’s only in the later 16th century that they became the heavy Shock Cavalry that we think of today. Also, being a member of the Hussaria IOTL was very expensive and normally was only within the reach of wealthier Szlachta. This isn’t to say that Fryderyk couldn’t have his own personal troops (whether they be heavy cavalry or not) but I think he’d have to pay for them from his personal holdings like Brandenburg. I doubt the Sejm would foot the bill.
  3. This one isn’t super important but I think King Fred would pick some more traditionally Polish royal names for his kids. He is, after all, somewhat of a foreigner and so I’d expect him to name his kids something more like Wladyslaw/Kazimierz. Remember that Poland is definitely the dominant power in this Brandenburg-Poland-Lithuanian union economically/linguistically, as well as being Fryderyk’s only Royal title
None of this is HUGELY important but I just thought I’d some advice. This TL is so far, well written and entertaining :). Keep it up!
 
I’m definitely enjoying this timeline, but I do have a few suggestions/questions.
  1. I think you’re underestimating the ability of the Sejm and Szlachta in their power struggles with the new King. Fryderyk has few bargaining chips to offer and the Sejm isn’t going to give up privileges just because they like Fryderyk and Jadwiga.
  2. The Winged Hussars don’t really exist yet IIRC. They started as light cavalry and were based on the Hungarian version of the Hussars. It’s only in the later 16th century that they became the heavy Shock Cavalry that we think of today. Also, being a member of the Hussaria IOTL was very expensive and normally was only within the reach of wealthier Szlachta. This isn’t to say that Fryderyk couldn’t have his own personal troops (whether they be heavy cavalry or not) but I think he’d have to pay for them from his personal holdings like Brandenburg. I doubt the Sejm would foot the bill.
  3. This one isn’t super important but I think King Fred would pick some more traditionally Polish royal names for his kids. He is, after all, somewhat of a foreigner and so I’d expect him to name his kids something more like Wladyslaw/Kazimierz. Remember that Poland is definitely the dominant power in this Brandenburg-Poland-Lithuanian union economically/linguistically, as well as being Fryderyk’s only Royal title
None of this is HUGELY important but I just thought I’d some advice. This TL is so far, well written and entertaining :). Keep it up!

1. From what I've read, before the 16th century at least, the Sejm didn't meet all that regularly and so the King had some level of control over it. Frederick is simply plotting to use the clergy, nobility, and peasantry against one another as a sort of balancing act, making none of the three groups are too powerful, lest he risks losing influence in the country because of the power one group wields. After Varna, how'd you suggest Frederick work to make sure the Sejm can't effectively challenge him that much?

2. With the winged hussars, would it be better to have them be of Brandenburger/Polish nobility and have them be known as Death's Hussars with different uniforms, weapons, and such? I might also lower their number to between 500 and 1000. Thoughts on this and Frederick have a personal army of 10,000?

3. Frederick wants to unite the two cultures into one distinct group and is giving his children both german and polish names so they can be called those by their subjects when they're in the Electorate or in Poland. Also, what do you think of the future I hinted at for Achilles Ansbach?

Anyways, thanks for the information. If you're willing to help with some changes, just pm with the ideas. And also, thanks for the encouragement. I hope to not disappoint as I go further. The TL initially is really self-contained to Eastern and Central Europe and doesn't go from beyond there until the 1490s, so I hope you all enjoy the TL when we reach that point.

Fyi the more contemporary term would likely be Ruthenian not Belarusian.

I figured, though the wikipedia page on Ruthenia was sort of confusing to me, so I had it be Belarusian. I'll go ahead and change it.
 
1. From what I've read, before the 16th century at least, the Sejm didn't meet all that regularly and so the King had some level of control over it. Frederick is simply plotting to use the clergy, nobility, and peasantry against one another as a sort of balancing act, making none of the three groups are too powerful, lest he risks losing influence in the country because of the power one group wields. After Varna, how'd you suggest Frederick work to make sure the Sejm can't effectively challenge him that much?

2. With the winged hussars, would it be better to have them be of Brandenburger/Polish nobility and have them be known as Death's Hussars with different uniforms, weapons, and such? I might also lower their number to between 500 and 1000. Thoughts on this and Frederick have a personal army of 10,000?

3. Frederick wants to unite the two cultures into one distinct group and is giving his children both german and polish names so they can be called those by their subjects when they're in the Electorate or in Poland. Also, what do you think of the future I hinted at for Achilles Ansbach?

Anyways, thanks for the information. If you're willing to help with some changes, just pm with the ideas. And also, thanks for the encouragement. I hope to not disappoint as I go further. The TL initially is really self-contained to Eastern and Central Europe and doesn't go from beyond there until the 1490s, so I hope you all enjoy the TL when we reach that point.



I figured, though the wikipedia page on Ruthenia was sort of confusing to me, so I had it be Belarusian. I'll go ahead and change it.
It is, of course, your story and I look forward to how you handle the integration of cultures in this TL. However, if I was hypothesizing on the future of Fryderyk and his descendants, I’d place a heavy bet on the von Hohenzollerns becoming polonized, rather than a cultural fusion. At this point in time, the lands of Brandenburg are poor and less prestigious than Crown of Poland, and are likely to be less developed than in OTL due to split attention of its rulers. Since your goal is a cultural fusion of Fred’s lands, my advice is to ensure that you address the enormity of the task. This is before the Age of Nationalism, but national consciousness, especially among nobility, is a real factor. Poles won’t appreciate the thought of becoming Germans and vice versa.

Also, since this is before the Age of Nationalism, King Fred shouldn’t really be concerned with or interested in cultural fusion beyond maybe convincing nobility to all speak the same language. If you want him to put his lands on the first steps to cultural unification, it shouldn’t be his stated goal, as that would be somewhat anachronistic.

ps if this is the kind of thing you would prefer in a PM rather than a post, let me know. Thanks :)
 
It is, of course, your story and I look forward to how you handle the integration of cultures in this TL. However, if I was hypothesizing on the future of Fryderyk and his descendants, I’d place a heavy bet on the von Hohenzollerns becoming polonized, rather than a cultural fusion. At this point in time, the lands of Brandenburg are poor and less prestigious than Crown of Poland, and are likely to be less developed than in OTL due to split attention of its rulers. Since your goal is a cultural fusion of Fred’s lands, my advice is to ensure that you address the enormity of the task. This is before the Age of Nationalism, but national consciousness, especially among nobility, is a real factor. Poles won’t appreciate the thought of becoming Germans and vice versa.

Also, since this is before the Age of Nationalism, King Fred shouldn’t really be concerned with or interested in cultural fusion beyond maybe convincing nobility to all speak the same language. If you want him to put his lands on the first steps to cultural unification, it shouldn’t be his stated goal, as that would be somewhat anachronistic.

ps if this is the kind of thing you would prefer in a PM rather than a post, let me know. Thanks :)

Any advice is welcome. PM me to try and help me plan out what I've got so far and I also have some ideas considering the New World and Poland
 
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