And His Name Was John - A TL

The short answer is about as convoluted as could be. Each realm had its own Cort(e)s for instance.

The Genocide said:
The Crown of Aragon eventually included the Kingdom of Aragon, the County of Barcelona, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Kingdom of Sicily, Malta, the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sardinia. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, the Duchy of Neopatria in Latin Greece and the Duchy of Athens.

Wow. (filler)
 
Wow. (filler)
As I've said before, when the Hapsburgs realized how weird Aragon's government was they decided to fight their wars on the backs of Castile instead.

To be clear I meant Valencia/Catalonia/Aragon/Balearics. The Italian possessions (Sicily/Malta/Naples) generally gave the king more power thanks to their own historical development which is one reason the king was often there in the middle ages instead of back in Spain, leaving behind lieutenants. It was much easier to gain resources to wage war from the eastern possessions.
 
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As I've said before, when the Hapsburgs realized how weird Aragon's government was they decided to fight their wars on the backs of Castile instead.

Not to mention it was bigger. Sure Aragon had the thalassocracy but Castile had more resources.
 
Not to mention it was bigger. Sure Aragon had the thalassocracy but Castile had more resources.
Well yes, but they didn't try very hard extract resources from the Crown of Aragon. The phrase 'benign neglect' is used by multiple authors.
 
I was referring to the fact that the Valois might not turn to Ottomans as a way of countering the Habsburg, which is huge because of the way it might end up blunting the Ottomans push into the reaches of the Upper Danube more so than OTL. (Or it might end up enabling it, as the Habsburg will be somewhat weaker and poorer than OTL)

That might be less structural than IOTL, but an expansionist king of France might use a Habsburg-Ottoman conflict to attack the Western Habsburg possessions, sure they'll be condemned by the Pope for attacking a fellow Catholic Ruler, while his peer is defending against infidels; then again that never stopped Catholic rulers before, no matter how pious they were.

And during the Italian wars they might be inclined to enter in an alliance with the Ottomans too. OTOH if the Habsburgs manage to gain the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, actually establishing themselves may take a while, so if that would happen during the conflict, they might need to temporarily shift their attention away from Italy.

However with much more great powers in Europe left, any structural encirclement will be hard, but like in the Italian, if one of them overreaches the other great powers might ally against them.

Furthermore without the Crown of Castille and the Crown of Aragon the Habsburgs are certainly weaker and poorer in absolute terms, but the Burgundian possessions were wealthy and structurally the income from the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands was higher than from the kingdom of Castille or Naples.
However without these Crowns they also don't have to protect those interests. In other words a Habsburg Austria-Burgundy will be a more powerful powerbase than historically Ferdinand had with initially just the Austrian Lands (which he received in order to be an interesting candidate for the throne of Bohemia & Hungary). ITTL they'll be more interesting as candidates for the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia, because they now may actually have more resources at their disposal to defend against the Ottomans and to defend the HRE.
 
That might be less structural than IOTL, but an expansionist king of France might use a Habsburg-Ottoman conflict to attack the Western Habsburg possessions, sure they'll be condemned by the Pope for attacking a fellow Catholic Ruler, while his peer is defending against infidels; then again that never stopped Catholic rulers before, no matter how pious they were.

And during the Italian wars they might be inclined to enter in an alliance with the Ottomans too. OTOH if the Habsburgs manage to gain the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, actually establishing themselves may take a while, so if that would happen during the conflict, they might need to temporarily shift their attention away from Italy.

However with much more great powers in Europe left, any structural encirclement will be hard, but like in the Italian, if one of them overreaches the other great powers might ally against them.

Furthermore without the Crown of Castille and the Crown of Aragon the Habsburgs are certainly weaker and poorer in absolute terms, but the Burgundian possessions were wealthy and structurally the income from the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands was higher than from the kingdom of Castille or Naples.
However without these Crowns they also don't have to protect those interests. In other words a Habsburg Austria-Burgundy will be a more powerful powerbase than historically Ferdinand had with initially just the Austrian Lands (which he received in order to be an interesting candidate for the throne of Bohemia & Hungary). ITTL they'll be more interesting as candidates for the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia, because they now may actually have more resources at their disposal to defend against the Ottomans and to defend the HRE.

All depends on how the Ottoman Wars in the Balkans pan out...
 
All depends on how the Ottoman Wars in the Balkans pan out...

You're right. The point I was trying to make, is that TTL Austro-Burgundian Habsburgs will have more resources than the later OTL Austrian Habsburgs; either as a direct ally (personal union (Maximilian (or a successor) succeeds in their ambition) or indirect ally of Hungary & Bohemia (the Habsburgs and the rest of the HRE wouldn't want the Ottomans as a threat at their doorstep).

Whether they will succeed in keeping Hungary (and Croatia) in tact, at least the border regions will be devastated during each conflict.
 
The Battle of Fornovo

The first major battle of the Italian Wars occurred at Fornovo, near the city of Parma. After the French army had systematically swept through the Kingdom of Naples and would return northward to France, the coalition of powers that would be dubbed the League of Venice, decided to stop him. Gathering a force of around 20000 men, the League enlisted the help of Francesco II, Marquess of Mantua, a hardened Condottiero, to lead this army against the French.

As the security of the Italian states was in jeopardy, in contrast to the relatively small French army (and as some pointed out, it wasn't even France's full strength) the League forces had to decisively outnumber the French. However, they were divided in what to do, as Charles VIII declared his intention of seeking safe passage through northern Italy. Eventually, with his army's supplies running low, Charles decided to join battle.

The League took positions on the right side of the Taro river, whilst the French took to the left side of the River. Dividing his army into three sections, with the largest commanded by Charles himself, the French army was protected by artillery.

Francesco began his attack by making his light cavalry harass the French front line, which failed due to the inhospitable terrain. His main battle plan was to distract the French with his first two lines and flank with the rear; although this would work, the battle soon descended into a bloody melee when the French baggage train was set upon by League cavalrymen. Eventually, the French were forced to retreat, their plunder from Naples ultimately lost.

Although the League would lose twice as many men as the French, the latter would retreat, as Charles licked his wounds. Nevertheless, he stewed, and he would be back[1]...

Back in Castile, joyful news greets the court: Archduchess Margaret of Austria is pregnant[2]. The Trastamara dynasty would be secure, and doubly so if the child were to be male.

[1] In OTL he would not return to Italy, seeing as he died after hitting his head on a door lintel after a game of jeu de paume. TTL, that accident is butterflied away.
[2] Butterflies a-flapping. In OTL Margaret gave birth to a stillborn girl shortly after John died.
 
Good update; it's nice to read about the House of Trastamara secured and hints of the French returning into the Italian boot. ;)
 
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