There has been a rather large upsurge of Charles V threads recently, each discussing alternate divisions of this and that, which bits go to Austria, to Spain, new countries forming in Burgundy, etc. This got me wondering, why didnt Charles keep his massive empire intact, by not partitioning it?
The most obvious reasons I assume will be the huge cultural as well as geographical disparity between his different realms, and that Charles was so pained by gout, deformities, epilepsia and the rest that he could not have enough time and energy to increase and maintain his empire on his own. So, the way I see it, there are two ways to tackle this challenge, in one Charles somehow goes on, despite his physical ailments, perhaps devolving the seperate provinces of the empire but keeping a figurehead role quietly in a palace somewhere, while the other is much more difficult but then much more interesting and exciting.
Could he have given his whole Empire to one successor, probably Phillip, and keep the empire together by Personal Union, and lead the way to a possible United Hapsburg Empire? Is this at all plausible, or is it ASB? What PoD/s will be nessescary? If this can come to pass, what will be the effects and ramifications of this in the short and long term? An inevitable succession war? The dreaded Universal European Empire?
Thoughts?