Christendom in Flames, or Henrican Nightmare: A Renaissance ATL

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New Renaissance alternative timeline, with initial focus primarily on England and it's dynastic politics, and subsequently focusing on the resulting butterflies and ever-shifting alliances and relationships between England, France and the Habsburg domains.

Working with three major points of departure:

- Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, dies of whatever "grave illness" he had in 1527. Spanish State Papers describe him as 'weak and emaciated' and elsewhere refers to him being ill for several months by the time of his capture by Bourbon. His existence and claims were a serious bone of contention between Francis I and Charles V, so his well-timed death could generate serious butterflies.

- Henry VIII decides to take Pope Clement VII's advice as to how to proceed with his nullity suit.

- Henry VIII dies prematurely. (Considering switching this to Anne Boleyn's premature death instead).
 
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Prelude

May 5th, 1527, outside of Rome

Charles de Bourbon, prince of the blood royal of France, sometime Duke of Bourbon, Dauphin d'Auvergne, &c., and current commander of the Imperial forces in Italy, was already on his death-bed when the Imperial courier arrived. The courier had been sent forth to inform him of his succession to the Duchy of Milan and associated signories in Lombardy upon the death of the sickly Francesco Sforza, which succession had been promised to him the prior year by the Emperor Charles V, feudal overlord of Lombardy.

Like Sforza, Bourbon left no immediate heir. Bourbon had two sisters, the Princesse de La Roche-sur-Yon and the Duchesse de Lorraine, but neither were probable heirs, given the great unlikelihood of the Emperor desiring the ascension of a French courtier (as the elder was) or the union of Milan with Lorraine (which the second would inevitably bring about). Sforza, for his part, had but a single legitimate brother, Maximilian, then resident in Paris; neither had issue, heralding the abrupt end of the bloodline of their father, the Moor, who had been the first of the House to receive the Imperial investiture "ordine primogenito servato".

There was, of course, that illustrious third rival for the Ducal coronet: namely the French King, Francis I, who had himself been invested with the Duchy together with his late wife Claudia, who had before that been invested with it together with her father King Louis and the Emperor, at that time merely Charles of Burgundy, to whom she was then espoused. The Imperialists supposed whatever right and title the French might have in Milan to be forfeit, by reason of the actions undertaken by them against the Emperor. The Emperor certainly believed himself alone was truly entitled to that estate, but refrained from taking it for himself or his brother, King Ferdinand of Hungary (who desired it greatly), for to do such would certainly turn against him the entire Peninsula. Other dispositions were also considered; His Holiness had, at some point, suggested the Duchy be bestowed on the Emperor's natural uncle George of Austria; alternatively the Emperor had also proposed it serve as dote for the Infanta his niece, who should marry the Duke of Richmond, or to dismember the estate entirely and distribute it among several princes and potentates.

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Bourbon hastily drew up a will and testament, desiring the restoration of whatever of his French domains the Emperor might regain by future treaty to his elder sister Louise and her heirs in perpetuity. To his younger sister Renate, whose husband was a vassal of the Emperor, he left whatever rights he might have in Lombardy with reserve for her second son Nicholas, whom he recommended as his heir therein in a final letter to the Emperor.

The Imperial delegates, to their great benefit, departed that same day, avoiding bearing witness to the manifold tragedies that were to occur the following day.​
 
Thanks guys, updated coming soon. I won't go into the details of wars, who captured what, and Catherine of Aragon/Anne Boleyn, except where things deviate from OTL or are important to TTL.

:D
 
Chapter I: Anno Domini 1527, Part I

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Giulio de Medici, Pope Clement VII


The Sack of Rome[1] sent shockwaves throughout Christendom and inflicted a huge dent on the reputation of the young Emperor-Elect, Charles V. Though it was not his own direct fault, his incompetence and failure to provide adequately for the upkeep of his army resulted in the brutal rape of the seat of the Petrine throne and the most unbecoming imprisonment of the Holy Father himself. The vandalism, murder, rape and looting that followed utterly devastated Rome. The Sack also had immediate impact throughout the Peninsula, allowing the Pope's enemies to take action without fear of immediate reprisal; the Duke of Ferrara seized Modena, Sigismund Malatesta returned to Rimini, the Venetians captured Ravenna and Cervia, and the Florentines expelled the Pope's legate and Medici partisans.

The Pope was forced to surrender himself, together with the castle of Sant'Angelo, and agree to a ransom of 400,000 ducati for his life. Additional conditions included the cession of Parma, Piacenza, Civitavecchia and Modena to the Empire. Clement was kept as a prisoner in Castel Sant'Angelo for six months. After having bought off some Imperial officers, he escaped disguised as a peddler and took shelter in Orvieto and then in Viterbo. He was to return to the depopulated and devastated Rome only in October 1528.

Not long before, King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII of England had expanded on their recent alliance and concluded three further treaties, signed April 30th 1527.

The first treaty ran:

That the two kings should jointly send ambassadors to the Emperor, with offers concerning the ransom of the two hostages, and to demand the payment of what was due to the King of England. That if he rejected the offers, or gave no answer within twenty days, the two Kings should proclaim war against him. Another article of the treaty contained a mutual engagement for the marriage of Francis, or his son the duke of Orleans with the Princess Mary, at the King of France’s choice, and upon such terms as should be agreed on when the time came. (Probably this treaty was to be made publick, in order to induce the Emperor to desist from his claim to Burgundy, and be satisfied with the offered equivalent.)

By the second treaty it was agreed:
That in case the Emperor rejected the proposals, or deferred his answer, all commerce should be forbidden with his subjects, by the two Kings, allowing them however forty days to withdraw their effects.

That the two Kings should make war upon the Emperor in the Low Countries, with an army of thirty thousand foot, and fifteen hundred men at arms, and that two thirds of the food, and all the horse should be furnished by the King of France.

That they should equip a fleet with fifteen thousand men, whereof the King of France should find ten thousand.

That if the King of Portugal, or any other prince or state, should join with the Emperor, they should be declared enemies to both the Kings.

That the Pope and Venetians should be deemed included in the League, provided they continued the war in Italy.

That the King of France should endeavour to persuade the King of Navarre, the Duke of Gueldres, and Robert de la Mari to make war upon the Emperor.

That the two Kings should use their joint endeavours to encourage John de Zapol to prosecute his right to the crown of Hungary, in case he had not already made an alliance with the Turk, in order to keep the Emperor’s brother Ferdinand employed in those parts.

That the league should be notified to the Princes of Germany, and the two Kings endeavour to prevent their assisting the Emperor.

The substance of the third treaty was:
1. That this treaty should not derogate from that of Moore, which remained in force.
2. That there should be perpetual peace between Francis and Henry, and their respective subjects.
3. That neither of them should give aid or advice to any person whatever, that should attack the dominions of the other.
4. Henry renounced for himself and successors, all right and title to the Kingdom of France, and in general, whatever Francis now possessed.
5. In consideration whereof, Francis bound himself and successors, to pay to Henry’s successors an annual pension for ever, of fifty thousand crowns, at two payments; namely, on the 1st of May and the 1st of November, and that the payment of the pension should commence, on the first of those two days which should happen after Henry’s death, without deduction of what should remain to be paid after Henry’s decease, of the two millions stipulated by the Treaty of Moore.
6. Moreover Francis bound himself to give yearly to Henry, fifteen thousand crowns worth of Salt of Bruage, besides the fore-mentioned fifty thousand crowns.
7. That, to prevent the objection which might hereafter be made, That a King cant bind his successors, the two Kings should cause the treaty to be confirmed by the States of their realms, and held as a perpetual and inviolable law.
8. That the treaty should be approved and confirmed by the Archbishops, Bishops, Princes, Dukes, Earls, Barons, and other great Men of the two Kingdoms, whose names were inserted in this Article, under forfeiture of all their goods; and by the Parliaments of Paris, Toulouse, Roan, Bordeaux, as well as by all the Courts of Justice in England
.​

The news of the sacking of Rome and the Pope’s captivity arriving shortly after the conclusion of these treaties, the two Kings thought fit to alter the article of the second, concerning their carrying war into the Low Countries, and to agree to act only in Italy. But as the English troops could not be transported into Italy, without great difficulties and loss of time, they agreed, that the King of France should undertake the war alone, for a certain sum, which Henry was to pay him monthly, till the end of October, this last treaty was signed the fifth of May, about three weeks after the taking of Rome.

In consequence of the first of the three Treaties of April the 30th, Henry sent Sir Francis Pointz into Spain, to demand of the Emperor, that as, by their former Treaties, the war with France was carried on at a common charge, he would give him half the booty taken at Paiva, and one of the two hostages received from the French King. Pointz was accompanied with Clarencieux King at arms, but incognito, that he might be ready to do his Office, when there should be occasion. The Emperor easily perceived, the King of England sought only pretence of quarrel. But as it was his interest to prolong the time, he told the ambassador he would send his answer to the King his master by an express.[2]

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Henry VIII Tudor, King of England & Lord of Ireland

Henry's goals, however, went beyond simply guaranteeing the payment of the money the Emperor owed him or the release of the two French princes. He was by this time madly in love with his Queen's lady, Anne Boleyn [3]. She was the daughter of the prominent courtier Thomas Boleyn, and the sister of his former mistress Mary Boleyn. Henry had by now determined that his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was null and void; she had been his brother's wife previously, making their own union incestous and cursed by God, as evidenced by the stillbirths and early deaths of all of their male children. The Papal dispensation which had been issued had been obtained under false pretences and only separation from her would remove the weight of God's curse from his progeny. Furthermore, Katherine was now rapidly ageing, unattractive, unfertile, and wholely unappealing a consort thanks to an unspecified gynaecological condition she suffered from.

To Henry's great inconvenience, Katherine was the Emperor's aunt and the physical embodiment of England's two most important foreign alliances, with Spain and Burgundy (which had now been united by the Emperor). There was a very real threat that her mistreatment could lead to foreign war, maybe even invasion, and divorce from her would offend both France and Spain, to whose rulers her daughter had lately been offered as bride. On the other hand, Henry was convinced that only his re-marriage would prevent England being plunged into decades of dynastic civil war once more.

Unlike Henry, the Emperor was convinced that all of the old factions and "partialities", as he called them, that had plagued England in former years would result from his divorce from Katherine. Divorcing from Katherine would taint the birth of their daughter, Mary, certainly allowing the King of Scots (Henry's nephew) and others of the blood royal to challenge Mary's title to the throne. The Emperor had no wish to see his aunt jilted or his cousin removed from a throne which was to be rightfully hers, especially not in order to make way for the Francophile Scots. As such, the King's "Great Matter" temporarily made the continued alliance with France and the freedom of the Pope (which Henry hoped would suffice to convince the Pope to grant him his wish regardless of the Emperor's protestations) the two chief goals of Cardinal Wolsey's foreign policy.

Thankfully a welcome opportunity had presented itself during the negotiations for the marriage of the princess Mary with the Duke of Orléans[4], when the Bishop of Tarbes questioned the legality of her father's wedding to his late brother's widow. These marriage negoations allowed Henry to claim, in public, that he wished only to clarify and correct whatever irregularities there might be in the royal union, whilst privately seeking a favourable Papal ruling that would allow him to marry Anne and put away Katherine.

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Charles V of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, Italy, Castille, Aragon, Naples, &c.

The sudden death of Sforza altered the state of affairs in Europe overnight. It removed a chief bone of contention between the French and Imperialists, facilitating a compromise over Milan and Italy, presentely the main theatre of warfare between the Valois and Habsburg. Francis I wanted the Duchy for himself or one of his sons, but knew that the Emperor would never consent to such; likewise, the Emperor wanted it for himself or his brother King Ferdinand, but knew that the princes of Christendom were universally united against such an inheritance. Consequently the Emperor had championed Francis' enemy the Duke of Bourbon, whilst Francis championed the Emperor's rebellious vassal Francesco Sforza. The death of both without heirs elicited numerous protestations from the Italian princes, all of whom were vehemently opposed to a Habsburg succession.

In consideration of all these opposing ambitions and forces, the Emperor was positively disposed towards Henry's desire to restart negotiations for the marriage of his bastard son, Henry, Duke of Richmond, with one of the Emperor's nieces, a proposition the Emperor had made himself in prior times. The original bride option desired by Henry VIII was the young Infanta Maria, daughter of the Emperor's sister Eleanor by King John III of Portugal, incidentally also the mother of the Emperor's wife. As her mother was to shortly marry Francis I of France, the union would tie together Tudor, Valois and Habsburg more closely than ever. Unfortunately the young Infanta was already promised elsewhere (to her future step-brother the Dauphin) so the Emperor offered instead one of his Danish nieces. The 'x' of this whole equation was that the Emperor's niece (whichever one was chosen) would receive Milan as dowry, with the young Richmond ruling as a loyal, pro-Habsburg vassal for the Emperor.

To rhe ppeasant surprise of the English King, the proposition met with almost universal approval. Richmond was seen as a rival for the Princess Mary's succession, which was desired greatly both by her kinsman the Emperor and the French, now that she was promised to their young Duke of Orléans. The Italians were glad that someone other than a Frenchman or Habsburg should rule so prominent a principality on their borders. Both the Valois and Habsburg considered Richmond's removal from England a great achievement, with Milan being sufficiently distant a fief as to ensure he wouldn't use it as a powerbase to wrest the throne from his sister or her heirs. Certainly Francis was also confident of his capability of making Richmond a French ally or even puppet.

There were, however, still many issues extant between England, France and the Emperor, who was adamant that this betrothal be concluded before he made peace with Francis and released the latter's two sons (then hostages in Spain), believing that the reestablishment of the Anglo-Spanish alliance would strengthen his position immensely, perhaps even allowing him to demand more generous peace terms.[5]


[1] Happens as OTL, as does the rest of Franco-Spanish warfare in Italian Peninsula (unless otherwise noted)

[2] The treaties are taken directly from the English State Papers, whilst this paragraph comes courtesy of (English, or French? can't recall) State Papers per Google Books.

[3] Anne Boleyn's uncle was Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the most powerful of only three Dukes at Henry's court (the others being Suffolk and Richmond). Norfolk was married for many years to the Princess Anne of York, so Henry was raised with Norfolk as his uncle and as an important member of the immediate royal family.

[4] Henri de Valois, Duc d'Orléans & Bretagne, second son of King Francis I. By the Treaty of Amiens was engaged to Princess Mary, who was previously engaged both to his brother the Dauphin and father.

[5] Proposal is historic, as is the change of niece offered. In OTL the Emperor's messengers found Henry and Wolsey so engrossed with debt and divorce talk and French matters that they let the matter slide, since the restoration of the Anglo-Spanish alliance was Charles' condition for the marriage and making Richmond duke in Milan.
 
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