Could Savoy and Piedmont become French in 1515?

Ok, this idea is a bit complicated, but I'll try to explain:

In 1496 the Duke of Savoy - Charles II - died. To keep the Duchy within the male line of the family, the new duke was Philip II the Landless, whose reign would be short, as he would die in 1497. At the time that Philip the Landless became Duke of Savoy he and his sons were the last male members of their ducal family. Philip II had married twice, the first with Margaret of Bourbon, who died in 1483, and the second with Claudine de Brosse, and they would give him four legitimate children.

Margaret gave him one son, Philibert II, who would become the next duke but died childless, and a daughter, Louise, who was married to Charles of Valois-Orleans and would be the mother of Francis I of France.

Claudine gave birth to two sons. The first was the duke Charles III, heir of his half-brother Philibert II, and from whom all the Dukes of Savoy and the later kings of Sardinia and Kings of Italy descend. The other was Philip, and he and his descendants became Dukes of Nemours.

Well, here is the POD: if Claudine had being esterile, denying Philip II new sons, and Philibert II had still died childless in 1504, all the male members of the House of Savoy would be extinct, and the nearest heir of their lands would be the young Francis of Angouleme (the son of Louise of Savoy and Charles of Valois-Orleans). This same boy would become in 1515 King of France, as Louis XII had only daughters. I'm assuming these facts do not change significantly ITTL.

Now, as Savoy was at the time still officially a state of the HRE, would the Habsburgs accept its incorporation into France? There would be any other possible strong claimants? And how could a French Savoy (and Piedmont, as it belonged to the Duchy) affect the Italian Wars (if they still happen ITTL)?
 
Possible in theory, and an intriguing prospect. That said, I'm not sure if francis can simply inheirit this claim without a fight.
 
Wow. What a neat concept.

I'm not sure how the Emperor would've opposed the inheritance, but looking at contemporaneous situations I suspect a more distant relative would've been foudn. But the stateks do become significantly higher... wow.
 
Possible in theory, and an intriguing prospect. That said, I'm not sure if francis can simply inheirit this claim without a fight.

But remember that by 1505 Francis wasn't so important, since Louis XII was well and could still have children. He even had two stillborn sons after 1505, so the succession going to Francis isn't so clear by then. Also, by 1505 Francis was a harmless 10 years old child, and that might even help him to not attract so much attention to the problems he might cause in the future.

Wow. What a neat concept.

I'm not sure how the Emperor would've opposed the inheritance, but looking at contemporaneous situations I suspect a more distant relative would've been foudn. But the stateks do become significantly higher... wow.

Apparently, according to this website:
http://genealogy.euweb.cz/savoy/savoy3.html (BTW, very useful if you need genealogical trees) the only relatives with an hypothetical higher claim alive at the time (1505) were two women without much power: Maria of Savoy, cousin of Philibert II, and who had a daughter from Margrave Philip of Baden-Harchberg, and Louisa of Savoy, married with François of Luxembourg, Viscount of Martigues (their marriage was childless). However, considering that Francis was the nearest male descendent from the last Duke I doubt his claims can be ignored.

After them, the most important person that could raise a claim was René "le Grand Bastard de Savoie", a bastard son of Philip Landless who was born in 1468. He was important in the French government, being governor of Provence. I know that bastardy was ignored in Italy when necessary, but as he worked for the French I'm not sure if the king wouldn't pressure him to forget any claim he can raise in order to help his Valois relative.
 
I think the Italian Wars would still happen - things would not really change until around the War of the League of Cambrai and the Sixth Italian War. Would whatever forces Savoy could supply be enough to turn the tide in favor of France? I don't think so, but it's a possibility.
 
I think the Italian Wars would still happen - things would not really change until around the War of the League of Cambrai and the Sixth Italian War. Would whatever forces Savoy could supply be enough to turn the tide in favor of France? I don't think so, but it's a possibility.

I'm not sure about an increase of forces, but at least Savoy would give the French some good strategical points to attack Milan (where they also had claims). If they eventually get Milan too then ITTL Northern Italy is dominated by France.
 
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