English Empire In Europe

What if the English had formed an empire in Europe instead of getting colonies all over the world? What if?
 

drakle

Banned
So they are going to fight technology equals for what resources or trade options. Their Empire was built on cornering the market and controlling the sea-lanes.

They could it but France is going to want their land back or be freed [just like Poland]
 
Don't see why they would want to, but I'm sure it would be possible. However, as Drakle said, the occupied nations would want their land back.
A possibility is the Angevin Empire at the time of Henry II holding on to it's borders in France, and capturing Paris. They take the remaining French coasts and over a period of a few hundred years, anglicise the nation to an extent (This is going to be difficult.) If you then wanted, Savoy and Burgundy (Which may never be united with France due to butterflies etc.) could be targets. This scenario is, however, very unlikely and these territories would be extremely difficult for the English to hold on to.
 
Don't see why they would want to, but I'm sure it would be possible. However, as Drakle said, the occupied nations would want their land back.
A possibility is the Angevin Empire at the time of Henry II holding on to it's borders in France, and capturing Paris. They take the remaining French coasts and over a period of a few hundred years, anglicise the nation to an extent (This is going to be difficult.) If you then wanted, Savoy and Burgundy (Which may never be united with France due to butterflies etc.) could be targets. This scenario is, however, very unlikely and these territories would be extremely difficult for the English to hold on to.

Very difficult, considering the elite were culturally French.
 
The idea of anglicizing was at the time completely anachronical.

Henry II and his nobles were not english, though they ruled England. He was an angevin. A large part of Henry II's army was composed of non-english people.

France was much much more populated than England (around 4 times as much). Forget about the idea of national conquest. Ambitions at the time were dynastic most of the time : it was about extending the principalities ruled by a dynast (there are of course exceptions, such as Spain against the moors or Germany agains the slavs).
 
Well, holding Normandy would not be impossible. People seem to think Joan of Arc doomed the entire English holdings in France,but it was over the next 20 years that Normandy and Guyenne were lost.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
You are forgetting several things.

Normandy was taken several times by each side. As well as Aquitania, Maine and Anjou. A region was not impregnable, and it became less impregnable when the use of canons spread in the 15th century. And in the mid-15th century, the french had the best canons and in greter number.

When, a few years after the treaty of Brétigny, hostilities resumed, it took very few man for the french to take back most of the territories ceded to Edward III. Defending territories is very costly because you need to defend each stronghold while the attacker only need to take them one by one.

Fundamentally, the balance of power was very much in favour of France when its armies were not led by incompetent idiots. It had much more ressources and fought on its soil.

As far as holding Normandy is concerned, the politics of Henry V's brothers was decisive in alienating the french population, not tle least in Normandy.

You are right in reminding that the french took almost 20 years to take back Normandy and Guyenne-Aquitaine. In fact, they took 10 years for Normandy and 10 more years for Aquitaine, but the delay for Aquitaine was deliberate.
Aquitaine had remained more closely linked to England than Normandy. So the french decided they needed to go slowly.
 
But it WAS on land in near France, with varying amounts of France added or subtracted 'til the Renaissance - that's what they wanted, anyway. Especially in seasick Kings' reigns....

I've recently reread a Royal Navy history that said that. And after all, Europe's where their wimpy ships COULD go and there'd been exploration 'til the 1492 expedition came back,
 
Don't see why they would want to, but I'm sure it would be possible. However, as Drakle said, the occupied nations would want their land back.
A possibility is the Angevin Empire at the time of Henry II holding on to it's borders in France, and capturing Paris. They take the remaining French coasts and over a period of a few hundred years, anglicise the nation to an extent (This is going to be difficult.) If you then wanted, Savoy and Burgundy (Which may never be united with France due to butterflies etc.) could be targets. This scenario is, however, very unlikely and these territories would be extremely difficult for the English to hold on to.

That would be a French empire, though.
 
The most logical place for England to expand would be France, but the ensuing Empire (assuming this is the Middle Ages) would be French, not English.
 
The most logical place for England to expand would be France, but the ensuing Empire (assuming this is the Middle Ages) would be French, not English.

Perhaps somehow the English get lands in the Netherlands. However, that wouldn't create a big English empire in Europe.
 

katchen

Banned
England might feasibly have been able to rule over Scandinavia. Starting dynastically. Elizabeth marries Eric Vasa just before Mary and Eric's father die. They rule together, maybe dividing up time between Sweden and England. English ships become instrumental in Eric conquering Norway and then Denmark. Eric becomes High King of the reconstituted Union of Kalmar before he goes mad, wherupon Elizabeth rules both thrones, merging the two nations before her death. At that point the throne for both nations goes to the Vasa heir instead of the Stuart heir, leading finally to Gustavus II Adolphus becoming King of England and Scandinavia before he makes his first item on his agenda conquering Scotland. The TL goes from there with Gustavus Adolphus's conquests including most of Baltic Germany and Livonia before he gets involved in the 30 Years War. If he dies at Lutzen ala OTL, Christina inherits it all and may try to turn it Catholic. Either way, the British Isles and Scandinavia have a good chance of staying together.
 
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