Give the Iberian Union a second chance!

In 1650, John IV of Portugal, fearing a possible defeat in the war against Spain for the Portuguese independence from the Iberian Union, sent the father Antonio Vieira in a diplomatic mission to Rome. He wanted to offer to the Spanish the possibility of a marriage between his son, Teodosio, and the Princess of Asturias, Maria Theresa of Spain, until now the heir of the Spanish throne. If Philip had no more male heirs she would be the queen, and married to Teodosio their heirs would united both the Habsburg and the Braganza claim to Portugal.

With this marriage, John IV wanted to keep the Iberian Union and put an end to the expensive war he needed to fight. He even offered to the Spanish his own abdication on behalf of his son if Philip IV didn't accept John as king.

However, the Spanish didn't have any reason to accept it. Portugal could still be defeated, and Maria Theresa would be more useful for other diplomatic marriages (as she was IOTL with France) and Philip could still have a male heir. Also, the news that the Portuguese tried to help a rebellion agains the Spanish in Naples didn't help John's plan.

But how could Philip IV had accepted that? Would the Portuguese accept that (their own king arranging the reunion with Spain)? And assuming that Philip IV doesn't have a healthy male son as IOTL, how would be an Iberian Union under the House of Braganza?
 
My question on this is how would their respective Empires be affected? Will Brazil become Spanish?

Basically John IV wanted everything as it was during the Iberian Union, with different administrations to the colonial areas. So nothing would really change, except the royal house.
 
Wouldn't this give the Dutch (and English, I suppose) an indefinite impetus to colony and trade snatching of the Portuguese parts of the Empire? Or would the House of Braganza-Hapsburg be more likely to settle those issues, one way or another?
 
My question on this is how would their respective Empires be affected? Will Brazil become Spanish?

unlikely, given how different Brazil was administered (example being the nonexistence of any state institution of higher education in Brazil compared to the universities in Spanish America) in comparison from the Spanish viceroyalities, it is doubtful that Brazil would fall into Spanish administrative control, and would remain under Portuguese administration even in a prolonged Iberian Union.
 
Wouldn't this give the Dutch (and English, I suppose) an indefinite impetus to colony and trade snatching of the Portuguese parts of the Empire? Or would the House of Braganza-Hapsburg be more likely to settle those issues, one way or another?

Well, surely it wouldn't solve the problems that the Portuguese were facing in the colonies. Even after 1640 there were conflicts between the Dutch and the Portuguese, despite the fact they were theoretically allies. So, if the union remains, the Dutch would continue to attack their territories.
 
Well, surely it wouldn't solve the problems that the Portuguese were facing in the colonies. Even after 1640 there were conflicts between the Dutch and the Portuguese, despite the fact they were theoretically allies. So, if the union remains, the Dutch would continue to attack their territories.
But, would they have achieved higher profits?. What I mean is if the Dutch would have retained control over Angola and North coast of Brazil and even more? Would the Iberian Union be more problematic to the portuguese to maintain their empire?
 
But, would they have achieved higher profits?. What I mean is if the Dutch would have retained control over Angola and North coast of Brazil and even more? Would the Iberian Union be more problematic to the portuguese to maintain their empire?

It would certainly be more difficult, because the problems of the Iberian Union would persist, Portugal would have to continue fighting the war in wich Spain was involved. The profits would be the same, unless the way that the colonies were administrated changed, I don't see Portugal profiting much more, and wars consume much money.
 
It would be ironic if that "Portuguese" dynasty establishes equivalent taxes in Portugal to those of Castile and gives raise to another Portuguese revolt. The alternative is either having Portugal virtually untouched by the royal coffers while the rest pay, or to continue to bleed Castile while the other kingdoms simply sit and see.
 
It would be ironic if that "Portuguese" dynasty establishes equivalent taxes in Portugal to those of Castile and gives raise to another Portuguese revolt. The alternative is either having Portugal virtually untouched by the royal coffers while the rest pay, or to continue to bleed Castile while the other kingdoms simply sit and see.

That only proves how difficult would be to mantain the Iberian Union. Changing Portugal or Catille has the leader of the union wouldn't cover the real problems. It should be analised wich thinag were so urgent to change that could help the Iberian Union to continue.
 
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