Habsburg-Tudor Marriage Alliance? How Likely is it?

And no, Mary and Philip II don't count.

This is sort of question pertaining my own TL, but a more broad exercise as well. Let's assume the Habsburgs remain entrenched in the Lowlands and never gain Spain: you can pick your poison: Juan, Prince of Asturias survives, Margaret gives him a posthumous child, or Miguel da Paz lives. Whatever, so long as Spain doesn't become part of the Habsburg Empire.

The Habsburgs and the Tudor monarchy in this situation would have a lot in common against France; both would view the French crown suspiciously, albeit for different reasons, with the Habsburgs as Emperors still having a vested interest in (Northern) Italy. Assuming England still goes Protestant but the Habsburg dynasty remain Catholic, what would happen next?

Assuming a minimal butterfly net, let's assume that England eventually ends up with a Protestant Queen and she's forced to marry out of dire circumstances. Would those children even be considerable matches for Habsburg Princes/Princesses? The Stuarts didn't seem to mind Catholic marriages, but the you don't really know about the Tudors as they were a dynasty during a period of intense religious upheaval. Of course IOTL Elizabeth considered several Catholic suitors, but the council was heavily against it and she mostly used such matches as ploys more than anything.

Royal marriages are technically the business of the sovereign (except perhaps when they concern the sovereign and the heir themselves -- but as all the children have some succession rights they can pass on to their children, the council and Parliament could argue all royal marriages are their businesses). In the early modern period (we're talking 1570s onward, probably), would such a marriage fly? Would a more pragmatic Habsburg dynasty (reigning out of the Lowlands with Protestant subjects) consider such a marriage? Would they be okay with a Protestant Empress, or would they need to convert? Or would it seem like the type of negotiation they may try to work out, but it falls apart because neither side can give up something (as many are notoriously aware with Elizabeth I -- her favorite tactic to get out of marriage contracts she never intended to sign were to make the most absurd demands possible: like stating she wanted Calais as a dowry to marry Alençon and that the English Seminary at Reims needed to be shut down). ;)

I think it also goes both ways, if a Catholic Princess married into early modern England. Would conversion be necessary, or would she be allowed private worship? Private worship seems fine in both cases, but often provoked ire. Especially in Elizabeth's time, there was outrage over letting Alençon hear mass in private, and funnily enough once while he was hearing mass, two Jesuits were being executed up at Tyburn.

The period is definitely very fired up religiously, and there is a lot of bigotry, mostly considering how in out world it took nearly a century to work things out (and even then, not well). Even Henry IV's forward thinking Edict of Nantes fell apart because of his early death.
 
Bump, no answers? :(

Inter-religious marriages occured during this turbulent time, but often came to preserve the peace, which they rarely did. Assuming a 'Burgundian' Habsburg Empire, Catholic in religion is engaged against war in France with England, would a marriage possibly be offered to strengthen the bond? Would say, a daughter of the English becoming Empress smooth things over, or cause difficulties, especially if she brings along English ladies, Protestant ones at that, and continues to practice the Anglican religion. Likewise, a Habsburg daughter marrying an English Prince bringing her own ladies and refusing to hear the national mass at first seems a surefire way to cause trouble.

One such alliances (or any intermarriage alliance in the period) be able to hold or fall apart because of the outrage of the people and hostility of the government. Would those two things be enough to nix the match before it happens, or could we see a unique situation where a foreigner of an opposing faith is married, bares a child or two, but is then sent packing back home if the familial alliance falls apart and a bride of a more suitable family/proper alliance is found? Might be especially likely if the first marriage proves full of fighting, arguments, ect.
 
Inter-religious or two branches of the same religious, which consider each other heretical.

Anyway such a match between a Protestant Tudor and Catholic Habsburg seems hard, but not impossible. Such a match probably can cause internal issues with suspicious subjects; but might have a chance on a personal level.

Even converting is not impossible, if the 'reward' is good enough. A bit like IOTL Henry IV of France: 'Paris is well worth a Mass'. So for a Tudor princess becoming the next Holy Roman Empress or a Habsburg archduchess becoming Queen of England, they might consider doing, but that could also depend on character and on how religious a person is.
This might be the problematic point during negotiations, but a likely one, if they fear that the spouse would influence her husband into converting.

Sending that high born foreign spouses back home packing would be a huge diplomatic insult and thus not very likely. IMHO a more likely scenario would be, what happened to Catherine of Aragon IOTL.
 
Inter-religious or two branches of the same religious, which consider each other heretical.

Anyway such a match between a Protestant Tudor and Catholic Habsburg seems hard, but not impossible. Such a match probably can cause internal issues with suspicious subjects; but might have a chance on a personal level.

Even converting is not impossible, if the 'reward' is good enough. A bit like IOTL Henry IV of France: 'Paris is well worth a Mass'. So for a Tudor princess becoming the next Holy Roman Empress or a Habsburg archduchess becoming Queen of England, they might consider doing, but that could also depend on character and on how religious a person is.
This might be the problematic point during negotiations, but a likely one, if they fear that the spouse would influence her husband into converting.

Sending that high born foreign spouses back home packing would be a huge diplomatic insult and thus not very likely. IMHO a more likely scenario would be, what happened to Catherine of Aragon IOTL.

Cool. What I'm essentially thinking in my timeline is Elizabeth's eldest daughter marries Fredrick IV's heir. The Burgundian Habsburgs are Catholic but not fanatics, although Liz could prove a tough cookie in negotiations, I think they'd likely succeed through and they'd wed. After all, it was Maria Theresa's mother who was a Protestant before marriage, although she did convert, there really isn't stipulation that the consort would have to be Catholic, just Christian. It depends on the two people in question getting married I suppose and their personalities. If the Empress is meek and overtly political, her faith could be a non-issue.

Agree about the sending back though. The Catherine of Aragon sounds extreme but it's not impossible. I mean, my longer living Pilip never sought a divorce, but merely imprisoned Joanna at the Gravensteen.
 
Cool. What I'm essentially thinking in my timeline is Elizabeth's eldest daughter marries Fredrick IV's heir. The Burgundian Habsburgs are Catholic but not fanatics, although Liz could prove a tough cookie in negotiations, I think they'd likely succeed through and they'd wed. After all, it was Maria Theresa's mother who was a Protestant before marriage, although she did convert, there really isn't stipulation that the consort would have to be Catholic, just Christian. It depends on the two people in question getting married I suppose and their personalities. If the Empress is meek and overtly political, her faith could be a non-issue.

Agree about the sending back though. The Catherine of Aragon sounds extreme but it's not impossible. I mean, my longer living Pilip never sought a divorce, but merely imprisoned Joanna at the Gravensteen.


Well will Elizabeth's daughter convert? Cause I think that would be a sticking point. Remember both Branches of the Habsburgs married into protestant families but the Protestant consort had to convert.
 
Well will Elizabeth's daughter convert? Cause I think that would be a sticking point. Remember both Branches of the Habsburgs married into protestant families but the Protestant consort had to convert.


Tough question. I haven't covered the children Elizabeth has had beyond their childhoods, so I don't really know yet till I write about her. English Catholics aren't faring much better in this period, in fact probably a bit worse, but the alliance with the Emperor is more pragmatic than anything.

Backing the Huguenots over the Guise keeps France in a weakened position, but the Emperor would be quick to back away if England went too far in their support. So for purely pragmatic reasons the marriage would make sense, but given how Elizabeth acted in her own marriage negotiations IOTL (although I must remember this Elizabeth does have different quirks from her counterpart..), I imagine the Queen is probably a little tyrannical over her children, even once they've been married and are adults. So I think we would see the Queen consenting to a conversion for such a match, the daughter would probably go along, although if she's strong headed or bigoted it could cause a blow out.
 
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