Hapsburg Brittany

On 19 December 1490, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, was married by proxy to Maximilian I of Austria at Rennes Cathedral. The French were furious but, what's worse, the timing was wrong: the Habsburgs were too busy in Hungary to pay any serious attention to Brittany (probably related to his father's succession as King of Hungary) . As a result, Anne ended up being married 1st to Charles VIII and then to Louis XII, betrothal of Charles VIII to Margaret of Austria was cancelled and France did not get the counties of Artois and Burgundy.

Now, what if Max is sorting his priorities differently and real marriage to Anne happens (anything from sending a considerable contingent to Brittany to make French intervention difficult and all the way to carrying her by sea to the Netherlands)?

On one hand, Brittany backed up by the Hapsburgs (Anne is still a Duchess and when the duchy passes to her child it is still a separate entity) is a permanent pain in the French posteriors but, OTOH, it is a big question what is more important economically at that time, Brittany or Artois and County of Burgundy (later, it took a lot of fighting to make them French).

OTOH, Brittany is in a personal union to a Hapsburg (Maximilian) and is going to be inherited by Anne's child as an independent state. Max already has a son (Phillip the Handsome) so we are talking about an additional branch of the Hapsburg family without (obvious) rights to the rest of the Hapsburg possessions and if this branch is getting extinct, then the legal rights of the main Hapsburg line to Brittany are highly questionable.

The Hapsburgs are getting one more piece of a territory which is not connected to their other possessions, which can be accessed only by the sea, and which they have to defend. It may be convenient to have as a base half way between Spain and the Netherlands but its maritime value is not yet the same as in the XVII century and the local loyalties are rather dubious: French party is quite strong.

An additional possibility: Anne, as in OTL, has the only surviving child, a daughter who inherits the Duchy of Brittany. There are no free Hapsburgs available for marriage and the Duchy is still vassal of France. During one of the peaceful periods, the daughter is marrying heir of the throne of France, future Francis I. The differences from OTL are minimized except that France is getting Artois and French Comte much earlier and without a war.
 
On 19 December 1490, Anne, Duchess of Brittany, was married by proxy to Maximilian I of Austria at Rennes Cathedral. The French were furious but, what's worse, the timing was wrong: the Habsburgs were too busy in Hungary to pay any serious attention to Brittany (probably related to his father's succession as King of Hungary) . As a result, Anne ended up being married 1st to Charles VIII and then to Louis XII, betrothal of Charles VIII to Margaret of Austria was cancelled and France did not get the counties of Artois and Burgundy.

Now, what if Max is sorting his priorities differently and real marriage to Anne happens (anything from sending a considerable contingent to Brittany to make French intervention difficult and all the way to carrying her by sea to the Netherlands)?

On one hand, Brittany backed up by the Hapsburgs (Anne is still a Duchess and when the duchy passes to her child it is still a separate entity) is a permanent pain in the French posteriors but, OTOH, it is a big question what is more important economically at that time, Brittany or Artois and County of Burgundy (later, it took a lot of fighting to make them French).

OTOH, Brittany is in a personal union to a Hapsburg (Maximilian) and is going to be inherited by Anne's child as an independent state. Max already has a son (Phillip the Handsome) so we are talking about an additional branch of the Hapsburg family without (obvious) rights to the rest of the Hapsburg possessions and if this branch is getting extinct, then the legal rights of the main Hapsburg line to Brittany are highly questionable.

The Hapsburgs are getting one more piece of a territory which is not connected to their other possessions, which can be accessed only by the sea, and which they have to defend. It may be convenient to have as a base half way between Spain and the Netherlands but its maritime value is not yet the same as in the XVII century and the local loyalties are rather dubious: French party is quite strong.

An additional possibility: Anne, as in OTL, has the only surviving child, a daughter who inherits the Duchy of Brittany. There are no free Hapsburgs available for marriage and the Duchy is still vassal of France. During one of the peaceful periods, the daughter is marrying heir of the throne of France, future Francis I. The differences from OTL are minimized except that France is getting Artois and French Comte much earlier and without a war.

In case, someone considers the "Hapsburg option" unrealistic, in OTL Anne of Brittany (and Queen of France) arranged the marriage of her daughter, Claude, heiress of the Duchy, to Charles of Austria (future Emperor Charles V) to reinforce the Franco-Spanish alliance. By that point there was still a hope that Anne will produce a male heir to the throne of France but Brittany would go to Claude and her husband. In an addition to the Duchy, by a marriage agreement (Treaty of Blois) Claude also received the Duchies of Milan and Burgundy, the Counties of Blois and Asti and the territory of the Republic of Genoa, then occupied by France. In other words, if Anne had a surviving male child, the Italians Wars would be over by 1504.
 
In case, someone considers the "Hapsburg option" unrealistic, in OTL Anne of Brittany (and Queen of France) arranged the marriage of her daughter, Claude, heiress of the Duchy, to Charles of Austria (future Emperor Charles V) to reinforce the Franco-Spanish alliance. By that point there was still a hope that Anne will produce a male heir to the throne of France but Brittany would go to Claude and her husband. In an addition to the Duchy, by a marriage agreement (Treaty of Blois) Claude also received the Duchies of Milan and Burgundy, the Counties of Blois and Asti and the territory of the Republic of Genoa, then occupied by France. In other words, if Anne had a surviving male child, the Italians Wars would be over by 1504.

Wouldn't Claude only get Brittany in lieu of a male heir to Anne of Brittany? I could be wrong, but I can't see Louis XII or any French king willingly parting with Brittany after they've gone through so much hassle to get their hands on it.
 
Wouldn't Claude only get Brittany in lieu of a male heir to Anne of Brittany? I could be wrong, but I can't see Louis XII or any French king willingly parting with Brittany after they've gone through so much hassle to get their hands on it.

The deal (with Charles VIII and Louis XII) was as following. The 1st male child becomes king of France. The 2nd male child becomes the Duke of Brittany. With a single male child, the eldest daughter becomes the Duchess of Brittany. In the case of a single male child he becomes both King of France and the Duke of Brittany but Brittany does not become a part of France.

In OTL, Anne's elder daughter, Claude the Duchess of Brittany, married heir presumptive to the throne of France (later, Francis I) and her elder son became Dauphin of France and the last formally independent Duke of Brittany (Francis III of Brittany). Breton independence was effectively ended when in 1532 the Estates of Brittany proclaimed the perpetual union of Brittany with the French crown: the crown of Brittany could not be separated from the crown of France even when the line of the Claude's direct descendants expired (after the death of Henry III) and there were legitimate Claude's heirs (Duke of Lorraine and Infanta of Spain). However, there was at least one titular duke appointed by Louis XIV.

The independent Parliament of Brittany had been closed only by Louis XVI. Earlier attempt by Louis XIV failed: the Parlement voted to ignore the King's order of dissolution upon the claim it alone had the authority to dissolve this legislative and judicial body. Strictly speaking, in 1790 they formally protested even against decision of the National Assembly but, after issuing this protest they never assembled again.
 
I think the main problem here is that France is never going to willingly part with Brittany and Brittany's geographic location makes it hard for allies like the Hapsburgs to support their independence. There'd likely need to be another major reason for France to pull away from Brittany.
 
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