Usually I stay far away from the British isles when it comes to discussions on this forum, but this one had me thinking - and since I haven’t been able to find a thread about it on here, why not throw it out there.
My idea is that otl Charles I of England dies before becoming king - maybe his ships sinks on its way back from Spain in 1623 (surely a divine sign to not getting cozy with Catholics). If I understand British succession law at the time correctly, this would put the children of Elizabeth Stuart and the Winter King next in line to James VI’s thrones.
This would likely mean Frederick Henry of the Palatinate succeeds his uncle, since his otl drowning in the Netherlands is all but guaranteed to be butterflied, or if he should still die around otl then his brother Charles Louis. Let’s cut FH out of the picture for ease of sake (have him drown earlier) and assume Charles Louis inherits England and Scotland in 1625.
A foreign child on the British thrones would probably be a pleasant situation for parliament. Instead of a Catholic sympathizer raised in a proto-absolutist ideology, he would by his father’s example be very aware that kings can all too easily lose their crowns. He would also have a personal reason to be very anti-imperial and anti-Catholic, which would probably also lessen frictions with parliament.
Now I’m not enough of an expert on English history to know if this is enough to prevent the civil war, but it’s probably a good start if nothing else. If the rest of otl goes somewhat as normal, then Charles Louis of England comes of age right around the time that the peace of Prague was signed, and the “Protestant” side was losing some momentum. This could be pretty good timing for a palatinate king of England to launch their own intervention, with the secular goal of reclaiming their palatine holdings. A Dutch alliance is likely a requirement to gain access to the Rhine valley.
This in turn might have France reconsidering their position. Weakening the habsburgs is still important, but now doing so might mean strengthening England with a continental base close to France. How would the French government handle this conundrum?
My idea is that otl Charles I of England dies before becoming king - maybe his ships sinks on its way back from Spain in 1623 (surely a divine sign to not getting cozy with Catholics). If I understand British succession law at the time correctly, this would put the children of Elizabeth Stuart and the Winter King next in line to James VI’s thrones.
This would likely mean Frederick Henry of the Palatinate succeeds his uncle, since his otl drowning in the Netherlands is all but guaranteed to be butterflied, or if he should still die around otl then his brother Charles Louis. Let’s cut FH out of the picture for ease of sake (have him drown earlier) and assume Charles Louis inherits England and Scotland in 1625.
A foreign child on the British thrones would probably be a pleasant situation for parliament. Instead of a Catholic sympathizer raised in a proto-absolutist ideology, he would by his father’s example be very aware that kings can all too easily lose their crowns. He would also have a personal reason to be very anti-imperial and anti-Catholic, which would probably also lessen frictions with parliament.
Now I’m not enough of an expert on English history to know if this is enough to prevent the civil war, but it’s probably a good start if nothing else. If the rest of otl goes somewhat as normal, then Charles Louis of England comes of age right around the time that the peace of Prague was signed, and the “Protestant” side was losing some momentum. This could be pretty good timing for a palatinate king of England to launch their own intervention, with the secular goal of reclaiming their palatine holdings. A Dutch alliance is likely a requirement to gain access to the Rhine valley.
This in turn might have France reconsidering their position. Weakening the habsburgs is still important, but now doing so might mean strengthening England with a continental base close to France. How would the French government handle this conundrum?
Last edited: