alternatehistory.com

I was searching through some threads, and I stumbled upon this fascinating scenario...

1517
Charlotte, age 2, daughter of Francis I of France, who is betrothed to Charles V, does not die; Charles and Francis become close personal friends (POD)

1518
The Spanish Cortez accepts Chalres as King (OTL)

1519
Emperor Maximilian dies. (OTL)
Charles and Francis persuade the Pope and some of the German princes to elect them as Co-Emperors

1519-1522
Rebellion by the German princes opposing the new arrangement is crushed

1523
Charles sides with Martin Luther and begins reforming the Church

1524-1525
Imperial forces defeat the Pope, who opposed reform
Anne of Bohemia dies

1526
Hungarians win at Mohacs and their King survives;
Ferdinand, brother of Charles, marries Isabela of Portugal

1532
Charles and Charlotte have a daughter

....


Henry II of France is Francis I' only surviving male heir upon his fathers death. He is bethroted to his cousin, the daughter of Charles and Charlotte (let's call her Isabela)

Isabela ends up inheriting the domanis of her father (Charles V) and uncle's heir (Ferdinands son with Isabela of Portugal)

Henry II fights a number of wars to secure his wifes inheritances, and also succeeds being crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

Henry II and Isabela of Habsburg are succeeded by only one surving male heir, let's call him Charles Francis.

Upon the death of his parents, Charles Francis of Valois-Habsburg would be:

- Holy Roman Emperor
- King of France
- King of Spain
- King Portugal
- King of Italy
- Archduke of Austria
- Lord of the Netherlands



View attachment 377534

Here's the map @Magnum posted, as it's not showing up in the quote:

IMG_3666.PNG

Now, let's say this scenario, or something very close to it, does come to pass, and the resultant empire remains a cohesive entity for at least a century or so.

Given that we're talking about an entity that would be more unified than the Iberian Union, how might we expect this empire to treat the territories conquered by Spain and Portugal in the Americas? Would the governance and social structure established (the encomienda and casta systems, slavery, etc) largely stay in place, or would a potential influx of German, French, and Italian settlers and administrators to New Spain, Peru, and Brazil meaningfully change things at such a formative stage for that area? If I am correct in assuming that there would have been an influx of settlers from those European regions, what might have been the typical profile of such a person?

Furthermore, can we expect such an empire to have different targets of colonization going forward? Would there have been a stronger or weaker desire to establish trade posts, settlements, missions, and other outposts in Africa, India, North America, Southeast Asia and Oceania? In particular, Spain did make several attempts in this area to conquer parts of North Africa, but never got much further than coastal enclaves. Could we expect greater or lesser interest in such endeavors here?
Top