Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria inherits Spain. Marriage prospects?

I know this seems like a weird question, but it is an important one, as well as one that, for all the threads about his survival seems to have been neglected. For the sake of discussion let's just say that Philip of Anjou got Sicily and Naples, The Grand Dauphine got Lorraine whose duke was compensated with Tuscany. Austria got Milan and Finale, Savoy got Sardinia and the rest went to Joseph except Bavaria which was granted to his half brother. Now when Joseph comes of age, who is he going to marry? Or rather, who would his father set him up with?
 
Maybe a french princess? Bavaria was generally friendly to Paris because of the hapsburg rivalry right? (Or was that just during the WSS?) And Spain and France had a long history of cooperation prior to the hapsburgs
 
I would say that either of the OTL wives of Felipe V would be good. Maria Luisa of Savoy could serve as a French proxy. Elisabetta Farnese would bring Parma, which would be a good deal for Joseph Ferdinand.
 
I'm no expert in this time period but maybe Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, a legitimized bastard daughter of Louis XIV, as it may be a way of appeasing the French king..
 
Louisa Maria Stuart?
She has no homeland royal status with the Stuarts being deposed, but she might be considered as a candidate least offensive to everyone all around (no power behind her family). Britain might object, but Austria might rest a little easier with no Bourbon match, while France can do the same with it not being a match from the Austrian/Savoy camp.

and a nitpick: I don't think Tuscany was up for grabs, or guaranteed to be up for grabs in the future, at this time. Lorraine would be given Sardinia, Naples, or Sicily (France wanted to give them Milan, but you've got to fight Austria to get that). Perhaps Spanish Netherlands?
 
Louisa Maria Stuart?
She has no homeland royal status with the Stuarts being deposed, but she might be considered as a candidate least offensive to everyone all around (no power behind her family). Britain might object, but Austria might rest a little easier with no Bourbon match, while France can do the same with it not being a match from the Austrian/Savoy camp.

and a nitpick: I don't think Tuscany was up for grabs, or guaranteed to be up for grabs in the future, at this time. Lorraine would be given Sardinia, Naples, or Sicily (France wanted to give them Milan, but you've got to fight Austria to get that). Perhaps Spanish Netherlands?
Fair enough, they could get Sardinia, Savoy would then get Sicily and Philip would get Naples, which would be interesting because Sicily would split into 2 independent kingdoms.
 
Fair enough, they could get Sardinia, Savoy would then get Sicily and Philip would get Naples, which would be interesting because Sicily would split into 2 independent kingdoms.
I don't want to derail the thread onto a tangent, but...
With a peaceful partition, Savoy doesn't need to get anything. They weren't in the mix during the OTL partition treaties/talks. They got something OTL because they participated in the war. OP didn't specify whether the partition was peaceful or not.
Naples was a separate kingdom than Sicily. The Kings had been the same person for a while, though.

I guess if the matter was settled via war, the bride is going to be a factor in the peace negotiations. We'd have to know which side backed Joseph for the Spanish throne, the conduct of the war, etc.
 
I guess, but if I was him I'd think the stain of marrying a bastard would be well worth in securing control of Spain and it's colonies without France breathing down his neck...
Louise Elisabeth herself was not a bastard. Her mother, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, was the bastard daughter of Louis XIV. IOTL her younger sister briefly became Queen of Spain but that was also while their father was regent of France.
 
I think that would be considered an insult to Joseph

Definitely. Although Louis COULD offer La Consolatrice Stuart as a proxy. Legitimate royal princess, neither French nor Habsburg (who'd likewise be reduced to offering proxies from Modena or half-Neuburg girls) so the only person such a match would irritate is England. Although, the POD of Joseph Ferdinand surviving could butterfly the duke of Gloucester's death or James II's refusal of William III's second option of adopting James III as heir.

Such a match (with ultra-Catholic Spain) would probably NOT be abundantly popular with the English, though.
 

VVD0D95

Banned
Louise Elisabeth herself was not a bastard. Her mother, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, was the bastard daughter of Louis XIV. IOTL her younger sister briefly became Queen of Spain but that was also while their father was regent of France.

tiven how snooty the Bavarians were I can’t see that flying

Definitely. Although Louis COULD offer La Consolatrice Stuart as a proxy. Legitimate royal princess, neither French nor Habsburg (who'd likewise be reduced to offering proxies from Modena or half-Neuburg girls) so the only person such a match would irritate is England. Although, the POD of Joseph Ferdinand surviving could butterfly the duke of Gloucester's death or James II's refusal of William III's second option of adopting James III as heir.

Such a match (with ultra-Catholic Spain) would probably NOT be abundantly popular with the English, though.

And agreed, though hell who knows such a pod could also see one of the attempts to restore james actuslly working this time also, but if not, who knows eh
 
tiven how snooty the Bavarians were I can’t see that flying
Well who Orleans married badly for money do not changed the fact who Louise Elisabeth d’Orleans (daughter pf the first prince of blood) was the closest thing to a princess France had to offer
 

VVD0D95

Banned
Well who Orleans married badly for money do not changed the fact who Louise Elisabeth d’Orleans (daughter pf the first prince of blood) was the closest thing to a princess France had to offer
Orleans, yes, but not a legitimised bastard of the king surely?
 
In my tl I had Maria Louisa Stuart. Something to note abt Joseph Ferdinand is that he’s growing up in Bavarian and Spanish culture, both some of the most religiously reactionary cultures of the time. So any Protestant is obviously out of the question. In my timeline I had him marry Maria Louisa Stuart. First off she’s catholic and very devout so that would make her on good terms with the Spanish court. Second, no catholic monarchy recognized the Hannover succession in Britain so the fact that her brother is technically de Jure not king in their eyes he is still de facto king of Great Britain. Also James III still had prospects of regaining the throne, this marriage would gain James III a very valuable alliance and would be a massive pay off for Spain if James regained the throne. Third Louisa was very popular in the French court so even though she’s not a French princess it still offers a strong French connection that would help with diplomacy. And fourth lastly they are the same age, it was a while ago when I researched this but if I remember correctly any other prospective bride had a large age gap. I’m probably miss remembering though.
 
Well if the new Wittelsbach dynasty is trying to balance competing interests a Portuguese match makes sense as it's not overtly pro-French or Pro-Austria. Theresa Maria Braganza was engaged to Charles VI before her premature death so she could work. And there's always Isabella Farnese if the Wittelsbachs want to try to rebuild Spanish influence in Italy by gaining a new foothold in Parma.
 
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