King Gaston I of France

Henry IV was King of France from 1589 to 1610. He married Marie de' Medici in 1610.
His sons were:
Louis XIII 1601-1643
Nicolas Henri 1607-1611
Gaston 1608-1660

Suppose Prince Louis dies in 1606.
Nicolas Henri dies in 1609 as a result of an epileptic attack.
Henry IV dies in 1610. Gaston becomes King Gaston I of France. What happens then?
 
Gaston wouldn't be "Gaston I". He was christened Jean Baptiste Gaston, so I should imagine he would be "Jean III" (not exactly a fortunate name for French kings).

Also, Nicolas Henri doesn't exist. He was entered into most genealogies as N. de Bourbon (implying prince sans nom/nameless prince). The Henri part I imagine was a deathbed baptism (as with one of Louis XV's daughters). IDK where the Nicolas came from.

That said, Gaston running the country sees Marie de Medici stay in power a lot longer, though Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin might have a harder time of things. Given Marie switched her late husband's anti-Habsburg policy as quickly as she could, as long as she's running the show, France might not enter a alt-30YW.
 
JonasResende said:
Also, Nicolas Henri doesn't exist. He was entered into most genealogies as N. de Bourbon (implying prince sans nom/nameless prince). The Henri part I imagine was a deathbed baptism (as with one of Louis XV's daughters). IDK where the Nicolas came from.
I think Nicolas came from the confusion that N. was an initial for his first name instead of showing the child hadn't been named. Not helping is that I think Henri IV has a Nicolas among his ancestors (practically sure it's not a Bourbon but names weren't necessarilly taken only from patrilineal ancestors only).
JonasResende said:
That said, Gaston running the country sees Marie de Medici stay in power a lot longer, though Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin might have a harder time of things.
Not necessarilly. Richelieu started his political career with Marie de Medici technically: he served as minister of Foreign Affairs for Concini from 1616 onwards. After Concini's death, Richelieu was chased out of court because he had worked for Concini. After Marie took the had of a rebellion against her son in 1619-1620, Richelieu was one of the leading negotiator of the peace between the Queen Mother and the King. Louis XIII was also very hostile to Richelieu at first because of he saw him as one of his mother's men: which is why he didn't agree to ask the Pope to make Richelieu a Cardinal before 1622 and didn't allow Richelieu to enter the royal council before 1624. Richelieu started to swicth patrons and side with Louis XIII only afterwards, because he had understood that the King was the one truly calling the shots in France.

If there is no Louis XIII and Gaston becomes King of France (as Jean III like you suggested), then Richelieu would probably stay as a client of Marie de Medici and continue his political career in her service. It's possible he would follow similar policies to OTL, in particular with the nobility (reinforcing Royal Power is probably something any King would want) and the Protestants (They were considered too powerful and Marie was certainly not their biggest fan). He probably wouldn't be able to take the foreign policies he had OTL though, unless a rift happens between France and the Hapsburgs or Gaston as King understands that if France is to become the primary power on the continent, Spain and Austria have to go down.

As for Mazarin... Well, considering it's Richelieu who made him who he became, Mazarin's career in France is dependent on his meeting with Richelieu. Otherwise, I imagine Mazarin would do his political career in his native Italy.
 
We're making a lot of assumptions here. If Louis XIII never reigns and alienates his mother and brother, then chances are "Jean III" will repeat his brother in relation to Marie de Medici. Their alliance and closeness was mainly one of convenience, nothing more. There's no way to know if Gaston would act the same on the throne as he did OTL. Here he's the heir at a young age, not a second son with a rivalry with the King. Chances are his reign might look similar to his brother's, though there is no guarantee that Richelieu will become Chief minister. It could easily be someone less capable. The only way these guesses could work is if Louis died in the '20s or '30s and the Duc d'Orléans becomes King then.
 
We're making a lot of assumptions here. If Louis XIII never reigns and alienates his mother and brother, then chances are "Jean III" will repeat his brother in relation to Marie de Medici. Their alliance and closeness was mainly one of convenience, nothing more. There's no way to know if Gaston would act the same on the throne as he did OTL. Here he's the heir at a young age, not a second son with a rivalry with the King. Chances are his reign might look similar to his brother's, though there is no guarantee that Richelieu will become Chief minister. It could easily be someone less capable. The only way these guesses could work is if Louis died in the '20s or '30s and the Duc d'Orléans becomes King then.

I agree. The Gaston of TTL is going to be a very different person than that of OTL, given the circumstances of his upbringing as 'heir' instead of 'spare'.

Also, I think that it's worth noting that Gaston's name will probably not be Jean-Baptiste-Gaston in ITTL. The Bourbons (and much of the French aristocracy, really, until after the Revolution) had a habit of baptising their children rather late. Generally, an enfant de France would be known by his or her courtesy title until several years after birth, when he or she would be formally baptised and receive a proper name. Louis XIII was not baptised until late 1606. His brother, the first duc d’Orléans, as has been mentioned in a previous post here, died before his formal baptism and thus never received a name. All this taken into account, OTL's Gaston may very well end up being named 'Louis' himself ITTL.
 
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