Louis XIII and Anne of Austria

Hmmm.
I'm thinking that the Peace will still go ahead but that a delayed/averted Fronde will mean France gets to exploit her gains better.

Could this mean an intensification of war against Spain?
Could we see more of Catalonia added to France?
Would England-Scotland get more than Dunkirk?
 
I think I will start a Timeline with this POD. The current title I would give it would be "A Happier Wedding, A Greater France".

I re-read the summary I had made and I'm checking the informations I wrote about so that the Timeline won't have errors. I discovered a few problem regarding TTL Louis XIV's potential brides.
A Polish marriage might not be a good idea in the end : Anne Catherine Constance was a daughter of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland. However, the French were allies of the Swedes during the Thirty Years War and Sigismund III was claiming the Swedish Crown. If TTL Louis XIV were to wed a Polish princess, it would be negative for the Franco-Swedish alliance and I don't Louis XIII or Cardinal Richelieu would make that mistake.
This leaves Anne of Lorraine. However, the daughter of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine wasn't born before 1639 : TTL Louis XIV, being born in 1619, is 20 years older. The age gap seems huge and this would push the wedding sometime around 1655 : not sure the French King could wait that long. Of course, TTL Louis XIV could have a first wife then remarry to Anne de Lorraine. But who could be his first wife in those conditions?

I would also like to confirm the scenario I have for the Two daughters of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria in my timeline.
Let's start with Marie de France, the eldest : She will marry Philip William of Pfalz-Neuburg. Technically she would be 20 in 1642 when Philip William married Anne Catherine Constance OTL : Marie has the advantage of being more prestigious and younger, so she could be a better bride. She could also become Philip William's second wife, but she would be 30 in 1652 and OTL Philip William's second wife was Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was 17 when he married her. Plus Charlotte of Hesse was very pretty and it was a very happy marriage by all account : seems to me like a better idea of having Philip William married to Marie sometime between 1636 and 1642.

As for Elisabeth de France, I think I will marry her to William II of Orange. William II wedded Mary of England in 1641, when he was 15 and his bride was only 10. At the same time, Elisabeth would be 15 : she could make a better bride. Problem I see is that Elisabeth would likely be a Catholic, unlike Mary who is a Protestant. However, I think she would be a better choice, since France appeared more powerful than England.
Mary of England would be wedded to Charles Louis of the Palatinate, as we talked about : OTL, he wasn't wedded before 1649 (being 32) and young mary was 18. I think the fact she is an English princess and is younger than Charlotte of Hesse-Cassel (OTL first wife of Charles Louis) would play in her favor. Are those scenario logical?

Regarding the other children of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, here is what I've decided :
-Philippe will be wedded to Louise-Christine of Savoy (1629-1692), eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus I of Savoy. OTL, she was wedded in 1642 to her cousin Maurice of Savoy, but he died the same year : she didn't have any children and never remarried following this. I think it would be quite prestigious for Savoy to have marry the second son of the French King, who is also her 1st Cousin (Louis XIII being the brother of Christine, Victor Amadeus' wife).
-Henri will wed Maria Theresa of Spain. It will be linked to his brother's Spanish policies, as well as to a peace deal between France and Spain.
-Charles will wed Henriette Anne of England, as an effort to keep a good relationship between France and England.

Regarding the policies of TTL Louis XIV, it will be a mix between a continuation of those of his father and moderated policies of his OTL counterpart : he will be no Sun King, but will still be regarded as a Great King and will expand's France's borders and influence.

Thoughts?
 
Sounds reasonable so I will limit my comments.

For Louis XIV would one of the daughters of John Casimir Count Palatine of Zweibruecken-Kleeburg be suitable? Though they're Calvinist they are in the Swedish line of Succession (Charles became King!) and might be classed as royal enough (and since Christina had ruled out marriage for herself.)

If not I would suggest that Philippe marries one as part of the alliance and that Louis marries Louise-Christine of Savoy. This would also moderate any Swedish fears of a Catholic French King succeeding to their throne.

As for which daughter. If Louis then possibly Christina Magdalena though since she's 3 years older and Christina's second heir then this might not be suitable for the Swedish. Maria Eufrosyne b1625 is a possibility. As is Eleonora Catherine b1626. Both are older than Philippe though.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Sorry about the dates on Anne of Lorraine, I think I mixed them up with those of her husband. And you bring up good reasons for not picking a Polish bride, given that France really needs the help of Sweden during the 30 years war. So in that vein John Casimir's daughters do make a bit of sense. Another possibility is Anne de Gonzague. The she was of the French branch of the Gonzaga family that was just installed in Mantua and her sister was Queen of Poland by marriage so theirs a useful diplomatic connection but not direct enough to be a liability. She's a bit older than Louis, but only by 3 years. And she seems to have been a bit wild so it could be a stormy marriage.

Most other possibilities are minor Italians such as:

Vittoria Farnese: Married Francesco of Modena but died in childbirth. One year older than Louis.

Anna Beatrice d'Este: Married the Duke of Mirandola. She's only 7 years younger than Louis and gave her OTL husband a clutch of healthy children.

One thought occurred to me regarding Louis XIV and going back to our earlier conversation about titles. Louis XIII's brother Gaston died in 1660. Conceivably Louis XIV could have a second son by that time. If he gets married 1640-45 he could have a couple children by 1660. So if he has a second son might he wish to make him Duc d'Orleans rather than his brother? Also Gaston was quite wealthy in part because he married Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier who was heiress of the Montpensier branch of the House of Bourbon. She had only one daughter with Gaston, Anne Marie Louise, who never married but willed her estates to Philippe of Orleans.

What if Anne Marie is married to TTL Philippe, given their closeness in age, to ensure that the estates stay within the family. IOTL Anne Marie was proposed as bride to everyone from Louis XIV, to Ferdinand III to Charles II so its at least a possibility.

I was also thinking that there's no guarantee that all of the sons of Louis XIII would survive to adulthood or have children of their own. Many of the Valois Kings and multiple sons but still ended with no direct heirs. It would be interesting if Louis XIV has only daughters or dies later in life and passes the throne to a brother. I suppose its just one more possibility to play around with if you do intend to write a TL.
 
I thank you both, The Professor and Vitruvius, for your answers. I will try to determine which one would be the best wife for TTL Louis XIV. I will also study the possibility of switching Philippe's marriage. It's a shame I can't marry Louis XIV to Anne de Lorraine, as it would have made it easier to integrate Lorraine into the French Kingdom. Oh well, that can wait a few generations, can't it? ;)

Vitruvius said:
One thought occurred to me regarding Louis XIV and going back to our earlier conversation about titles. Louis XIII's brother Gaston died in 1660. Conceivably Louis XIV could have a second son by that time. If he gets married 1640-45 he could have a couple children by 1660. So if he has a second son might he wish to make him Duc d'Orleans rather than his brother?

That's a good argument. I will see what I do with the title Duc d'Orléans once the problem will show up. If Louis XIV has at least two sons before Gaston's death, he could give the title to his second son and not his brother.

Vitruvius said:
I was also thinking that there's no guarantee that all of the sons of Louis XIII would survive to adulthood or have children of their own. Many of the Valois Kings and multiple sons but still ended with no direct heirs. It would be interesting if Louis XIV has only daughters or dies later in life and passes the throne to a brother. I suppose its just one more possibility to play around with if you do intend to write a TL.

It's true that child mortality was still high in that era. I think I will have the sixth children of Louis XIII survive in my timeline (since my POD as the four stillborn children not stillborn), though their descendants might not be so lucky. So many possibilities to play around...
 
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