no or tiny French Wars of Religion= France get Rhine river border

French Wars of Religion massive weaken France. cost was 3 million death in French Wars of Religion and the main political consequence of the Wars of Religion was a drastic diminution of royal authority.
bourbon kings spend half century to strength the royal power. so let say Henri II of France don't get jousting incident of 1559.
Henri II nip in bud French Wars of Religion by destroying Guise and bourbon faction early .
France can expand earlier. France grab Spanish Netherlands in 30 years wars. get sun king Louis XIV aggressive policy half century earlier
 
Well, how do you prevent the reformation from spreading here? Also a border at the Rhine is way too much, it would probably alienate any French ally in the HRE. Given France takes it I don´t see it staying so in the age of nationalism.
 
reformation will happen in France. but largest problem was strong nobility factions in France. with Henri II surviving he will cut head of nobility factions both Guise and Bourbon . that will massively reduce French Wars of Religion. make it compatible to fronde revolt. Henri II will have enough capacity to crush Huguenots
 
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