[FONT="]Here's an idea that cooked up in my head: What would it take to create a tradition of royal dynasties in the Americas? I thought of a DoP that not only had a chance of establishing a tradition (in at least a good chunk of the New World) of being ruled by royalty directly. The scenario goes like this:
Sometime in 1570, Martin Eniquez de Almanza (then current Viceroy of New Spain) dies of a cold. News of the Viceroy's death reaches King Philp II shortly after news of Don Juan de Austria's victory in the Battle of Lepanto. Philp, whether through jealousy or brotherly affection, decides that Don Juan is to be 'rewarded' with lands in the New World. Juan is summoned to Madrid where he is bestowed the title of Archduke of the Far West. The new duchy includes all Spanish holdings in North and Central America minus Florida. Florida and the islands in the West Indies are added to the Viceroy of New Granada while all Spanish islands in Asia are added to the Viceroy of Peru.
After suitable pomp and circumstance, Juan is shipped to America to take over governing the Archduchy of the Far West. Juan doesn't die young in the Netherlands and instead lives to a ripe old age in his 60s or 70s. America doesn't offer any great military opportunities, but Juan builds up a small fleet to get rid of pirates and privateers. In one battle Juan kills Francis Drake who was trying to steal the treasure fleet ending any further attempts by the English to raid the fleet.
Domestically, Juan is not a stellar ruler. However, he is a competent ruler so the Archduchy's economy is able to slowly grow so that it isn't just dependent on gold to fund itself (which is a good thing since Philp gets the lion's share of the gold every year).
Dynastically, things are interesting for Juan. Simply put, noble european women are an extremely rare commodity. For a few years Juan sends feelers via letters to various noble houses. However, a bastard a thousand miles away does not seem like an attractive match to the fathers and brothers arranging the matches. After a few years, Juan decides to accept facts and marries a reasonably well to do creole's daughter. In the mid 1580s, Juan's wife gives birth to a son Carlos fully establishing the American branch of the Habsburgs.
I see these American Habsburgs expanding their power in the 16th and 17th centuries via slowly expanding the Archduchy of the Far West into Texas and OTL American Southwest. These Archdukes don't have an inbreeding problem since they develop a tradition of marrying the middle class (everyone not them since they are the only real 'nobles' who permanently stay in America). They have a few stellar Archdukes, but for the most part the Archdukes are considered mediocre, yet competent.
Over in Europe, the American Habsburgs are considered something of a freak sideshow to the rest of the nobility. I see Spain managing to take full control of the Netherlands thanks to the gold fleet being secured, but the invasion of England still fails. Around the turn of the eigthteenth century the Spanish Habsburgs, like they did in OTL, face eminent extinction. An English-French alliance manages to place a member of the French royal dynasty on the throne cutting the Habsburgs out of power in Spain.
To everyone in Europe's shock and horror, the Archduke of the Far West declares the Archducy independent of Spain. His justification is that the archduchy was held in trust to the royal house of Spain that is now extinct with the throne usurped from it's proper successors (a Habsburg). It doesn't help the new king of Spain in his position when he made claims to the effect that the American Habsburgs were just bastard mongrels and that they should just cough up the gold. Peru and New Granada, which have closer ties to the Archduchy of the Far West to Spain, both follow suit.
Logistics and war weariness from the War for the Spanish Throne cause Spain's attempts to regain control of the New World to fail miserably eventually forcing the Spanish crown to come to terms in the Treaty of Annapolis. In this treaty the Kingdom of America (the Former Archduchy), the Kingdom of Columbia, and the Kingdom of Peru are recognized as independent states. The thrones are given to cadet branches of the American Habsburgs.
If anyone wants to create a timeline based on this idea please go ahead.[/FONT]
Sometime in 1570, Martin Eniquez de Almanza (then current Viceroy of New Spain) dies of a cold. News of the Viceroy's death reaches King Philp II shortly after news of Don Juan de Austria's victory in the Battle of Lepanto. Philp, whether through jealousy or brotherly affection, decides that Don Juan is to be 'rewarded' with lands in the New World. Juan is summoned to Madrid where he is bestowed the title of Archduke of the Far West. The new duchy includes all Spanish holdings in North and Central America minus Florida. Florida and the islands in the West Indies are added to the Viceroy of New Granada while all Spanish islands in Asia are added to the Viceroy of Peru.
After suitable pomp and circumstance, Juan is shipped to America to take over governing the Archduchy of the Far West. Juan doesn't die young in the Netherlands and instead lives to a ripe old age in his 60s or 70s. America doesn't offer any great military opportunities, but Juan builds up a small fleet to get rid of pirates and privateers. In one battle Juan kills Francis Drake who was trying to steal the treasure fleet ending any further attempts by the English to raid the fleet.
Domestically, Juan is not a stellar ruler. However, he is a competent ruler so the Archduchy's economy is able to slowly grow so that it isn't just dependent on gold to fund itself (which is a good thing since Philp gets the lion's share of the gold every year).
Dynastically, things are interesting for Juan. Simply put, noble european women are an extremely rare commodity. For a few years Juan sends feelers via letters to various noble houses. However, a bastard a thousand miles away does not seem like an attractive match to the fathers and brothers arranging the matches. After a few years, Juan decides to accept facts and marries a reasonably well to do creole's daughter. In the mid 1580s, Juan's wife gives birth to a son Carlos fully establishing the American branch of the Habsburgs.
I see these American Habsburgs expanding their power in the 16th and 17th centuries via slowly expanding the Archduchy of the Far West into Texas and OTL American Southwest. These Archdukes don't have an inbreeding problem since they develop a tradition of marrying the middle class (everyone not them since they are the only real 'nobles' who permanently stay in America). They have a few stellar Archdukes, but for the most part the Archdukes are considered mediocre, yet competent.
Over in Europe, the American Habsburgs are considered something of a freak sideshow to the rest of the nobility. I see Spain managing to take full control of the Netherlands thanks to the gold fleet being secured, but the invasion of England still fails. Around the turn of the eigthteenth century the Spanish Habsburgs, like they did in OTL, face eminent extinction. An English-French alliance manages to place a member of the French royal dynasty on the throne cutting the Habsburgs out of power in Spain.
To everyone in Europe's shock and horror, the Archduke of the Far West declares the Archducy independent of Spain. His justification is that the archduchy was held in trust to the royal house of Spain that is now extinct with the throne usurped from it's proper successors (a Habsburg). It doesn't help the new king of Spain in his position when he made claims to the effect that the American Habsburgs were just bastard mongrels and that they should just cough up the gold. Peru and New Granada, which have closer ties to the Archduchy of the Far West to Spain, both follow suit.
Logistics and war weariness from the War for the Spanish Throne cause Spain's attempts to regain control of the New World to fail miserably eventually forcing the Spanish crown to come to terms in the Treaty of Annapolis. In this treaty the Kingdom of America (the Former Archduchy), the Kingdom of Columbia, and the Kingdom of Peru are recognized as independent states. The thrones are given to cadet branches of the American Habsburgs.
If anyone wants to create a timeline based on this idea please go ahead.[/FONT]