The Burgundian Archduchess

Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia had three children - two boys and a girl. None lived past a few months that I am aware of. But say one of their sons survives infancy, but dies before Albert in 1622, likewise, their daughter lives to marry, hopefully have issue etc.
The Treaty of Cession stipulates that a son would inherit the Spanish Netherlands, whilst a daughter would marry either the king of Spain or someone of his choosing. So, for the purposes of this thread, let's assume the son dies 1616-1621, so the prince of the Asturias is already married to his French wife (who lives her OTL lifespan).
The Treaty of Oñate is presumably also affected by the survival of this young archduke.
Emperor Matthias dies in 1618, Albert succeeds him and dies in 1622, leaving only a daughter, Anna Maria Mauritia (b. 1609). How does this affect the 30YW and further ripples across Europe?
 
From 1609 till 1621 Anna-Maria will probably be viewed as the potential wife of Carlos of Austria, younger brother of Prince of Asturias. In 1622 she can be used to legitimize succession - maybe married off to Ferdinand II instead of Eleonor Gonzaga or to OTL Ferdinand III (slightly controversial Regency of Isabella-Clara scenario here?). Maybe this may result in transfer of Spanish Netherlands to Austrian branch?
There are two scenarios - a)creation of full on independent Habsburg Netherlands (in case of Anna-Maria + Carlos of Austria); b) use of Anna-Maria to legitimize the succession post Albert (the son-in-law of the late Emperor is more "legitimate" to Bohemian and Hungarian possessions than some distant cousin of his, making any invitations of a Palatinate King more dubious). In variant B Eleonora Gonzaga is free to marry elsewhere (where?).
 
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If Albrecht (AKA Albert) becomes head of the Austrian branch (albeit briefly), which he de facto will be, when he succeeds Matthias ITTL; then Anna-Maria will play a role in the Austrian succession.

ITTL Ferdinand III probably will marry Anna Maria of 'Austria-Burgundy' instead of Maria Anna of Spain. Ferdinand III would be amongst the acceptable candidates, since Spain would value a smooth Austrian succession; however Spain might still want to see the Southern Netherlands returned.
 
I believe that, in 1621, Semi-Salic law was still the law of succession in the archduchies of Austria. So in TTL, Anna Maria would not inherit Albert’s Austrian territories. In OTL, Philip III was not very enthusiastic about the Spanish Netherlands being granted to his sister. In TTL, Philip III would clearly have his son Carlos marry Anna Maria.
 
Not when Albrecht would have been the Holy Roman Emperor (-elect), king of Hungary, king of Bohemia etc. , archduke of Austria, (consort) lord of Netherlands. Under such a scenario Albrecht will demand a say in his succession. Even when the succession formally was semi-salic, then it still was common that the daughter of the previous ruler married his successor.

Albrecht would not cede his rights in the succession, when he has a son, who can inherit after him. Subsequently Albrecht as the head of the Austrian branch, will have a different relationship with his Spanish cousins; he will demand a say in his daughter's marriage.
The Inner Austrian (Styria, Carinthia, Krain etc.) line was first in line after the the main Austrian line to which Albrecht belonged. Now ITTL negotiations about the succession will probably start, when Albrecht only has a daughter.

I'm not saying that the Southern Netherlands wouldn't return to Spain, but Albrecht as a reigning monarch won't just go along with anything Spain suggests. ITTL Anna-Maria IMHO is also quite valuable for the Austrian branch (assuming Albrecht succeeded Matthias).
 
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In OTL, the archdukes (including Albert) and Philip III of Spain (via the Onate treaty) agreed to have OTL’s Emperor Ferdinand II be the only Habsburg to stand for election in Bohemia, Hungary, and the Empire. If Albert were to claim that Anna Maria should inherit his Austrian possessions, he would meet opposition from the other archdukes and Spain. In TTL, if Albert makes the recognition of Anna Maria as his heir in Austria the price for him not running against Ferdinand II in any future elections, then Ferdinand would refuse. Ferdinand, with the support of the other archdukes, would likely defeat Albert in any potential election. Even if Albert were to win a future election (upon Albert’s death), Ferdinand would likely win in any election after Albert’s death. The only way Anna Maria might rule Austria would be if she did marry Carlos and Spain went to war for her inheritance. I can’t see Philip III jeopardizing the “Spanish Road” to conquer Austria.
 
That's OTL when Albrecht doesn't have a surviving son (initially) and daughter. ITTL Albrecht will defend the rights of his own branch of the family.
This changes the dynamic with respect to any negotiations over the succession. ITTL Albrecht, Ferdinand II (Inner Austria) and Philip III will all have a say, once the son of Albrecht and Isabella dies. That event will necessitate a new succession treaty; the only certainty is that Anna Maria will marry a Habsburg relative.

Anna Maria isn't likely to rule in Austria or the Netherlands, well in both cases she could nominally do so or when her husband is absent or when she becomes a regent.
Marrying Anna Maria to OTL Ferdinand III makes sense, when it comes to settling disputes within the Austrian branch. Not to mention that it would improve the legitimacy of that branch by having the succeeding branch marrying into the previous ruling branch.
This also happened in France, when certain branches took over from a previous branch, even when it wasn't necessary under Salic law.
 
What is the year of birth of the Albert's son? Cause if he lives 1605-1621, he's 16 at the time of his death, likely already King of Romans, Bohemia and Hungary, betrothed to his Spanish cousin Maria Anna of Spain (double betrothal with his sister+Infante Carlos?).
In 1621 the TTL Treaty of Ornate gets signed in a rush, but it WILL maintain the clause that the heir to Albert had to marry his daughter and becomes the new King of Romans (OTL Ferdinand III is 14 by 1622, so depending WHEN in 1622 Albert dies, he may manage to organize the elections for his newly-minted son-in-law, while OTL Ferdinand II gets Austrian lands and that's it (can't marry Albert's daughter himself, as it would be second marriage and thus Ferdinand II heir is not a descendant of Maximilian II).
 
It would make sense, if Albrecht marries one of his children into the Spanish branch and another into the Inner Austrian (a division within the Austrian Habsburgs) one. Especially since he'd need both of them.

Albrecht & Isabella had at least 3 children: Philip (1605), Albrecht (1607) and Anna Mauritia (1609).
 
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I wonder if theoretically this can transfer Bohemia and Hungary, if not the Imperial vote, to the Spanish branch if Anna Maria marries D. Carlos - kinda like in the OTL WoAS Bohemia and the empire declared for Karl VII whilst only Hungary sided with MT originally.

I wonder how TTL they would deal with an alt-30YW, since such an event was bound to happen sooner or later. And Maria of Spain would be requiring a second husband once Albert the Younger dies, I think an altered 30YW might change the playing field of potential grooms - although Leopold V/Leopold Wilhelm of Inner Austria are the only Habsburg still available, besides Ferdinand II. Also butterflies could mean Ferdinand II's eldest son, Johann Karl (1605-1619) might also survive.
 
I'm sceptical about that. Don't forget Albrecht was from the Austrian branch. Not to mention that a 'German' archduke was preferred over a 'Spanish' infante, especially by the other prince-electors (who don't belong to the same dynasty).

Under this scenario Carlos would gain the Southern Netherlands, but the Austrian possessions, so the archduchy of Austria (proper), Further Austria, Hungary, Bohemia etc. are still likely to go the Inner Austrian branch as IOTL and I even suspect Spain is in favour of that. They probably realize that a 'native' prince (from the Austrian branch) is more acceptable for the electors than Carlos. Under the same condition, that it will return to the main Spanish branch, if Carlos' line dies out.

If Anna Mauritia marries into the Inner Austrian branch, then Spain might want the Southern Netherlands back, though it's possible they accept someone from the Austrian branch. If Carlos might die early or they might convince Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand to switch career and marry her.
 
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My apologies for reviving an old discussion, but this is an idea I've been playing with:
Anna Maria Mauritia marrying her cousin, Leopold of Further Austria. The Further Austrian possessions (particularly those in Swabia) are a lot closer to Brussels than Madrid or Vienna/Prague. Plus, that way, Albert can ensure his daughter marries a Habsburg who is unoffensive to both other branches, AND she can retain the Southern Netherlands.

Doable? Unlikely?
 
Another question that was spawned by this discussion:

The duke of Lorraine, Henri II had two daughters, Nicole and Claude. They faked the Testament of René d'Anjou to prevent their succession (AFAIK), since Henri IV had been considering annexing Lorraine to France through marriage of the elder daughter to the dauphin.

Would the same spiel play out if the elder were married to Albert Jnr?
 
No thoughts on how a Southern Netherlands in PU with the duchy of Lorraine or the territories of Further Austria might affect the 17th century? I mean TTL Louis XIV might get a Burgundian bride instead of a Spanish one, or Charles I might marry his daughter, the Princess Royal to the duke of Burgundy instead of the prince of Orange; or William III might marry an archduchess from Burgundy instead of Mary of York (yes, I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but it makes for fascinating thoughts)
 
My idea is as follows:

Archduke Albrecht/Philipp marries the Duchess Nicole of Lorraine, thereby to secure Lorraine to the Netherlandish provinces. At the same time, his sister, the Archduchess Maria Anna Mauritia is to be married to the Archduke Ferdinand of Inner Austria. However, Albrecht/Philipp dies the next year without heirs. Nicole is returned to Lorraine, where, after an unsuccessful play for her hand is made by Louis XIII of France (for his younger brother), she is married to her cousin and her father's eventual successor.
Mauritia is now left to marry the Austrian archduke, but since the king of Spain is the nominal overlord of the Burgundian territories, he would much rather prefer her to marry a Spanish infante, with his own daughter, Infanta Mariana marrying Mauritia's former betrothed.
After much haggling, it is decided that Mauritia is to marry the Infante Carlos, but King Felipe III of Spain dies before the marriage can take place, and since Felipe IV is led by the Count of Olivares by the nose, he is reluctant to marry his brothers off. However, he is willing to recognize any match between Mauritia and a Habsburg. Isabella Clara Eugenia in the Netherlands sets her hat at the heir-presumptive to the archduchy of Inner Austria, Archduke Ferdinand's younger brother, Leopold. The match goes through, and the king of Spain issues a decree saying that on the extinction of the heirs-male of Mauritia and Leopold, the Burgundian territories are to devolve on Spain and the Further Austrian territories Leopold brought to the match are to devolve on the main Habsburg branch.
Mauritia and Leopold have two sons - Ferdinand Albrecht and Philipp Leopold - and two daughters, Maria Leopoldina and Isabella Klara Eugenia. Leopoldina gets married to the Elector Palatine, while Isabella Klara marries the Emperor Ferdinand III (son of her mother's former betrothed). Ferdinand Albrecht succeeds his parents as *duke of Burgundy and archduke of Further Austria, and marries Eleonora Gonzaga, sister of the duke of Mantua, and great-niece of the dowager empress. Philipp Leopold enters the church, eventually becoming a Cardinal.
Eleonora Gonzaga acquits herself well for her young son during her regency, after her husband is killed in a hunting accident. She arranges matches for her two daughters to the duke of Lorraine, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (son of Ferdinand III and Mariana of Spain), whilst her son is married to King Carlos II of Spain's older full sister, the Infanta Margarita (daughter of Felipe IV and his niece, Maria Anna of Austria). However, the Emperor's Burgundian wife dies after the birth of two daughters, while Carlos II's French wife remains childless. Leopold I remarries to a Neuburg princess and begets several more children who survive, whilst the question remains who will succeed childless Carlos II (his oldest, half-sister, the Queen of France; or his older, full-sister, the duchess of Burgundy).
In an attempt to solve this problem, the oldest daughter of Margarita is considered as a wife for her uncle, Carlos II, but his mother/her grandmother decides that he can't wait so long for an heir. Likewise, betrothals to the French dauphin and the king of the Romans fall by the wayside. Finally, Margarita's oldest daughter, Maria Antonia, marries the elector of Bavaria, while her younger sister, Maria Anna, marries the duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II. Their brother, Ferdinand, is married to the sister of the dauphin, Madame Royale. Two daughters - Marie Madeleine and Marie Elisabeth - are born of this marriage before Madame Royale dies. Ferdinand then remarries to another princess, by whom he produces the much needed son.
Madeleine is married to the duc d'Anjou,, whilst Elisabeth is to be married to Leopold I's second son. Ferdinand dies, and is succeeded by his underage son, Philippe-Ferdinand. Carlos II dies, naming the duc d'Anjou as his successor in Spain. Madeleine thereby becomes queen of Spain but there is a eight year succession war over the SPanish throne before the Treaty of Mainz is signed. Madeleine dies after producing three sons, and her widower remarries. Elisabeth produces three children by her marriage to Archduke Leopold Karl, Marie Amalie Elisabeth, and Archdukes Leopold Josef and Ferdinand Maximilian.
However, when Philippe-Ferdinand dies childless, a new round of war breaks out over the succession to the Burgundian territories. Madeleine is Philippe-Ferdinand's senior heir, but she is dead, and nobody wants to see France, which has so recently swiped Spain, swipe Burgundy as well. Thus it is decided that Archduke Leopold Karl and his wife are to be the heirs. Something the French are not happy about, resulting inthe War of the Burgundian Succession.
Finally, after three years, the Treaty of the Hague makes provision for a partition of the Burgundian territories. The duchy of Luxemburg and all territories east of the bishopric of Liege are to pass to the Austrian line, whilst the remainder of the formerly Spanish Netherlands is to pass to France.

How's that sound?
 
I was thinking (as mentioned above) of letting an Austrian archduchess, in that scenario she'd probably be the daughter of Eleonore Gonzaga, marry Willem III. Would the Dutch Regents accept a Catholic match for him or not? Especially when it opens up the possibility of reuniting the entirety of the Netherlands.
 
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