The Mighty Houses Have Struck Out – Bourbons, Hapsburgs, etc. Extinct

It would be cool to see a France ruled by the house of Savoy.

That would be interesting. Savoy got a huge boost in "Sweet Lands of Liberty - bisically it, Piedmont, and the area around Genoa I see as combining with most of OTL's Switzerland to the present day as an independent natio witha sea outlet at least. So, the house grows once Waldensians aren't looked down on as prospective mates.
 
Part 8: France – “Until A Big Army Shows Up, I Am In Charge Here”

Note: thanks for the idea on Minette; since she and Elisabeth Borbon are close in age I’ve decided to retcon and have Minette marry Alfonso of Portugal and Elisabeth marry the one who would become king. As I have said, I’m sorry, I tried to do something really complex but this got to be further out of my league than I thought.

Also, I retconned an answer - a couple Savoyards guys died in that 1655 invasion. There are few left. But, it evens out considering their role and the independent Savoy to this day in "Sweet Lands of Liberty".

However, if someone wants to take it over once I get done what I’ve changed arounda bit, feel free.

Part 8: France – “Until A Big Army Shows Up, I Am In Charge Here”

Queen Consort Anne, formerly Le Grande Mademoiselle, uttered those words to her court upon learning of the death of her husband, Louis XIV. Word had reached Paris of his injury first, and the court had quickly gathered to learn news of his health. A faster horse was sent to Paris with news of his death, and it reached soon before every member had arrived.

Of course, she knew France had Salic Law and that she didn’t have the closest claim to the throne if they did. However, she also knew that pragmatically, someone had to assure the people that despite the succession crisis, someone was in charge. She wanted to prevent panic. After making such pronouncements she recorded the following in her diary

“It is ironic that, without understanding, I ridiculed the man I blame for Father’s death in 1632. As I ensured was announced to all the people, I am in charge, and shall be until someone arrives with an army…. I have asked Turenne, our loyal general, to stand by me as the wife of his friend. I believe he will be loyal, but I cannot help but wonder, whom shall it be who does take the throne? I suspect a war may be brewing.”

She actually had a plan, one by which she would remain the power behind the throne. The French parliament knew of the Courtenays’ claim, and seemed ready to push for it. However, some others tried to stake claims and cut France down to size, too.

First, though, the queen’s confidence had spawned a rumor that she knew she was pregnant. She thought it outlandish, but felt it would buy her some time if she let it spread. However, eventually it was discovered that she was not, and the person who set up the plan was greatly ridiculed.

For a more rational plan, she approached the aging Duke of Chevillon, Louis Courtenay. His son, Louis-Charles, was still quite young; in fact, if something happened to his wife, Marie de Lameth, he would be a good candidate to marry Marie eventually, as they could consummate the marriage in five or six years. This would bolster his claim and, later, that of his sons. Louis-Charles had two younger brothers: Roger, an abbott born in 1647 who could leave the Church to marry; and Jean-Armand, born in 1652. In the meantime, Roger and Jean-Armand could find mates, too.

This prompted a quip by one of the Queen of France’s ministers that, “It should still be relatively easy; after all, Noah started with only three sons after the Flood.”

“Ah,” Anne cautioned, “but they already had wives from before the Flood.”

Another writer quipped, “What’s next, will they back to the Salian Franks?”

Then, there was this quip: “The former Grande Mademoiselle, now Queen of France, is a true leader just like our great heroine Joan of Arc. That connection to Arc makes sense; the Courtenay claim goes back so far the line’s founder knew Noah.” It’s said that the queen, while harshly scolding those who dared compare her to Richelieu, loved this line and would often repeat it when countering criticism about the role she was taking.

Then, there were those who simply satirized the Courtenays, proclaiming that they had a long string of bad luck that meant they shouldn’t get the crown. They created the idea of a team sport, and even gave the team a baby animal name as opposed to the more intimidating adult one, and even invented a clever curse to go along with it. The rag read in part…

“…For over 500 years – half a millennium – the Courtenays have languished in the throes of their kind, unseen and uncared for by anyone; at best lovable losers…

“It is as if a team, let’s call them the Cubs, were to be cursed by a goat of some sort, a curse which lasts so long that the Cubs become known as the most snake-bitten group ever…. For centuries they stink and when they are respectable, they come oh so close to winning only to see that chance slip away in agonizing fashion…

“And yet, as bad as they can possibly be, the Cubs will surely win a world title in less time than the half millennium it took for the Courtenays to even have it acknowledged that they were descended from a French king.”(1)

The queen could unite the lines by marrying Roger to Marie, now 9, she would also be uniting Catholic and Protestant – at Louis XIV’s insistence Marie was raised Protestant, though she’d have Catholic leanings – much like Charles II of England or, even more, his deceased brother James. Charlotte, daughter of Philip and Minette - wouldn’t be in line for the throne due to Salic Law - at least for now, some joked.(2)

Though the Courtenays were frustrated by the hoops they had to go through, Anne pronounced them Princes of the Blood within a week of Louis XIV’s death, by virtue of their descent from Louis VI, who had died in 1137. The hoops were just so they knew Anne was still reigning queen, and if they didn’t co-operate, it would be a future child through Marie reigning, though one who happened to descend from a Courtenay male. After all, Marie was the surviving issue of the late King of France, and Parliament could possibly declare an emergency and abandon Salic Law if they chose, though most nobles were still against it. If the Courtenays ran the risk of dying out, then they might consider it.

Chevillon may have been frustrated, but he was also touched. He didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Anne wished to retain power, but she didn’t mind giving up some as long as she could play kingmaker – and have a say in the government. He only noted that perhaps Marie should marry one of his younger two sons. They would be closer in age, able to bear children longer, and good insurance. Queen Anne agreed to consider that request and to search elsewhere; Mary of Modena would be a welcome prize for either man, it turned out; this meant whichever didn’t marry Marie would likelyg et her.

Turenne had quickly sent a promise of loyalty from the front, and the French Army in fact broke off the war, as they expected trouble back home. He would support Louis-Charles’ father, and then Louis-Charles himself, with his army. There would be other claimants - although as messy as France wound up being, it would be nothing compared to other places.

His support would end up being crucial because of who showed up on France’s shores. But, first, the other claimants.

Charles, Duke of Elbeuf, was put forward by the Guise as the rightful king of France, though theyw ere considered foreign princes. Savoyards supported this to get their own kingdom back and also to restore the power of the reactionary Catholics. While they didn’t commit to revoking the Edict of Nantes, given the right support they might, just as some others might.(3)

Anne and others used this to incite Protestants for her claimant. So, since there were more Protestants in the South of France, it would be easier for the Guise to try and mount something from Lorraine, now a part of France.

Besides, Christine’s Savoyard sons were dead; while Thomas Francis’ sons could claim France through his wife, the Countess of Soissons, the Soissons claim itself was distant enough that it was felt Spain might be the best option for the Savoyards since they were in Spain.

Infighting between Savoyards and Guise hampered them. Some Guise supporters disliked the fact that a major Savoyard claimant was a deaf mute. This led to infighting within the Savoyards when said Prince, Emmanuel Philibert Amadeus, proposed marrying a Guise to unite the claims. On the other hand, Savoyards fretted because Duke Charles III of Elbeuf’s father had wed an illegitimate child of Henri IV’s, thus making his claim illegitimate; a few insisted their candidate for Spain (or at least Aragon, or Milan, or maybe just a chateau in the middle of nowhere) marry Elbeuf’s sister Marie Marguerite or they would support a different Guise, Henri’s oldest son, Louis, Count of Armagnac.

To make matters more fun, it’s quite likely that Queen Anne had spies causing dissension just as the others tried to do with her and the Courtenays. But, we’ll leave that go as shadowy stuff like that is sometimes tricky to know for sure, and France is convoluted enough.

As will be shown later, Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria considered pressing a claim but Austria was closer and even Spain seemed more likely. Though he would love to have France, they were also an ally in the struggle against Austria. Perhaps if he had another son, he considered. He didn’t want to cause more problems for that ally, not when he had work to do as Holy Roman Emperor. Besides, the Ottomans were the much greater threat.

But, then,w hat of this other army?

It seems that while Charles II could be indecisive, Henry was not. His youngest brother landed with a large army at Calais, and suddenly, there were worries that he would take much more land. Only the most fearful here – and alternatehistory.com newbies J - think Henry could have conquered all of France and put himself on the throne. However, it was a great enough threat that Louis-Charles, and the aging Chevillon – went with Turenne early in 171 to meet Henry on the battlefield. It was mostly Turenne’s skill that forced a draw, but many people credited the Courtenays with preventing a major retaking of French lands.

With Henry had been some Portuguese mercenaries as well, trying to get Lorraine back for Elisabeth, the rightful heir. They were soundly defeated, though.

The situation was very odd. Minette had been queen with Alfonso, who wasn’t believed capable of having children. She was then found to be pregnant, which caused a great scandal. She died in childbirth,a nd many blamed Alfonso, so much so his brother took over the throne; he reigned now with Elisaeth as Consort. The idea of Portuguese Lorraine wouldn’t work.

The Courtenays, as they met with Henry after the battle, had some ideas, though, which would keep France from being surrounded. Henry liked the idea of Portuguese Milan, Naples, or Sicily; or all three. However, it was still early 1671 and things were a mess yet. Indeeed, the Guise and Savoyards were still fighting each other and the Courtnays.

The sticking point was Calais – henry insisted upon it. Had the Guise and Savoyards not been fighting for the throne, Turenne and the Courtenays might hve been able to beat them back. They couldn’t, however.=, so the English had Calais back for the first time in over a century.

The situation was still enough that Louis Courtenay, in July of 1671, was crowned Louis XV of France, as Parliament, thanks to the battlefield victories, felt confident in him. His son, Louis-Charles, would later rule as Louis XVI, starting in 1672, after the great Louis Vi from whom they were descended. The French Civil War would end by 1674.

As Louis Courtenay said in jest upon taking office, “paris is worth half a millennium.” He even commissioned a ship of the line to honor it. Named after a great hunting bird as well, the “half was removed to make it seem more powerful – and less wordy. And so, to this day, the flagship of the French fleet has always been known as the Millennium Falcon.

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(1) Silly, I know, but I had to do it. :) For those who don’t follow OTL baseball, the Chicago Cubs haven’t won a world title since 1908 or even a league title since 1945, when they were supposedly cursed by a man who was refused a seat for his goat in Wirlgey Field during the World Series that year.

(2) The Spanish throne, on the other hand… we’ll see how that goes when we get there.

(3) There were, of course, groups in France who wished this, as OTL’s Louis XIV did revoke it eventually, so the chances of it being demanded by some, especially after having had such a staunch anti-Catholic on the throne, are fairly high.

(4) OTL he marries Olympia Mancini, but in TTL he marries a slightly higher rank, as will be shown, because he was more important.
 
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Good to hear about Minette! Did her child survive, or did it die with her? Was Alfonso's brother, Infante Pedro the one dallying around with her? :D It'd be humorous if so, because there were constant rumors IOTL that Louis XIV and Minette had carried on an affair given that the Duke d'Orléans was a homosexual (although obviously he was able to summon up the courage to sleep with both of his wives and sire children).
 
Good to hear about Minette! Did her child survive, or did it die with her? Was Alfonso's brother, Infante Pedro the one dallying around with her? :D It'd be humorous if so, because there were constant rumors IOTL that Louis XIV and Minette had carried on an affair given that the Duke d'Orléans was a homosexual (although obviously he was able to summon up the courage to sleep with both of his wives and sire children).

I suspect it was Pedro. Of coruse he had his own wife at that point, but hey, so did King David with Bathsheeba.;) Minette's death just sort of uncomplicates things.

And, no, her child didn't survive with him, but Chrlette is still around from her marriage to Philip of France, which is going to make things very complex.:D
 
Part 9: Austria – The Great Distraction War

“The King of Poland had the right idea, but went about it the wrong way.” Thus spoke new Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand Maria as he surveyed the scene in Austria in 1670.

The King of Poland, eager to gain allies for his fights against Russia and the Ottomans, had attempted to place his wife - one of Leopold’s sisters - in Vienna. He’d reasoned Margaret Theresa was very young and needed help as regent for Maria Antonia, the infant Duchess, who was very, very young. Margaret Theresa could then be allowed to go to Spain and reign, while his wife was regent in Austria and he helped while, by the way, trying to influence his election as King of bohemia as well.

Upon hearing of the king’s plans, Ferdinand Maria was livid. Sure, he’d been part of the League of the Rhine to help combat the Holy Roman Empire’s influence, but the Polish king was actually creating division at a time when he, Ferdinand Maria, could shape things in a better way for League members. By uniting everyone against the Ottomans - including Protestants where possible – he could help people forget those issues and, indeed, the very problem of who would succeed Leopold. After all, Mazarin himself, after fleeing France, had at least gotten French support in how he negotiated it, and Mazarin had at least tolerated Huguenots instead of persecuting them when it was in his interests.

Ferdinand Maria turned out to be right. He had intelligence reports he’d requested as 1670 wound down that showed the Ottomans, seeing Austrian weakness, sensed this was the much better prize. The Ottomans planned to march into the heart of Europe and ignore a border dispute in the Ukraine.(1)

Ferdinand Maria marched over with his own army, in support of his own wife, an aunt of Leopold I’s, in the fall of 1670. As the newly crowned Holy Roman Emperor (in an emergency meeting) he felt it his duty to protect the Electorate. He planned to place his own wife as regent and to marry his son Maximilian Emmanuel to Maria Antonia; he would hopefully have a chance for more sons, and thus perhaps make the Wittelsbachs almost as powerful as the Hapsburgs had been. If he was unable to have more sons, perhaps his brother, Maximilian Hieronymus, could have some. Though the marriage wouldn’t be able to be consummated for over a decade, Maximilian Emmanuel was contracted to be wed to Maria Antonia. Max could then be heir to Bavaria, and Austria would be in personal union.

Max Hieronymus was yet childless but still could produce an heir. If he did, there would be a good king for Hungary – or Bohemia or who knew, maybe even Spain or one of the Italian lands. Margaret Theresa, he argued successfully, should return to Spain, where without the Ottoman threat, she could reign in peace.

The Polish king had died in a battle against forces loyal to Margaret Theresa. Said forces were fearful – with some right to be – that he might try to become Duke there himself. A new King of Poland, Jan Sobieski, a famous general, was named the new King of Poland as Ferdinand Maria was making sense of things in Vienna. Sobieski sent a message to the new Holy Roman Emperor pledging non-intervention in Austria and desire to unite against the Ottomans. He saw the defense of Austria as most important, and it was easier for the Sejm to approve money for that; hopefully they would support their fellow Catholics in Austria much more than they would fun some border dispute in the Ukraine.(2) Ferdinand Maria was impressed with this planning, and instantly knew he could work with Sobieski.

Ferdinand Maria was much more of a pragmatist than Leopold had been. Mindful of Leopold’s harsh suppression of Hungarian riots, with a lot of forced conversions and even some people fleeing to the Ottomans, Ferdinand Maria appeased them so they would fight for the Austrians and not for the Ottomans. Because of his pragmatism, Ferdinand Maria promised limited freedom, with a king who would allow them to practice as they wished.(3)

France had become a good model, with the successful Edict of Nantes not repealed, of how a nation could thrive despite such differences, though he was really glad a much less quarrelsome ruler was on the throne than the sometimes caustic general. Even a queen was preferable to Louis XIV’s comments about Catholics, and a male Courtenay surely would be better in his eyes.

There was just one problem. Michael I Apafi had been married since 1650 but had trouble producing surviving issue, and his wife was past forty. Even if Michael were a widower he couldn’t marry Ferdinand Maria’s oldest daughter, born in 1660. She’d also be way too old for any son Michael would have, though Ferdinand Maria’s youngest daughter was a possibility.

For now, granting some religious freedom and – while not outright encouraging them – hinting that he wouldn’t persecute those who had been forcibly converted to Catholicism if they returned to Protestantism would have to do. In the meantime, he began to go over some names in his mind for Bohemia, which – if the king were to remain an elector – couldn’t be from the same family branch; it was different with the Archbishop of Cologne, who had no secular authority.

To hide his real choice, he suggested the Winter King - ironically whose election as King of Bohemia had helped to trigger the Thirty Years’ War. His daughter, Sophia, had a son, George, who would be a good match for Ferdinand’s oldest, but he refused to convert to Catholicism. Another thought was John George II, Elector of Saxony. He had a dispute over land with his brother Christian, Duke of Saxe-Mersburg.(4) Christian had allowed Protestant refugees in from Silesia in 1659. He was old – and of course already married – but one of his sons would be quite good, and Christian could live in Bohemia and provide some liberties, thus ensuring that their favor was won. However, there ws the family problem.

Many insisted that the King of Bohemia should be Catholic, even without the fact Ferdinand Maria wanted to marry his daughter off. Placing another Wittlesbach in Bohemia could be seen as going too far - even if it was from a different branch..
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However, the Hanover line descended from the Albertinian line of the Hapsburgs, going back to the Austrian ruler Albert III, who reigned in the late 14th century. With a laugh, he told an aide this and then noted, “The crazy thing is, that’s still 250 years less than what France is doing.” One Hanoverian had converted to Catholicism in 1651, John Frederick of Brunswick-Luneberg. Ferdinand Maria asked if he would take the throne of Bohemia. John Frederick quickly accepted, and was elected King of Bohemia. This was acceptable to the others. His brother Ernst Augustus got his old title.

Ferdinand Maria hadn’t done this just to ensure Protestant support against the Ottomans, though. He believed that the propping up of Austria in a larger empire would be crucial, as would the states surrounding it. They shouldn’t be thinking of eliminating electors at a time when the Ottomans were threatening. And, he was right. The combined armies would beat back the Ottomans. All of Hungary and even Transylvania would be free from Ottoman rule by the 1680s.(5)

Meanwhile, the late Leopold of Austria’s younger sister, Maria Anna Josepha, was yet unmarried. In her early teens in the early 1670s, several countries courted her and the widow Eleanor. The Courtenays hoped to shore up their position in France by marrying one. The French – trying to mend fences after the problems of the past – wished to make some connections. However, the young Hapsburgs would have to choose others, as the Courenays weren’t established for certain yet. The older two would choose between Marie Bourbon and Mary of Modena, while Jean-Armand would take a lower princess or duchess somewhere.

The Medicis, who ruled Tuscany, were high on the list for the Hapsburg ladies, and had been negotiating even before all this. Eventually, they won out; Cosimo III needed a wife. He had been negotiating for Maria Anna Josepha or Claudia Felicitas even before Everything Went Kerflewie. After the dust settled he married Maria Anna Josepha.(6)

Ferdinand Maria placed another with a Hapsburg, too, connecting another Wittelsbach branch with one. John William, the future Elector Palatinate, was a bit too young to be King of Bohemia in 1670. However, John Frederick was older and had only daughters, so John William could eventually give it to a son if he didn’t inherit it himself. This was because Claudia Felicitas was the daughter of Leopold’s predecessor as Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand Charles, who was also Archduke of Further Austria. So, there were a number of realms he could claim if he married her, either by himself for his heirs through her, or in Bohemia’s case by election.

So, John William was married to Claudia Felicitas, but she died at a rather young age, without having produced surviving offspring. In fact, John William proved unable to produce offspring after this, too.(7) At any rate, it was this connection to her father that caused Ferdinand Maria to insist upon her as John William’s spouse, thus making Cosimo’s decision for him as far as marrying Maria Anna Josepha. However, he would also have no children with her that survived past childhood, meaning Tuscany would also be up for grabs after his death.(8)

At least they didn’t have the problems Spain did. Although there were some worries in England that France’s Courtenays might end up trying to unite France and Spain, as it was possible Margaret Theresa could marry one of them. Even without the promise of Courtenay help, young Margaret Theresa had “help.” Of course, it wasn’t that simple.

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(1) OTL the Ottoman-Polish War of 1672-6 would soon start over a border conflict, but Austria was quite strong. Here, the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman II (who only reigned later OTL but is reigning now because of the death of the OTL one at the hands of their father) would sense Austrian weakness, not be quite as skilled, and still be fighting the Poles. So, it makes sense for them to ignore the border conflict.

(2) OTL in 1672 the war was begun by the previous king without much help from the Sejm; Sobieski didn’t become king in OTL till 1673. While it was partly because of his military talents, he would still have shown some only a few years earlier and was from a well-known family.

(3) He is staunchly Catholic but seems to have not been nearly as reactionary as Leopold, who forced conversions drove the Hungarians into the Ottoman orbit. Therefore, it’s presumed he would be more pragmatic in his dealings with the people.

(4) A ruler of Saxony would convert later in OTL in a treaty, so they might be approached here, or at least considered.

(5) The same advances made by 1699 in OTL. With a head start on organizing combined with support from the Protestants, at least by the late 1680s it’s plausible, given a less organized Ottoman Empire. So, there likely won’t be a Siege of Vienna in 1683, though the Ottomans could come somewhat close without the war with Poland in the early 1670s.

(6) OTL he married a daughter of Gaston’s who wouldn’t be born here since he died in 1632. She didn’t marry till 1676, but they’d be in more of a hurry after Leopold’s death, and the Medicis would up their bid, too, hoping for a chance at more wealth for their declining state. Maria Josepha, Claudia Felicitas, and Eleanor of Austria are all quite close to each other in age, but this is a likely scenario to give the Wittelsbachs two connections to the Hapsburgs, counting maria Antonia.

(7) As in OTL with Maria Josepha.

(8) She produced no children who survived into adulthood OTL, and she wasn’t marrying a Hapsburg. It’ll be Eleanor who prolongs the Hapsburg line.
 
Part 11 – Could Spain Go Easier Than We Thought? Nah! Even Sweden Got It

By making decisions for the good of the Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand Maria at least postponed problems for Austria itself, and restored stability to Bohemia and Hungary while marrying his family off to Hapsburgs twice – once for now, once for the future – to increase his own family’s prestige. His ideas worked. The same can’t be said for Spain, although they tried.

Instead, something odd happened. At first, things seemed okay. It was eerie. Sort of like in the movies where you think, “It’s too quiet” and suddenly there’s a big attack; though the way this was going it’s more like one of those movies where you scream, “Don’t go in there!”

Mariana had already been ruling as regent, and figured she would for many years - for Charles II, that is. She was on a high after having led Spain through the war with Don Juan of Austria as regent for her son. Maria Antonia’s mother, Margaret Theresa, was rightful Queen of Spain as the only surviving issue of Philip IV, but of course Mariana would help, as Margaret Theresa wasn’t in great health. Then, if Infante Maria Antonia had several children, one could rule Spain. Ferdinand Maria seemed to have put Spain – to say nothing of Italy – on the back burner, but Mariana understood, the Holy Roman Emperor had a lot on his mind.

Plus, the idea was really good. Margaret Theresa finally arrived a few months after Charles II’s passing. Maria Antonia could be Queen of Spain one day, or if Margaret Theresa remarried and had sons she coulds till be consort of… wherever.

Mariana felt great that she and Ferdinand Maria were on the same page. Madrid would be much quieter and better, and while Margaret Theresa and Leopold had gotten along well despite the age difference, there was always something to be said for home – and the fact she was no longer married to her uncle. So, after agreements were finalized regarding the marriage of Maria Antonia, Margaret Theresa went to Madrid and was crowned Queen of Spain.

There was just one problem. Remember when the King of England didn’t want to hear about that complication with Aragon?

Oh, Spain had had queens before, and they’d done quite well. Aragon would have accepted Margaret Theresa normally, as the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella had united the Spanish regions. However, Savoyards were trying to get some of those Italian provinces. With a queen weakened by numerous miscarriages and rough travel, not to mention widowhood, some sought to rebel and at least use Aragon as a base to fight in Spain.

Oh well, some thought, no problem. Emmanuel Philibert Amadeus – here just called Emmanuel Philibert - and Margaret Theresa could marry. The Hapsburgs – now down to women – needed a good, solid dynastic marriage, and the Hapsburg-Savoyard name would do nicely. He needed a wife to produce heirs. The deaths of the other Savoyards in the 1655 French invasion of Savoy meant he and his brother Eugene Maurice were the only surviving Savoyards in 1670. They didn’t actually have Savoy handy right then, but they could get it! Plus, Eugene Maurice could be supported as King of France even if they didn’t support those illegitimate Guise. Indeed, he could get more support for his brother to be King of France if he married Margaret Theresa; after the battle against Don Juan, people knew what it was like to be fighting an illegitimate claimant.

So, with the promise of said support from a number of Spanish nobles, Emmanuel Philibert and Margaret Theresa married in June, 1671. Spain was united, under what was dubbed “a second Ferdinand and Isabella,” the Habsburg-Savoyards. In addition to supporting Eugene Maurice in France, Margaret Theresa was able as a dowry to give her claim to Piedmont – obtained in the treaty whereby France took Savoy – to her new husband who was rightful Duke of Savoy(1), thereby making Piedmont officially Savoyard again, and allowing them to also claim Milan, which was to be united with Piedmont under the Haspburg-Savoyard name.

It all seemed to be working so well.

Then, Spain became a microcosm of the big mess that was Europe.

Yes, even Protestant realms were having problems. Charles XI, the only surviving son of Charles X of Sweden, drowned in a daring attack. What happened was that France’s attack on the Spanish Netherlands in early 1670 – before their king bit the dust - had led to parties going to war, including England on the side of France against the Dutch, HRE, and Denmark. Sweden joined in on France’s side. After France found itself heirless, of course, they pulled out, as did England, thanks to Parliamentary objections, and the HRE, which hadn’t gotten very far into it. This led to a status quo ante bellum peace. But, Denmark was still fighting Sweden, each wanting things lost previously. Sweden tried to attack Scania in 1673, giving them a succession crisis in return and guaranteeing Danish victory.(2) With the Stuarts’ eventual problems, it wasn’t just Catholic thrones being wiped out..

The claimants were Frederick VII Magnus of Baden-Durlach and John Adolph of Palatine-Kleeburg. The latter was a brother of the late Swedish king Charles X, the former descended through a sister of Charles X. However, the latter didn’t get along well with quite a few of the Swedish people, so Frederick became King of Sweden. Some say that external opposition, too, hurt, as John Adolph was from a branch of the Wittelsbachs, and they were already seeming a bit too powerful with the Holy Roman Empire now under their domain, and Sweden had memories still of their fierce opposition to the HRE in the 30 Years War.

Back to Spain, at around that time, 1673-4, things were happening which would make the Savoyard excursion into Spain extremely tenuous..

For one, Eugene Maurice died in 1673, less than two years after the marriage between his older brother and Margaret Theresa.(3)

He had been “unlucky in love, lucky in war,” one might say. The question of who he would marry had been tricky. He was still part of a powerful family. However, when he was considered as a suitor for one of the Portuguese princesses, Joana died in 1653 at age 18.(4) Catherine was seen as better for England’s Charles II, in a much more important position potentially, should he regain his throne, which he did.

Eugene Maurice fought till 1656, where he survived the French occupation of Savoy. Suddenly, he was second in line to the Savoyard throne and before the birth of a prince in Spain was talk of trying to place him on the Spanish throne – or at least marrying him to Maria Theresa till the end of the war with Spain and her marriage to Armand’s son.

With Savoy divided between French Savoy and Spanish Piedmont, Louis XIII’s sister, former regent of Savoy, considered her remaining daughter to marry Eugene Maurice. It’d lay the groundwork to reclaim Savoy. Margaret Yolande was married to Eugene Maurice in Piedmont in 1659. The Duke of Parma, another possible suitor, married Isabella d’Este instead. While some decry the cousin marriages – though at least these weren’t first cousins – of this time period, recently it’s been found that Margaret Yolande’s health was likely the reason for her stillbirths, and likely would have caused her premature death in childbirth even without that.

By the mid-1660s, then, Eugene Maurice was a widower without an heir, and the Duke of Parma’s wife had died, too, with the Duke of Parma remarrying, this time to her younger sister. Only in his early 30s, Eugene Maurice decided to wait a few years, when his position would be more stable. It became more stable when he entered the court at Madrid.

Then, in 1672, he married Eleanor, the former Queen of Poland who had reigned for only a few months before her husband’s death. She’d eventually been invited down to Spain after visiting Austria’s Italian possessions.(5) He was confident that they had a great relationship with the Hapsburgs and that – after years in the wilderness – the Savoyard line, which would respectfully be called Hapsburg-Savoyard - would rule Spain and other areas and be great once more. His heirs could even take Austria someday, or just the Italian possessions, which was his main goal for now. Either way, there were two good Hapsburg-Savoyard lines to counter the power of the Wittlesbachs which was developing.

Then, his wife had a miscarriage. He died, but only after discovering his wife was pregnant again. It was a girl, Maria Eugenia, who was born a couple months after he died. Eleanor married again, a time in which she would produce surviving issue, including sons.(6)

So, his line was gone. And, Emmanuel Philibert himself had problems.

Margaret Theresa’s health hadn’t been great, but after a number of miscarriages and problem pregnancies, the stress of losing her husband, and so on, she’d had well over a year without pregnancies. Of course, she’d also been hurt by the rough travel to Spain, but she’d reigned as queen quite happily, partly thanks to the support of Mariana, who had been through it all. Life was good for her. Maybe she could produce plenty of heirs.

Whatever was wrong with her body, as the result of all the Hapsburg inbreeding as well as that above stress, it continued.(7) She had a boy in 1673 who lived a few weeks, a daughter a few years later who lived longer, and a stillbirth. There wasn’t the constant pressure to have children that led to so many miscarriages, but she had a couple of those, too.

All those things wore her body down. Coupled with the stress from her first marriage it would have been bad enough, but the loss of her brother-in-law and some of the disease problems Spain was hit with made it really hard. Finally, she died in 1680 with only Maria Antonia from her first marriage and this girl surviving.(8)

That daughter, Maria Emmanuela Leopolda, was still sickly. Emmanuel Philibert had done a lot to help the deaf and others, and tried to serve well as regent, but there were worries that he could have no more children. Even without that, many worried that someone else could try to claim Spain. When Queen Maria Emmanuela Leopolda became really sick late in 1681, tension really rose.

And, that’s not even getting into the Italian chaos.

-------------------

(1) Except, of course, that France had annexed it. With Christine’s children dead, Thomas Francis became rightful Duke; upon his death, Emmanuel Philibert would be the rightful heir.

(2) King Charles XI crossed a frozen river OTL a few years later, winning a very bloody battle. A few years earlier, a bit less ready to wait and less skilled, it’s easy to see him dying in battle.

(3) As he did OTL. While it’s possible the fever would be butterflied away, it’s quite plausible his condition would be weakened by the warfare till something kills him that year.

(4) He married a niece of Mazarin in 1657 OTL, years after the Cardinal is evicted from France and therefore they wouldn’t meet in TTL; if they did, it would be a less necessary political move. Plus, in TTL he’d be more important than OTL because after Emmanuel Philibert, whom it wouldn’t be certain would marry, he’d be Duke of Savoy, so like Conde earlier, he’d marry someone of slightly higher rank. Yes, it’s a cousin, but they’re not first cousins.

(5) She waited a couple years OTL before marrying a foreign prince, so it’s plausible she could do so in TTL as well; then when he dies there is someone else all ready.

(6) Eleanor would still be trying to marry – she’d be just about 20 when he died! And, given the situation, she’d probably still marry earlier than in OTL.

(7) Emmanuel Philibert’s first two daughters OTL, while they lived long lives, had no children in the marriages they had. Whether the defects were from him or not is uncertain but plausible. Either way, her health had also been pretty bad before; had she not had all the problems bringing children to term with Leopold there is more of a chance they’d have had a healthy offspring. So, the lack of a successful heir given the problems of both is plausible.

(8) None of her siblings lived very long, and she was product of an uncle-niece marriage, so with messed up genetics and the earlier problems, still had enough that giving her 5-7 more years seemed about right.
 
Part 12 – Italy – Where Government Looks Like a Bowl of Spaghetti

Note: I had a bit witht he Mazarinettes to show their AH path, but really don't know for sure if it's as important. However, in trying to remove it and put it somewhere else I messed some other thigns up; hopefully this is coherent and right, It hink I made the changes recommended with the Portugese and Naples and other stuff. (And thank you, that makes it crazier:))

Italy braced for more wars once The Year Everything Went Kerflewie hit. Comically, just as Spain thought it was too quiet after a while and things got crazy, Italy expected things to be really noisy, and instead saw silence. Of course, that’s partly because the king had been absent in Spain a lot, but still, people wondered, “Where is everyone?” They didn’t want to say it too loud, though; they knew something was coming.

Piedmont being promised to two different royal families was just part of the weirdness. One, of course, was in Margaret Theresa’s dowry to Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. The other was in a treaty wherein the French, before the Guise were defeated, offered their support of the Guise if the last Savoyard (by that time) male died out and they wanted to claim it.

Milan anticipated a struggle with France once Leopold I died. They hoped that things would go okay when the Piedmontese Savoyards took over at first, to garrison Milan from French attack, but thought there would be trouble. Instead, for a few months, the only problem was that they were obligated to send forces to support the Aragonese Savoyard, and then for a while to support Savoyards in France, meaning attacks into Savoy itself. Okay, yeah, the fact Savoyards didn’t own Savoy added to the nuttiness. But, eventually Savoyards fell like dominoes, and Charles III of Elbeuf died in France in 1674, ending the War of French Succession for all intents and purposes. His family was exiled to Naples; his eldest daughter, Anne Elisabeth of Lorraine, was considered a wife for Emmanuel Philibert later.(1)

At the same time, something strange happened. Okay, something else strange. Wait till you hear this.

Mariana of Spain left for Hapsburg Milan once she was no longer needed in Spain. She had hoped, in her late 30s, to have offspring, heirs with which to take back Austria; she felt entitled to reign over some Hapsburg possessions, since Maria Antonia couldn’t rule over all of them. So, since the Savoyards had taken Milan, and then Emmanuel Philibert married Margaret Theresa, Mariana was allowed to rule Milan for them. Charles of Lorraine was still in the fray for the title of King of France. Some felt that his heirs should get Piedmont (and Milan if she died without heirs). So, to give herself a chance for heirs, and the Guise a right to stake a claim to Milan, Mariana married someone from the junior branch of the surviving Guise in 1671. (Remember it was the senior branch France had promised it to.) The oldest available was Philippe of Lorraine, who ordinarily had other preferences.(2) This was acceptable in late 1671; after all, the Guise thought they had a good shot at France yet.

After the Courtenays won in France. Louis-Charles proclaimed upon the signing of the treaty, “Sanity has returned to Europe,” because the Guise would be satisfied and Mariana ruled in Milan with her consort Philippe, who had performed his duty to try to unite the Hapsburg and Lorraine lines and then went off to do other things, leaving Mariana to rule as Duchess of Milan.

Yeah, so the Savoyards also staked a claim because of Margaret Theresa, but something would work out, right? Coming from a monarch whose family was a forgotten cadet branch of a king from the late 11th and early 12th century, it’s easy to understand how he conveniently ignored the other Italian states. They were still experiencing insanity in late 1674.

Sicily was a target of fighting between Austrian and Spanish Hapsburg supporters – though by now that had turned into Bavarian Wittelsbach and displaced Savoyard supporters. Joining in were supporters of the female line, calling on Duchess Maria Anna Josepha to come with her husband, the Duke of Tuscany, and set up the Hapsburg-Medici line.

This would be closer to the Spanish line than Ferdinand Maria, of course. So, eventually, quite a few Hapsburg supporters – who felt that either way it should be a Hapsburg land – loved this idea, and soon the War of Sicilian Succession was a three-way civil war which Emmanuel Philibert and Margaret Theresa had a lot of trouble resolving even after their marriage.

Meanwhile, Naples had the opposite problem. They wanted a ruler and couldn’t get them to come. They’d seen a Republican revolt decades earlier wherein the then Duke of Guise – descended from Rene of Anjou, a ruler of Naples – was called to lead a combination of republic and monarchy. Now, with the death of Charles II, some asked the Guises to return. However, mindful of the last time, they declined at first; they were too busy trying to take France, as has been noted before. The Viceroy ruled for a while here, just as one did in Sicily.

People gradually got restive while the Guise fought to get France. Worried about the possibility of an Ottoman attack, Naples sought Portugal, of all places.

It seems that since Elisabeth, now King Pedro’s wife, was descended from Nicole of Lorraine, they figured they’d invite hand Pedrom to come. Okay, so they sent troops. However, while the Portuguese were getting set up, along came some Guise,a nd then more thand more, as they had been exiled. And, they claimed that the aforementioned will was in effect and that Nicole couldn’t even lay claim to Naples, being a women, and Elisabether certainly couldn’t. One historian noted, “It was as if the war over the will which might have erupted, but which was stopped by France’s occupation of the territory, had just been postponed a generation.”

Someone else also tried to intervene. One was the Duke of Tuscany, trying to claim it as a Hapsburg possessin for his wife, Maria Anna Josepha. The other grup was a set of Italian states supported by a group of young ladies called the Mazarinettes.

It had begun because Spain supported the League of the Rhine as a way to keep the Holy Roman Empire in check, though they weren’t as close as France had been. Mazarin had organized it, and had been welcomed in his exile in Spanish realms, though he’d settled in Modena, as Spain was still colder to him, being a Hapsburg land. Neapolitans had loved them in the early 1650s, though separated from Spain proper where they couldn’t be as much of an annoyance to the Hapsburgs; luckily they’d left well before the Great Naples Plague of 1656.

His seven nieces, the Mazarinettes, had been very young and attractive and if he wasn’t welcomed in France by the somewhat caustic at times king, at least he and his court would be popular in Naples, and just the thing to pacify the people after their earlier revolt.

They were not necessarily prime candidates for marriage to the most powerful kings, although one story is not apocryphal. One of the seven – Mary Anne Mancini - still remained to be married after Charles II was believed not able to live past a few weeks. Mazarin had died already, and Philip IV inquired of Don Juan of Austria, “If Charles dies, I shall consider giving you my inheritance. However, the Court would be dissatisfied to know you are not yet married; marry a Mazarinette and I am sure you will find grace.” Don Juan seemed unwilling, though, and she disliked his womanizing and was already quite independent, so it probably wouldn’t have happened. Either way, Charles II survived so Philip didn’t push the issue.

One Mazarinette – Laura Mancini - married soon before Mazarin’s agreed departure from France. She was his way to retain connections with France when it came to help with the League of the Rhine. A few Mazarinettes trickled back till Laura died in childbirth in 1657, at which time Mary Anne was asked to help raise the young children, which she did. She eventually wound up wed to Turenne’s nephew, and a third married another French general in the early 1660s.(3) Still, despite only being in Naples for a few years, all were remembered quite fondly, just as they had been in France. They were, as one French Court member noted, “Harmless, if handled right, the kind who might help our king to overcome his political weaknesses.”

Lorenzo Colonna, a nobleman in Colonna, Italy, had married one of the young ladies, Marie, in 1657.(4) The people considered calling Lorenzo to come with Marie; the marriage wasn’t as strong as it might have been, but they could lead the country.(5) They only had one son, and it wasn’t even certain if he would remain there – although Lorenzo knew it wasn’t likely things would remain stable in Spain - but it was at least worth inviting him to keep the peace.

Olympia, meanwhile, had been married to a marshal, Margrave Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden. A schemer by nature, it was hoped that she would help the Catholic German state by working in its court to move it toward the League of the Rhine.

The plan worked even better than they’d hoped. Louise of Savoy, because of the conflict with France and her brother continuing to serve with the Spanish Army, had wed her husband, Ferdinand Maximilian of Baden-Baden, in Madrid. They had a baby in spring of 1655, but she didn’t want to leave the court in wartime. The potential future Margrave wanted to kidnap his son and take him back to Baden-Baden, but while he’d have had some help in France, he had no such help in Spain.(6) Both mother and infant son died late in 1655, many believe of the same plague which would soon devastate Naples. Her husband died without an heir in 1669, so when the Margrave of Baden died in 1677. Olympia’s son wound up inheriting the Margravate, and she served as regent until he came of age.

Two were from a different mother. Laura Martinozzi had married the Duke of Modena. This marriage was quite successful. The drawback there would be that the Duke of Modena would have lots of duties elsewhere. Lorenzo didn’t have as many. Her sister Anne Marie had married Alessandro Farnese, brother of the Duke of Parma. While she died in 1672, Alessandro was highly considered as a possible leader of Naples. Indeed, with her husband dying in 1671, some speculated Olympia could marry him, except by now it was apparent she’d likely have to be regent, with the Margrave of Baden ailing. Soon, only her line of Baden claimants would survive, and all of Baden would be united.

The number of possible claims by those supported by the Mazarinettes didn’t stop the Duke of Tuscany from trying to nose his way in, of course. Even without Maria Anna Josepha, Tuscany had tended to support the Hapsburgs and so was opposed by others, who didn’t want the Holy Roman Empire getting further into Italy. (Of course, Ferdinand Maria looked ready to create a Wittelsbach Empire that could be just as bad if they didn’t work together.)

With the Tuscan economy in decline, Cosimo III felt he had the chance to go after something major – Naples and Sicily. He could claim them for his wife, Maria Anna Josepha, and then pass them on to his offspring.(7) The former was much more plausible because nobody was contesting it at first, though he tried both.

That soon changed, as others jumped into the fray. The War of Neapolitan Succession broke out.

Yes, Ferdinand Maria’s concentration on the Ottomans had been at the expense of ignoring Italy. But, maybe he was wiser than most thought, considering that he’d have had so much on his plate trying to figure Italy out he couldn’t do anything else. He wasn’t sure if he could claim much of Italy, anyway, with Eleanor of Austria/Poland/Savoy now adding Parma!

Oh, yes, Eleanor married Alessandro Farnese and produced two healthy sons and a daughter who would survive to adulthood. By 1731, her eldest would inherit Parma and her rights to Mantua.(8) Yes, Ferdinand Maria made the right choice to ignore Italy, for all those crazy reasons above, and for one other important reason.

In early 1672, the 37-year-old Mariana discovered she was with child – she would deliver a healthy baby boy. The bowl of spaghetti that was the Italian situation had gotten a little stranger, as the Guise were forced to retreat from France, only for the descendants of Charles of Lorraine – whose death had put an end to the War of French Succession - to discover they might not get Naples and could even have trouble with Milan. Milan could go to a junior branch of the Guise. That didn’t seem right. And then there was the Savoyard claim. Of course, Mariana’s son could still marry Eleanor’s daughter that she’d had with Eugene Maurce and maybe things would be okay, but, oh, what a mess.

---------------------------

(1) Her OTL husband wouldn’t be born, as his father died in prison after Louis XIII’s marriage to Nicole of Lorraine merging the realms.

(2) Given that several remained unmarried for various reasons, it’s easy to imagine one being pushed to try, then separating when it didn’t work out, leaving Mariana to reign as Duchess of Milan the rest of her days. Philippe, was a lover of OTL’s Philippe, brother of Louis XIV, neither of whom is born in TTL. Since his younger brothers were in the church and dedicated to remaining single, they would likely pressure Philippe to marry, and he would, knowing he could always back out after a few years, since Louis’ brother did OTL.

(3) These are OTL, including the one dying in childbirth and the youngest caring for the kids.

(4) OTL it was 1661, here it’s earlier because it’s set up earlier and she has no relationship with OTL’s Louis XIV (who isn’t born in TTL)

(5) OTL she fled in 1672 fearing for her life. It’s not sure if this was some kind of mental problem or if she really did fear for it, but especially with no continued relationship possible with her former lover, it’s possible that these fears, real or imagined, don’t exist in TTL.

(6) OTL he was able to get this accomplished, thanks to someone who knew the place she was staying. Also, the distance would be further and planning a little trickier. Finally, the plague of Naples was reportedly brought by someone on a Spanish ship; it’s entirely possible that some of it got to a port city of Spain beforehand and spread inland, though it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as it was in Naples. Finally, as noted, it’s just seen as likely – they could have died of some other sickness, as there was often a lot of illness going around.

(7) OTL the economy was also in decline, and went way down under his reign. However, in the early part, that was partly caused by his wife’s extravagance, which doesn’t happen with a different wife. However, the war will take it down really fast instead; likely faster after a while, as there is a fair amount they can claim.

(8) She produced some healthy offspring despite marrying a few years later OTL. Alessandro, the Prince of Parma, never married but had several rather long-lived children with his mistress; marrying at age 40 to Eleanor it’s still possible he could have three survive to adulthood. So, the Hapsburg-Farnese line winds up also becoming important in Italy, though now of course there are two separate Hapsburg branches in Italy; and Tuscany’s about to die out, too! Talk about spaghetti government!
 
Amazing

I am really enjoying this TL although my head does hurt at times. It is next to impossible to keep all the different claims and people straight so props for attempting this. :D

Please continue, can't wait to see how it all ends out. :cool:
 
I am really enjoying this TL although my head does hurt at times. It is next to impossible to keep all the different claims and people straight so props for attempting this. :D

Please continue, can't wait to see how it all ends out. :cool:

Thanks; it ws a challenge to me myself to see wht I could do.And I missed a few, too, that others have reminded me of.
 
Retcon notice

We interrupt this timeline to bring you a special news bulletin.

Due to the fact that the author is unfamiiar with the French Wikipedia, and partly becasue it *is* a Wikipedia, it was only now understood what was going on with those little numbers beside the names of the children.."

Author: "I must admit that when I saw two wives named and the names only under the second, I presumed, as I did with others, that this meant they were only children of the second. After a second look - yes, I am sure that this was the second look:D - i have discovered that Louis XVI a.k.a. Louis-Charles was, in fact, married till sometime after 1676 in OTL and fathered a few children.

What this means for thsi timeline is that his first wife's death will be presumed to be hastened a bit, perhaps by the war or soemthing else. And, it now means Charlotte, the daughter of Philip and Mintette, now becomes a good choice for him to remarry, as do a few other candidates. I will determine which among Marie and Mary of Modena should marry Roger, and whether one of them or Henry V's granddaughter should marry jean-Armand."

Thank you for this retcon report. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
 
Part 13 – Trying To Sort Spaghetti Government - A Little Sanity Anyway

It's fixed. I'm sorry about the delay. Guess what? As it turned out, it's pretty similar to how I had it, but a few things get moved around, and it's more clear cut now.

Part 13 – Trying To Sort Spaghetti Government - A Little Sanity Anyway

Chevillon had reigned less than a year as Louis XV – that name, Louis, was so popular four kings from three different branches and two totally different families has used it within 30 years, one at the end of his reign and one at the start of his. Louis-Charles made his mark in several ways as Louis XVI “The Peacemaker.”

First, he decided that Roger should marry Marie, being closer in age than Jean-Armand. The man who was now Dauphin, Louis-Charles, was already married to Marie de Lameth, and had two sons. This was very good news for the continuation of the Courtenays. However, he also had to listen to the pleadings of Laura Martinozzi for her daughter, Mary of Modena. The introductions, made through the French Ambassador, was said to be delayed by her desire to perhaps marry her to Emmmanuel Philibert in 1670 (he ended up marrying Margaret Theresa), then by her waiting to make sure the Courtenays had a clear shot at actually reigning. In the competition between Mary of Modena and Marie Bourbon, it was pointed out by Queen Anne of France that Marie was actually third in line to the throne of Spain now; and, the joke went, “She could move to second any day.” If this were to happen, the Courtenays would have a personal union between France and Spain, which one royal wag said would be, “The most incredible run of good luck in history!”

Mary of Modena felt entitled to a present or future king, though, as her mother famously joked about this time, “It’s as if the crowned heads of Europe are all having daughters at the same time, or are dying off completely.” They wanted it to be a hereditary one, too, with no danger of a lost election. However, there weren’t many available. The coup which overthrew Alphonse of Portugal after Minette died was not totally unexpected, and Pedro already had a wife, Elisabeth of France/Lorraine. England was way out, Italian states were in major flux, and so she bided her time. She was born in 1658 so it wasn’t like she had no chance. She’d simply had to wait in line behind a bunch of of Hapsburg ladies trying to prolong their line.

This had been the same problem which had plagued Ferdiand Maria with his oldest daughter, Maria Anna Victoria. He’d tried to betroth her to a variety of people, but the men kept dying out. The only good part was that German princesses tended to marry later, so it wasn’t a major problem when 1676 came and only then did he betroth her to Elector Palatine John William after the death of Claudia Felicitas. Whether he stayed there and inherited or was elected King of Bohemia, he would hopefully produce heirs with her. Sadly, he could produce none, and she was ill quite often anyway, though they enjoyed a good relationship. She died in 1690.

Mary of Modena had considered him, but that wouldn’t have interested her as much, as he hadn’t inherited as much yet. She’d eventually, in 1674, contracted to marry the Crown Prince of Portugal, who was 7 years her junior but would at least but able to consummate a marriage by the late 1670s. She didn’t like this arrangement, though, and hoped there would be a way out.

Ironically, she’d rejected the idea of Jean_Armand, since Louis XVI already had heirs himself, allowing him to marry a French woman. And yet, she wound up with Louis XVI anyway! His wife died in that time period.(1) Mary of Modena became Queen of France, breaking her arrangement with the Prince of Portugal, who would not have been able to consummate for a couple years yet and wouldn’t have become king till 1706. She had a few issue who survived.(2)

Charlotte, daughter of Philip and Minette, was still only seven, so at least there were some guys who would be eligible for her. However, she seemed to be out of the running for anything in France, though nobody knew with Spain. Ferdinand Maria was already making inquiries about her marrying his second son, who normally would have gone into the priesthood.(3) Jean-Armand married Henri V’s granddaughter, uniting that segment of the Bourbons with the Courtenays as well; he died in 1677.(4) With him being only the third son, and Louis XVI already having two surviving sons in the early 1670s, he hadn’t been considered heavily for the Bavarian duke’s oldest daughter.

Turenne’s skill had prevented France from becoming a wasteland. Rebels had nipped at the edges for a couple more years as a couple other members of the House of Guise died in the fighting. In addition to the main claimant, Charles of Lorraine, at the end, Francois Marie and Alphonse Henri also died in battle; they also tried to take Lorraine even though Louis XIII had declared it to be indivisible with France in the same way Navarre was. (such an attempt brought the ire of the Portuguese, whose Elisabeth claimed it from Nicole, thus earning their help for the courtenays.) Queen Anne still worked with a vast network of supporters behind the scenes, too.

As Louis XVI discussed Charlotte with Ferdinand Maria, the Holy Roman Emperor and French king also considered just how much of a mess Europe was. Something needed to be done to solve this problem. The Emperor had the upper hand as one of the most respected rulers in Europe now, while the Courtenays were still learning the ropes. He wouldn’t pass up a chance to reshape Europe the way he hoped for it to be.

The focus on the Southern part of Europe meant he stayed away from Sweden, but he wasn’t as concerned about putting a Protestant Wittelsbach on that throne. His concern was for the Empire – and, given the animosity in Sweden toward the HRE, Sweden was best left alone.

Henry Stuart of England invited himself to their meeting in Munich while armies rested in early 1675, knowing his brother wouldn’t be decisive enough – and ignoring Louis XVI’s disdain for him as the man who seized Calais. This concerned Parliament, which demanded that Charles promise not to support a Catholic; rumors said that Henry, because of his ties with France, would be a closet Catholic like they said Charles was. This is despite Henry’s marriage to Frederica Amalia of Denamrk; Parliament was notoriously fussy about avoiding Catholics. They feared a disaster where the throne passed to the Catholic Charlotte. The fact Minette had later been Queen of Portugal till her death heightened fear, since Charles’ wife was Portuguese.

Henry had married a Protestant, though, allaying those fears somewhat, and Mary’s son William of Orange marrying Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine.(5)

Back to negotiations, the Portuguese and a few others were also invited since Henry had chosen to come. Mariana of Spain/Austria/Milan/wherever settled in as Duchess with her son, sickly but much healthier than the former Spanish king. He was raised to rule it as Duke of Milan, as the Hapsburg-Guise tried to get back some of their possessions. But then there was whole flock of Guise fighting for Naples. And, quite a few possessions were technically Maria Antonia’s, though the easternmost were more and more de facto not Hapsburg, thanks to Ferdinand Maria, though he continued to promise they would go to the issue of his son and Maria Antonia. The Hapsburg ladies vowed to put a stop to that and make them solely Hapsburg once more. Unless, of course, it could be proved that they would eventually be Hapsburg-Wittelsbach. And this doesn’t even get into Eleanor producing healthy heirs with the Farnese.

Lost in all of this was the Spanish Netherlands. The Governor-General had been ruling there somewhat freely for a while. As the conference broke down and the fighting resumed in 1675, however, it did seem to be one major area for compromise.

Who would own it, though? There were still fears that the French and Spanish could have a personal union or at least a very close family, and the French were worried the Portuguese could claim Spain through Elisabeth if people kept dying. This led to discussions of who would marry Charlotte, who could wind up inheriting a lot or nothing. No side really wanted the Wittelsbachs to receive it, and there were still Hapsburg ladies around.

Naples fighting was quite telling. Cosimo’s wife, Maria Anna Josepha, only bore three children, all of whom died before age five.(6) He feared he would remain married and end up without an heir. So, he focused on spending his money to take Naples, which he deemed easier to control than Sicily based on its proximity to Tuscany. This put him at odds with other Italian states, led by the Mantuans, who insisted that the Hapsburg possessions in Italy should be theirs, and after 1674 with the formerly French Guise, and since a couple years before with the Portuguese. Without a suitable heir, there was no possibility of a union between the Medicis and Gonzagas, which could have helped to settle things. However, Tuscany began to get the edge.

Then, the Spanish intervened, once they had the upper hand in Sicily – Wittelsbach attention was too focused on the Ottomans - continuing the Italian “spaghetti government,” which eventually became a term used for any extremely complicated system and lost the joking connection between the many strands of pasta in a bowl of spaghetti and the many groups fighting for control of the countries on the peninsula.

Cosimo III eventually bowed out with a treaty promising a son who was born in 1675 would wed Maria Emmanuela Leopolda of Spain, the surviving daughter of Emmanuel Philibert and the Queen of Spain. Maria Antonia could therefore simply inherit Austria and perhaps Miland and Piedmont, and fight the Guise if desired for Naples, while his heir could be King Consort of Spain and King of Sicily and Sardinia. Charles of Lorraine’s son, another Charles, born in 1650, became King Charles VI of Naples in 1675. Charles VI married Maria Angela Catarina of Modena, in an effort to solidify relations in Italy with the Guise.(7)

This angered the Portuguese, but Elizabeth and Pedro were promised the Spanish Netherlands. They had no real interest in them, but Henry Stuart persisted. A comical parody of the TV game show “Let’s Make A Deal” would later have the King of Portugal trying to choose between that and what was behind one of three doors; two of which were Italian provinces, one rich and one poor, and one of which was a simple cottage on the Riviera.

Eventually, they accepted the trade; Spanish Netherlands was a very rich merchant area. They and their British allies could do much to keep France in check, and could act quickly if there ever was danger of a union between France and Spain. France agreed not to try to conquer it since it was no longer Hapsburg or Guise or…. Spain kept the most possessions, though, Sicily and Sardinia were theirs, and Emmanuel Philibert was given Piedmont back, in addition to being regent for his daughter. The Guise who had been exiled to Naples held it. Eleanor, now a Farnese, could also inherit a number of thrones, after all. Her issue was first on the list to get Milan if Mariana passed with no surviving heirs, and to get Naples and even Tuscany if Cosimo died with no surviving heirs.

The Tuscan-Savoyard marriage was contracted in late 1675 at the same time. It couldn’t be consummated for over a decade. But, that hadn’t stopped Maria Antonia’s contract with the Bavarian heir. If Cosimo died without other heirs, a product of this match could even take all the thrones, while Maria Antonia’s heirs could have Austria and Bavaria, leaving Milan to Mariana’s heir with the Guise.

Cosimo III’s son died at age three in 1677. The treaty was reworked to allow for a future son to be married to Maria Emmanuela Leopolda. However, the deaths of Margaret Theresa and then Maria Emmanuela Leopolda killed that. Louis XVI is said to have been asked what should be done now and commented, “Solomon himself would have trouble with this craziness.”

He was no doubt speaking of Austria as well. And Charlotte, but we’ll leave her for later. Suffice to say that, born in 1666, she had a number of possible suitors, all with issues. Pedro and Elizabeth’s son and she would put Portugal and Spain in personal union if she became Queen. Ferdinand Maria’s second son meant more Wittelsbach power and the original plan had been to make him a church member. Italian princes seemed less important and weren’t the right age, anyway, for the most part. Ironically, the best candidate might even be Jan Sobieski’s oldest son, and with the king of Poland riding a high wave of popularity in 1676 for beating the Ottomans, his chances might be the best. Yeah, that was weird, too.

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(1) OTL, his wife died after having a baby that died in 1676, according to the family tree. He had another child in 1689 with a second wife. Given the stresses of being Queen with the war on, it’s possible she dies earlier if she died in the 1680s, which is likely since the last child wasn’t born till 1689. Even if she didn’t die in childbirth in OTL, though, the fact the baby died so soon showed something may have been going around, and mortality rates of women in childbirth mean it’s quite plausible.

(2) She had only 1 son and a daughter (who died rather young still). Some of that was due to smallpox, others were convulsions which indicates a problem somewhere; was it all with James? Probably, given mary’s and Anne’s OTL problems.

(3) OTL’s Archbishop of Cologne – and maybe here, too, we’ll see.

(4) He’s not listed as an abbot or anything in the French Wikipedia, though it’s possible he had become a priest and not risen any higher. Whether he died in battle or of some disease in 1677 OTL, given mortality rates in those days it’s quite conceivable. The line was not producing handfuls of surviving issue each time and was slowly dying out by this time even without all the inbreeding royal houses were doing in this era.

(5) It’s likely she only converted because of the sacrifices made to unite her with a French candidate, one who isn’t present here; she likely doesn’t marry one of the three Courtenays because of desires to influence Italy and unite families, as mentioned..

(6) She had only two boys, both dying quickly, with a German prince in OTL. It wasn’t just the Hapsburg connection that caused them to have problems bearing health children by this time.

(7) He apparently never married OTL, but he’d be in a much better position TTL, even though it would be less powerful than with some kingdoms. She’d be almost 20, which was more normal than waiting till almost 30 like OTL. He would still die in 1690.
 
Part 14 – Can Leaner Wittelsbachs Do What Hapsburgs Couldn’t?

And, we're back on track!

Ferdinand Maria had been given lots of credit for reforming Bavaria and turning a confusing situation to his family’s advantage, but also to Europe’s. After all, he’d gotten diverse groups together to fight the Ottomans. Sure, some of that had been Sobieski, but he’d had the ability to get things done. The Empire had kept the Reichstag meeting continually since 1663. He’d used that, once Leopold died, to forge something that was much less cumbersome and, therefore, potentially longer lasting.

Gone were the Hapsburg claims to non-German lands. Hapsburg rot and decay had led to a quick collapse. They’d tried to get everything under the sun, and maybe even the sun itself. The collapse of the family led one person, in the early 1670s, to lament the possible death of the Holy Roman Empire, stating that it had been “Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”

Ferdinand Maria believed that, properly shaped, a Wittelsbach-led empire could truly become a centralized empire. Massive decentralization had occurred after the Thirty Years’ War, but he could properly claim (even if it wasn’t true) that the errors had all been Hapsburg ones, and that the German states could form some sort of confederation, with the most prominent state led by his son and daughter-in-law – his son would surely become Holy Roman Emperor after him, and the combined Bavaria and Austria could be promoted to Kingdom within the Empire. Yes, there were still Hapsburg territories in Southern Europe, but he was visionary enough to imagine that the Holy Roman Empire might not only be salvaged, but strengthened. And, Maria Antonia’s presence gave him Hapsburg support.

He could even place other Wittelsbachs on thrones eventually. Of course, he realized that this could cause confusion if he placed them on non-Germany ones. Bohemia wasn’t Wittelsbach yet, but could be someday, plus they were staunch allies under the Hanoverians, albeit a junior branch. Indeed, if Michael Apafi didn’t produce an heir, who knew what could happen? A Wittelsbach could theoretically end up there, too.

Now, here it should be stressed that he never spoke of a “German Empire” the way some said he did. He didn’t want to be another Alexander the Great, for instance. He’d seen Catholics and Protestants work together quite well, and decided that their common bond could be useful. However, this had happened somewhat even in 1663, with the Parliament meeting continually; seven full years before Leopold’s death.

Still, reactionaries complained that he was forming a horrible, Tower of Babel-esque thing that was sure to fail; those reactionaries included former advisers of Leopold. Ferdiand Maria’s death in 1679 led reactionaries there and elsewhere to conclude that it was God’s punishment on Ferdinand maria. More moderate leaders shot back that Leopold of Austria had been a fierce zealot who had tried to send Hungary into the Ottoman camp, and that God must have punished him, too, with an early death.

Eventually, everyone realized that people were just dying like crazy without it being a punishment from God. Vienna, which was full of people on both sides of the issue, suffered a severe plague later that year and into 1680.

At any rate, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Bavaria Ferdinand Maria the Great died. In addition to organizing the fight against the Ottomans, he’d done wonders for Bavaria and - in his time as Holy Roman Emperor - had streamlined things so it was a lot easier to get things done. So, it would be hard to replace him anyway. A lengthy interregnum had occurred in the 1650s without an emperor because of the youth of the successor, in his middle teens. Now there may have to be another, not only because Ferdinand Maria’s eldest son only turned 17 in July, but because of the Elector of Mainz’ health. Ferdinand Maria had placed his brother Max Hieronymus as regent in Austria since he couldn’t be there all the time; but now he was also regent for his son in Bavaria.

Since the death of one in 1673, they’d had one die in 1675 and another in 1678. Now, Karl Heinrich von Metternich-Winneburg had been selected, but his health was failing, and he died in September. Though down Electors, they decided to meet; others were also rather elderly, and winter would set in soon. Anselm Franz von Ingleheim would be named in November, but with travel times and communication, some felt it would be wise to pick a new Emperor now, as John Frederick of Bohemia was ill as it was, and the travel to Munich had taken a toll on him.

Archbishops John VIII of Trier and Maximilian Henry of Cologne, Maximilian II Emmanuel of Bavaria, John Frederick of Bohemia, the elderly Charles Louis, Elector Palatinate, and John George II, Elector of Saxony, and Frederick William, Elector of Prussia, met in late 1679. The hurrying made things worse, however. Some argued that - with several ailing and Ferdinand Maria having put the Wittelsbachs in a very good position - they might as well elect his son. If they didn’t, with the health of the men there, it could be several years before a new Emperor was named, and there was the continued war against the Ottomans – which was being won – as well as the growing plague in Vienna.

On the other hand, problems gnawed at the electors; should they accept that Bavaria and Austria were now merged? Accept Max Hieronymus as Duke of one? But then, they might be too close as far as family was concerned yet to have both as Electors. Not only this, but the law was clear that the Holy Roman Emperor could not be under eighteen.

Discussion concerning a temporary Emperor began, but John Frederick became seriously ill. They chose to adjourn, and he barely made it back to Bohemia before dying. Then, while Bohemia tried to elect a new king, John George II of Saxony and Charles Louis of the Palatinate died within days of each other. Thankfully, by this point Ferdinand Maria’s son Maximilian II Emmanuel was old enough to be both an Elector and Emperor. He made official what had been known de facto for years; Bavaria and Austria were now in personal union and would remain so.

As for Bohemia, Max Hieronymus and John William competed to become King of Bohemia. The latter might have won had it not been for Ferdinand Maria’s death, as he’d married his daughter to John William to strengthen the empire for his own branch of the family. His decision to connect them after other things fell through was also because - as she’d grown into a teen – health problems had surfaced that wouldn’t have been noticed if she’d been betrothed earlier.(1)

Since neither had any children the point would have been moot eventually. As it was, So, Max Hieronymus became King of Bohemia but only after Maximilian Emmanuel became Emperor, since if John William had been named his father was already Elector Palatine and his brother would have had to take over the Palatinate. There would be two electors from the same branch just as when the new emperor’s uncle eventually was elected King of Bohemia.

This election created some confusion. Silesia had passed in 1675 to the Hapsburgs and Maria Antonia, and some had hoped that a Protestant could take over. There had been rumors of war, except that Ferdinand Maria had worked things out peacefully. But, if the Austrians, under Maria Antonia, really ruled Silesia, the border was no longer contiguous between Bohemia and the others. This had been solved for now, it appeared, by the fact Max Hieronymus could, technically, be named as her Regent for Silesia. However, problems could arise later.

Then again, by 1680 his wife was getting older, and it was looking more and more like they would be childless – which they would be. So, Emperor Max Emmanuel would simply be elected king and therefore unite the Wittelsbach realms with Hapsburg Silesia. Given his ambition, greater than Ferdinand Maria’s, this was quite likely.

Then, there was the matter of Electors. Suddenly, the names and places represented were vastly different from just a few years earlier. They finally got together in 1681 and chose Maximilian II Emmanuel as Holy Roman Emperor. But, the 1680s would prove that there was still much room for confusion, though.

It seems that the deaths of Margaret Theresa and her youngest left Maria Antonia also Queen of Spain, meaning Spain was in personal union with Bavaria, the new name for the collage of it and Austria; though some had taken to simply calling it “Germany,” that was not a .normal term for it. Emmanuel Philibert was out of a job again. And, if he didn’t find a wife soon, the male line of Savoyards would also die out.

Charlotte wasn’t available by the time he had to choose, and would have been too young, anyway. She’d married the oldest son of King John II Sobieski of Poland, strengthening ties there. After all, while she was in line for the Spanish throne, there were still good claimants ahead of her, and besides, she was from the extinct House of Bourbon, so it wasn’t like she had a lot of clout. And yet, she did still have some ties to France, enough that – even though the Polish monarchy was elective – she could guarantee good relations with France and the continuing of the Sobieski dynasty with the very popular general’s son, James. Although, the comical idea that Poland-Lithuania and Spain could one day be in personal union was not lost on some. Poland provided an excellent counterweight in the east against Wittelsbach expansion.

The Portuguese were somewhat miffed that the French had “stolen” their match, Mary of Modena, though the Crown Prince of Portugal was privately grateful his wife would not be so old. He was a little more upset that Charlotte had not been allowed to marry him, though Elisabeth, his mother, tried to smooth his ruffled feathers by pointing out that if Charlotte became Queen fo Spain, that would put them in personal union, and nobody in Europe wanted that. Indeed, recalling how they had treated the Portuguese, she noted that the Spanish would probably rebel out of fear of reprisal. Yes, at that point the queen was still alive, as was her daughter, and there was still Maria Antonia from her first marriage and Marie, but given how many were dying, Europeans were very cautious.

Elisabeth convinced the French to help her find a suitable mate for her son to help mollify him. The elector Palatinate’s daughter, Maria Sophia Elisabeth of Neuberg, was chosen. Her generosity and piety quickly won her new father-in-law over, and then the Crown Prince. Though she died in 1699, she produced several sons for the Braganzas. And, wile the Courtenays were a bit apprehensive about his having a Wittelsbach bride, they had to admit there wenr’et that many other options; the other French princesses were too old (Louis XV’s daughters) or too young (the first daughter of Roger and Marie, though only 8 years younger than the prince.)

Another royal family was in trouble, too, this one the English Stuarts. Henry Stuart, who had been so proactive in sighting the Ottomans and working with Ferdinand maria that it seemed the English – as well as the Bavarians, would try to control the situation in Europe and keep things running smoothly for years, died of the plague in Vienna in late 1679. And, given that Charles II seemed almost sure not to have children, which meant that Henry’s offspring would become the future English monarchs.

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(1) An agreement to marry her to the Dauphin OTL was made in 1668, when she’d be around 8. She suffered health problems OTl that took her life at age 30, but apparently they weren’t found right away, or at least not noticed as much. Having to wait a few years would cause it to be noticed, but the wait is quite normal because she didn’t actually marry till she was 20, so in her mid-teens some families could start to get squeamish..
 
This is starting to get ridicules, everyone is dying left and right, when will it end! :confused:
I think TTL is great and look forward to seeing how it all turns out.:D
 
This is starting to get ridicules, everyone is dying left and right, when will it end! :confused:
I think TTL is great and look forward to seeing how it all turns out.:D

thanks. Portugal has gotten someone who will produce plenty of heirs, and the courtenays actually help becuse they introduce fresh blood into things. So it'll calm down soon, but not till one last bit of weirdness.
 
I'll be done after the next section witha look at the world of 1720-30ish. However, I never did figure out what other places were doing such as with coloines. So, I'll make some notes about different places, and then i invite anyone to continue the timeline, keeping track of what colonies changed hands as well.

The funny thing is, in this "perfect storm" of people dying, almost all dying at their regular times except for a few, I probably didn't go as far as I could have. My goal was just the Bourbons and Hapsurgs dying out at the same time. The link I read that had a whole lot of wars of succession at the same time starting witht he Spanish one did even more.

Anywayhere is the next to last part; and, I felt like just getting it done. I don't know who King of Hungary will be but you'll likely have ideas if anyone continues it. Still could be Apafi.
 
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Part 15 – Plagues And Earthquakes And The Mess They Make

The saying, “Careful what you wish for, you might just get it” didn’t originate in England of the 1680s, but it should have.

First, in the 1670s, many pined for Henry Stuart, as it became more obvious each year that Charles wouldn’t father any children with his wife, Catherine of Braganza. The English were not only close to Portugal but also France, where they saw in the Courtenays a nation they could try to place under their sphere of influence, at least till Louis XVI got used to reigning. When Louis XVI and Queen Mary visited on a goodwill trip, during which they signed a treaty wherein Charles reaffirmed his lack of interest in the French throne (though he still refused to give up Calais), Mary wowed British residents, especially the Catholics.

These things unnerved Parliament, especially when more rumors popped up about Charles being a closet Catholic. Henry, they felt, would never be that way, and some longed for him; however, others began to get behind James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, a popular general and the oldest of Charles II’s illegitimate children. Many yearned for Henry, but others wanted Monmouth because they feared Henry’s close relations with the former King of France, who while not a Catholic had been agnostic. At least Henry’s wife was a good Danish princess and Lutheran, too, but Henry was more absolutist, and if he was influenced by an agnostic, the English weren’t sure what to think.

As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Henry’s death in Vienna of the pague really made this messy.

Henry had one son survive infancy. His wife had moved to England with Henry in 1669, and this son was born in 1672, after his conquest of Calais. Smallpox had taken a couple of their childrens’ lives. If Charles lived into the 1690s the son wouldn’t need a regent; this worried some because they feared he would lean toward the absolutists, too, and Charles was becoming more like that, having dissolved Parliament after anti-Catholic laws were passed.

Monmouth saw a chance, with the support of Parliament, to place himself on the throne. When the boy became ill with smallpox, Monmouth accepted the desire of a number of supporters, and felt it was time to try a takeover in the confusion. This eventually grew into a plot to assassinate Charles II after the boy, Frederick, recovered. This plot was unsuccessful, and quite a few, including Monmouth, wound up being executed for it.(1)

Thomas Wharton, mindful that the Tories would likely try to influence Henry and any issue he had, had been one of the first to greet Frederica Amalia in 1669. Other Whigs followed, taking advantage of Henry’s time away on campaign to at least build relationships, even though Tories had done the same. The loyalty of Wharton and others and their lack of involvement and quick denunciation of the plotters with Monmouth led to their being termed the Steadfast Whigs.

Henry’s death had meant that Frederica Amalia would only be Queen Mother, if that. As it turned out, Charles II died in 1685, and suddenly she was Regent for the young king, though she would only need to serve for a few years. Well, it was only supposed to last a few years, but Frederick I died in 1694 in an outbreak of smallpox, having reigned only 9 years.(2) And, with Frederick I’s wife also dying, there was no question that Frederica Amalia would again be Regent, this time for a child who was only two, having been sent away at the very first sign of smallpox in the city. England’s new monarch would end up as one of the longest reigning monarchs in history, but for now, Wharton and other Whigs began to gain power, and Parliament slowly gained control that it might not have had Frederick lived.(3) Now, there was at least a sister of Frederick’s who could help as Regent, and the English monarch would not attain majority for over ten years.

This Regency period saw Parliament take control more and more inside England, and Whigs even get support from the Regent. It saw even more craziness outside of it.

In 1696, “Kerflewie, Junior” hit Italy.

Charles VI of Naples had died in 1690. While his brother, Henry of Naples, was still around, and had a son, the descendants of Charles II of Naples were running very low, meaning they would start turning to descendants of Charles II’s his younger brother Henri, the other son of Charles I of Elbeuf. In addition, a few other crowned heads faced problems.

Cosimo of Tuscany looked likely to have no heirs. He was childless, his wife unable to produce heirs that survived, and now he had syphilis.(4) The Gonzagas appeared likely to die out, too, with part of their claims already having been taken by the Savoyards int eh War of Mantuan Succession. However, the Savoyards were also in imminent dnger of dying out without a male heir. Through her distant relative Isabella Clara, mother of the present Duke of Mantua, an agreement had been reached for Parma to take the other half, but what would happen otherwise? There were concerns about the Wittelsbachs having too much power.

Speaking of the Wittelsbachs, here is what was going on in Spain. Maria Antonia had been crowned Queen of Spain. She’d tried to have children with the holy Roman Emperor before, but upon reaching her majority in 1687, she decided she’d rather spend her days in Madrid. It turned out that she really disliked her husband, Emperor Maximilian Emmanuel. The running joke was that he would take time out to visit Madrid, or she to visit Munich, once a year to “try for a while to produce an heir.” She’d had two stillbirths already by that point.

Queen Maria Antonia was happy to reign in Spain, and even happier when she got pregnant in 1692 and this time gave birth. However, she died two months later.

So, Spain had a two-month-old king. Maximilan Emmanuel didn’t mind this too much, he could have a lot of influence over him. The boy could eventually inherit close to everything if his father and new wife didn’t have more children, though they would. Spanish Netherlands was now Portuguese, which the others were thankful for, but Spain still held Sardian and Sicily, and they wanted to avoid the Wittlesbachs using this to take even more of Italy upon the deaths of these rulers; even if it meant bringing the Hapsburgs back.

Late in 1695, a meeting had been called, to take place in Sicily, to discuss the situation. Emmanuel Philibert of Piedmont had married Marie Eleonore, oldest sister of the Neapolitan ruler, once his wife died and he no longer helped to rule Spain. He’d been rebuffed in his attempts to get onto the Regency committee in Spain, which was crowded with Witttelsbachs. He felt Ferdinand Maria would have invited him, but the new Emperor wasn’t as willing to work with others in this position of strength. Emmanuel Philibert had also been concerned about having an heir given his age; his new wife was originally planning to be in a nunnery. had planned to enter a nunnery. In her early 20s, she would provide a good connection to Naples at a time when the Savoyard was in a Catch-22 situation; he was the last of his line unless something drastic happened, so he wasn’t in a powerful enough position to get anyone richer.

So, to at least work things for Piedmont’s benefit if this daughter was all he could have that survived childhood, he’d arranged to go to Sicily with some of his supporters and meet with the Guise and representatives of other locations.

A massive earthquake ruined their plans and gave Emmanuel Philibert a heart attack; he died several days later.(5) Among his last words were a joke, “At least the House of Savoy has gone out, not with a whimper, but with a bang.” Now, the question was who inherited Piedmont?

The answer proved to be interesting. The French, too, had become concerned about the Wittelsbachs, now with Louis XVI having over two decades of rule under his belt. Roge and Marie’s eldest daughter, who had been considered as a possible match for the Portuguese Crown Prince, had instead been married to the eldest son of Eleanor Hapsburg and her husgband, the general Alessandro Farnese. They had produced three healthy offspring before he died in the late 1680s, ironically giving her another chance to marry like mariana had. Mariana of Spain died in 1696 as well, but her son, Charles, survived. An agreement was reach that let Charles, of the Hapsburg-Guise, take Piedmont in exchange for Eleanor’s son to take Milan if something happened, and thus letting her offspring take an area with a contiguous border if need be. As 1696 wore on, with Eleanor also dead (unlike Mariana she didn’t produce any more children), more agreements were reached to allow for swaps if need be to give Parma a large contiguous border and – hopefully – security.

The French didn’t mind this; theyw ere glad to work with Hapsburgs to slow the Wittlesbachs. Then, something upset the apple cart early in 1699.

Spain’s boy king died of convulsions.(6)

Thankfully, Louis XVI had heirs. His first wife had given birth two healthy sons – though Louis, the Dauhpon, had since died, leaving Charles Roger as next in line to the throne - and his second, Mary of Modena, to a son and two daughters who survived childhood. “After over a half century of just about everything you could imagine, the French King was at peace, with all the old dead wood gone,” as one Court member put it.

This was fortunate, because Marie was now Queen of Spain. The Wittlesbachs opposed this, and tried to claim Spain for themselves through Savoy; his great-grandmother had been Catherine Michelle of Spain; in fact, they believed they had a rightful claim to Savoy, or at least Piedmont. They also argued – in an attempt to stir things up in Spain – that Marie was a closet Protestant, having converted only to please Roger. She had converted officially, but had grown up with tutors on both sides, and was only Protestant for sure because her father, Louis XIV, had been so opposed to Catholics.

The only thing was, Europe was too tired still from all the massive wars of succession. Louis XVI had enough heirs that he was perfectly willing to sign a treaty wherein marie’s 9and roger’s) descendants wouldn’t inherit the throne of France. While Maximilian Emmanuel tried some, he realized he didn’t have a very good claim. The best he figured he could do ws force a compromise wherein the newly elected King James of Poland’s issue with Charlotte – who had died in 1693 of appendicitis – would be able to claim the throne of Spain.

And so, a new War of Succession began to close out the year. And yet, given how tired everyone was of the “destroy everything in your path as you live off the land” style of warfare after the lessons of the Thirty Years’ War and the many Wars of Succession, many hoped that something large could be avoided, and that someone would decide to stop it. It lasted several years, but nt nearly as long as it could have.

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(1) OTL he was implicated in the Rye House Plot of 1683 which tried to kill the king, and also tried to take over as King instead of Charles’ brother, James, a couple years later. Here, the two become combined since he would feel that he had an easier claim to the throne, being a popular general and also an adult son of Charles’ rather than a minor nephew.

(2) Smallpox claimed Mary II in OTL’s 1694, and such an outbreak is likely to have occurred here, too. While King Frederick I might be somewhat healthier than his father, he likely had something of the same problems which caused his father to die at age 20, also. In fact, it’s entirely possible that he is shielded so much from it when young because of fears over it.

(3) It won’t be quite the same as the amount of power it gained with George I the king OTL, but it will be an increase.

(4) His son got it in OTL; it’s quite plausible depression and a lax attitude toward such a lifestyle was passed on from the father, so it makes sense he would have contracted it sometime in the last year or two.

(5) The quake is historical and was pretty big.

(6) Some rumors say he was poisoned OTL but there is no evidence. Given the number sired by james II and Mary of Modena who died of these, as well as others, and given the Hapsburg inbreeding, it’s quite likely that this was a natural cause, or if wasn’t, here it can be.
 
Conclusion

Conclusion – The World of 1730

Everyone figured they caught a break when the epidemic of 1711-2 in Paris didn’t kill off all the Courtenays. In fact, just one princess (from Louis XVI’s marriage with mary of Modena) and the son of the heir apparent Charles Roger; although the future Charles X was very sick and his wife was unable to have any more children.

The nuttiness which had begun with Lois XIII’s wife dying in 1631 had spread throughout Europe in those 81 years, come back, and then ended. There were still minor problems but the royal houses of Europe would n’t see the massive smallpox outbreaks they had. Of course, there would be problems, but not nearly to the extent there had been.

Europe was a set of blocs. France, Spain,a nd the Hapsburg-Fernese… well, let’s just say Northern Italy, we’ll get into that in a moment - were on one side, with the Wittelsbachs and Naples on the other side. Portugal was generally a French ally, but tended to be the peacemaker along with Britain – England and Scotland had joined in a formal union – in Europe. Poland was generally on the French side, with them, Sweden, and Russia ina three-way tussle which sometimes saw the sides shifting like crazy. This impacted what Denmark did, as they were generally against Sweden, though against Russia they might support them, and Britain, which had a close relationship with Denmark.

France was ruled by Louis XVI till 1723, when his second son, Charles X, succeeded him as French king. He only served till 1730, though, his life possibly shortened by the 1711-2 epidemic, when his second son, Francis III, took over as king. He had a son already, and the son Louis XVI had had with mary of Modea had a couple sons, and was still alive himself, so there were no worries about the Courtenays dying out. However, just in case, in 1711-2 Parliament, the nobles, and the king had discussed amending Salic Law to allow heirs through females to take the French throne if necessary. That rule was passed in 1714, but it would occur only after all male lines had died out, and would only impact those born after 1700.

Spain was ruled by the son of marie starting in 1724, when she died at age 63. This son, Charles, was nearly 50 and wouldn’t have a huge reign, but the Spanish Courtenay dynasty had begun,a nd the fresh blood – starting with Louis XV’s daughters, though they were already int heir 20s – had really helped the noble houses of Europe.

In fact, it was this “new blood” that made them tend to be more liberal on some matters, and thus caused them to have Portugal as an ally. The Porguese alliance with Abyssinia had kept the Omanis from claiming any territory in Africa itself, andgive the number of children Pedro II and his children had had, there was, for the first time ever, talk of a very minor prince of Portugal marrying an Abyssinian princess. Of course, they would have to commit to never supporting the hardline Catholics if that was the case. But, they probably would.

Britain also had a great friendship with the Abyssinians, which was one of the reasons why the Portuguese wee willing to. The number of black people in London in the early 1600s was by no means really big, but there were quite a few as time went on, and as the British merchants told of how they’d saved the future Abyssinian Emperor’s life and how they’d built a friendship between merchants. The queen, who had chosen Elizabeth II to reign as, had grown up with the Whigs influencing her enough that there was actually a small move, there and in Portugal, to end slavery, though it would be quite a while in coming. At least they were talking about it now, and recognizing some of these African kingdoms had value.

The Portuguese Netherlands helped to keept he peace, as the French weren’t concerned about beings urrounded by enemnies. However, till his death in 1723, Maximilian Emmanuel had centralized things enough as Duke of Bavaria that he now held that, Austria, and Bohemia all in personal union, and they were recognized as one nation, down to Tyrol in fact. The Italians had stopped complaining about that, because they had their own split.

As part of the War of Spanish Succession, Naples had been able to keep and hold Sicily, now under the descendants of Henry of Lorraine, and older son of Charles I of Elbeuf’s line having died out in 1727. Now, Louis I of Naples found himself trying hard to avoid having to merge his nation with that of Italy.

Italy? Yes, the Hapsburg-Farnese had grown so that the line from Eleanor and Alessandro had recently inerited Parma, while at the same time owning Tuscany, Mantua, and Milan. They weren’t quite powerful enough yet for taking on the Wittelsbachs in Tyrol, and were still waiting on two places to truly consolidate. One was Piedmont, where it was discovered that Mariana of Spain’s son, born in the early 1670s, was sterile. He gladly willed Piedmont – which he’d exchanged for Milan – to the descendants of the Hapsburg-Farnese. The other was Modena, which had very few of its line left.

In Africa, Abyssinia hadn’t declined like some Europeans expected. They’d actually gone up against the Omanis and prevailed with Portuguese help, and now under the grandson of Isur – the one whose life was saved by a Protestant in 1632 – they had developed a somewhat stable system and powerful empire, though they still had quite a bit of warfare around them.

In the East, the Ottomans had lost all of Transylvania in the 1680s, and were still reeling somewhat, but they had stabilized – for now.

This was the world a century after the stillbirth that started the beginning of the end of the Bourbons and the (male anyway) Hapsburgs and rise of the Wittelsbach dynasty. A Wittelsbach is again on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, and it is leaner and healthier without having all the excess the Hapsburg Empire had. And yet, the family had managed, because they weren’t marrying only among themselves, to have a lot of influence through all of Europe.

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And there you have it. Any takers on going further/fleshing out what was in between, feel free. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.
 
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