The sons of Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth De Valois

Born in 1564, twin boys were born to King Philip II of Spain and his wife Elisabeth de Valois. The boys birth was celebrated in the realm and ensured the stability in the succession, especially with the increasing erraticism of Carlos, Prince of Asturias. The boys were christened Ferdinand and Diego respectively.

Once Carlos, Prince of Asturias died, Ferdinand became the new heir to the Spanish throne and as heir, was a most sought after match.

Who the candidates are is up for debate.
 
Could Ferdinand mary his father's origially intended bride, Anne of Austria, there is a big age gap, I admit. Or is it possible they'd look toward say Lorraine?
 
Obvious candidates - AD Margaret of Austria dau of Maximilian II born in 1567, one of the Gonzaga girls - Margherita Gonzaga b1564 or Anna Caterina Gonzaga b1566, Eleonora de' Medici b1567 or one of her younger sisters would all probably be candidates on the Austrian/Hapsburg side if they marry him off fairly earlier.
On the French side then Christina of Lorraine would be an obvious choice being the right age.
 
Obvious candidates - AD Margaret of Austria dau of Maximilian II born in 1567, one of the Gonzaga girls - Margherita Gonzaga b1564 or Anna Caterina Gonzaga b1566, Eleonora de' Medici b1567 or one of her younger sisters would all probably be candidates on the Austrian/Hapsburg side if they marry him off fairly earlier.
On the French side then Christina of Lorraine would be an obvious choice being the right age.

Alright interesting, I think Margherita Gonzaga for Ferdinand and perhaps Eleonora de Medici for Diego
 
Very true. Might tie this in with a surviving House of Aviz as well, prevent that cluster fuck.

Ferdinand and Margherita would marry in I think 1585.
 
Yes a independent Portugal is good. But that wont butterfly away the problems that it had even before the spanish took them.
 
Very true. Whom should Sebastian I mary? And would Portugal and Spain go to war with one another at some point?
 
Margaret of Valois or Louise of Lorraine. Or perhaps Eleonora di Grazi di Toledo. Anyone who is't a Hapburgs.

It would be very stupid of Philip to go to war with Portugal if Sebastian survives. Portugal can just ally with the english, french, dutch and english at that point
 
OTL shows us that the first choice was an Habsburg princess in order to guarantee "the purity of the lineage" or, at best, a French or Portuguese in the case that it was necessary to maintain peace with these countries.
For a second bride was acceptable an Italian princess and her lower rank, but closely related to the Habsburgs.
This scheme crashed at the time of Charles II of Spain/Emperor Leopold I due to the collapse of family nativity and the extinction of cadets branches.

The lives of Philip III's children show us that only the heir married, the cadets no, in order to avoid dynastic disputes or uncomfortable competing in the power.
 
This is true though with Ferdinand and Diego being f the only two male heirs they do need to marry.

So is a gonzaga bride okay for Ferdinand or better for Diego?
 
1599 is a bit late to marry is it not for a first marriage?

And would Diego really have a career in the church considering the precarious state of the house
 
OTL shows us that the first choice was an Habsburg princess in order to guarantee "the purity of the lineage" or, at best, a French or Portuguese in the case that it was necessary to maintain peace with these countries.
For a second bride was acceptable an Italian princess and her lower rank, but closely related to the Habsburgs.
This scheme crashed at the time of Charles II of Spain/Emperor Leopold I due to the collapse of family nativity and the extinction of cadets branches.

The lives of Philip III's children show us that only the heir married, the cadets no, in order to avoid dynastic disputes or uncomfortable competing in the power.

I was under the impression that marriages between the Spanish and Imperial lines were more to guarantee that in the event of the extinction of one line, the other would succeed? Especially with regards to the Kingdom of Spain which was initially obtained by the Habsburgs via the female line of the House Trastamara. The Spanish line had a lot of problems with regards to having legitimate male issue, only Philipp III managed to have 3 sons who lived into adulthood.
 
It is important to distinguish between the females and the males of the Habsburgs.
Every princess given to a bride outside the family was regarded as a "graceful concession" to a prince, however, considered to be of lesser rank.
For the males the scheme has been indicated above.
yours affirmation, Benevolence, is partially correct, but we have to note that twice the firstborn daughters (former heiress) were married to a king of France, even if with the stratagem of the waiver of their rights. For the truth, Philip IV did not want to give as the bride the firstborn daughter to Louis XIV, but he also made this obtorto collo because during the negotiations of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (signed then on 7 Nov 1659) he still had two living male children (Ferdinand Thomas died at the end of October 1659), and then his wife was pregnant again, and at the same time many Germans representatives of the Habsburgs, even of the cadet branches, were still alive, guaranteeing dynastic continuity.
 
1599 is a bit late to marry is it not for a first marriage?

And would Diego really have a career in the church considering the precarious state of the house

Depends on the age of the wife you choose.
Ecclesiastical career does not necessarily mean receiving the (major) orders: many have been lay cardinals, who have left purple in case of necessity.
 
Hmm personally I'm leaning toward either Margaret or Austria daughter of Maximilian II or margarehtia gonzaga as a wife for Ferdinand VI
 
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