Thy Do Succeed Thy Father

The Italian Wars

By 1510, the Italian Wars had fragmented into various conflicts: the Pope and French, who had previously allied against the Venetians, in order to secure lucrative territorial holdings from the republic, were now fighting for control of northern Italy. [1] The Venetians found themselves now on the side of a Pope who had excommunicated them, while the French found themselves working with their traditional rivals, the Holy Roman Empire. [2]

Initially the Papal forces seemed to have the upper hand: they were able to besiege French occupied Genoa, and soon captured both Vicenza and Modena, expanding their reach into Romagna. [3] However this state of affairs would not last: the French advanced unopposed to Bologna, following the Swiss troops decision to switch sides [4] and by October they were besieging the city. The French under Charles II d'Amboise, captured the city and the Pope, who soon found himself imprisoned in French-held Milan. [5] Realising that without its principle instigator, the war was useless, the Venetians promptly offered peace terms to the Franco-Imperial troops advancing into its territory. [6]

This phase of the war would end with the humiliation of the Pope, who was forced to recognise French fealty over the Duchy of Milan, which was transferred from the Sforza family to the King of France, in exchange for his release. [7] The Pope was also made to recognise the independent sovereignty of the Duchy of Ferrara, which he had desired to annex. The Treaty of Mantua, signed by France, the Empire, Venice and the Papal States ended the war dramatically in favour of the French and to the humiliation of the Pope.

[1] Pretty much as IOTL War of the League of Cambrai.
[2] The French and the Empire both viewing Northern Italy as within their respective spheres.
[3] The Papal-Venetian alliance does a bit better ITTL, by being able to advance farther into northern Italy, while also causing the French problems in Genoa.
[4] IOTL Louis XII simply bribed them to go home: here he bribes them to switch sides and fight for the French and as a result they invade Venice, causing the alliance all sorts of problems.
[5] D'Amboise was dissuaded from attacking the Pope's person by the English ambassador to Bologna IOTL; ITTL Bologna falls much quicker and the Pope is captured and imprisoned by the French, bringing his war to an ignominious end.
[6] The Venetians see no need to continue a war when their principle ally has managed to comprehensively fail to offer any real resistance.
[7] I know that the French and the Emperor proposed giving the throne of Milan to one of their cousins, but I'm not sure who, so if someone could inform me I'd really appreciate it.
 
War, Expansion and Consolidation

Despite their joint success in the Italian Wars, tensions between the French and the Empire never remained buried under the surface. The two nations were divided over who should take the throne of the newly conquered Duchy of Milan, with Louis eventually triumphing in having it ceded to his cousin, Charles, Count of Anglouême [1], much to the anger of Maximilian.

The two nations soon found themselves at war, with Pope Julius II declaring a new Holy League, consisting of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and England [2] who immediately invaded Northern France. [3] The Papal forces consisting of Swiss troops under the command of the recently ousted Massimiliano Sforza, who returned to reconquer the Duchy [4]. The appointment of Gaston de Foix as French Commander in Italy, resulted in the French utterly crushing local resistance in the north of the peninsula. The crushing defeat inflicted upon the Papal forces at Ravenna, ensured Foix's elevation to Louis' most trusted commander. [5]

France forced the league onto the defensive: an attempted Swiss invasion of Milan failed catastrophically, with the Papal forces comprehensively crushed by Foix at the Battle of Novara. The league met at Mantua in the summer of that year to discuss how to counterract the French threat. The League agreed to invite the Anglo-Spanish alliance into the conflict in exchange for territorial gains in Northern and Southwest France, while also outlining the plan for Italy. The result was the Holy League of Mantua, which established Massimiliano Sforza as Duke of Milan, an independent Duchy of Ferrara and the overthrow of the anti-Papal leadership of the Florentine Republic. [6]

However the attitude of the Holy Roman Empire to Venice, was deeply problematic: Maximilian simply viewed the majority of Veneto as his territory and was loath to return it; despite the protestations of the Pope the Venetians were excluded, and soon allied themselves with the French. [7]

The Franco-Venetian alliance was soon on the attack: Venetian troops invaded Lombardy from the east, while the French swiftly captured Milan: Foix's period of success however was about to end in humiliation, as Swiss and Milanese troops loyal to Duke Maximilian I of Milan, routed the French forced them to retreat, eventually capturing the city of Dijon.

The Anglo-Spanish alliance also advanced: Spain quickly conquered Navarre and advanced into Guyenne, while English forces under the joint command of Arthur, the Duke of York and the Earl of Essex routed the French and quickly captured Thérouanne and Tournai in Flanders, while the 10,000 strong English force in Guyenne supported the Spanish assualt. Arthur was also helped by the non-aggression pact between him and James IV of Scotland, with the Scots refusing numerous requests to invade England on behalf of the French. [8] The disaster that was hitting the French soon hit the Venetians as well: Spanish troops quickly routed the main Venetian army at Padua, before bombarding and then capturing Venice in late 1513, whch forced the Venetians to sue for peace [9]. The only bright spark in this dark period for the French was Queen Mary's birth of a healthy son, Charles [10], who was promptly proclaimed Dauphin, as well as the death of Julius II who was succeeded by Raffaele Riario as Pope Julius III. [11]

Louis along with Foix, laucnehd a new offensive, driving the Swiss out of Dijon, and advancing rapidly into Milan, where they were eventually halted by a Swiss-Milanese force a few miles west of the city. Following the stalemate, and the realisation that both sides were spent, France and the League sued for peace, though on seperate terms. England, who had managed to capture the cities of Boulogne and Lille gained both along with the Walloon city of Tournai, and the northeastern strip of land connecting all to the English port of Calais. [12] The Spanish gained Navarre, but ceded all claims to Guyenne, Venice lost half of its Veneto territory to the Germans, and the French agreed to allow the Papacy's conquest of Urbino, and recognised Maximilian I Sforza as the legitimate ruler of Milan, as well as paying the Swiss 700,000 ducats as compensation. [13] The war appeared to have ended French ambition within Italy for most observers. Italy however as going to be sore that would keep erupting for the forseeable future...

[1] Father of Francis I IOTL, his reign as Milanese overlord is short and bloody. And yes he lives about twenty years longer ITTL.
[2] England basically does a much more successful version of Henry's policy during this war, and actually gains some territory.
[3] As IOTL
[4] The Sforza's do quite a bit better here, thanks to mostly to powerful benefactors and blind luck.
[5] Foix survives to become the leading French military figure for the first half of the century, though he does suffer some knocks to his reputation during this war.
[6] Replaced by the House of Medici, same as OTL.
[7] Venice have fought on both sides so many times, largely due to being seen as an inconvenient roadblock to full dominance of Northern Italy.
[8] Scotland and England under the strong personal relationship between Arthur I and James IV are very close economically: simply put war with England is not in Scotland's interests.
[9] Venice does very badly out of its French alliance in the latter half of the war, and the Republic spends the bulk of the remainder of the decade repairing the city.
[10] Mary Tudor is married by proxy to Louis in 1507 as a ploy to keep England out of continental affairs. She gives birth to four healthy children during her time as French queen. Though her marriage makes Louis XII, Arthur's brother-in-law, the two nations are not friendly in the least.
[11] No Medici Pope! Italy's going to have an interesting time in the next few decades.
[12] England's rapid conquest of the northeast of France places it in a very strong bargaining position, and following the Treaty of Bruges in 1515, it annexes all of its occupied territory in exchange for a large undisclosed payment (believed to be close to a million ducats, an absolutely astounding figure.)
[13] Milan remains under native, if unpopular Sforza rule, while the Swiss, have pretty much guaranteed virtual independence from the French or the Empire.
 
Familial Developments: Regency and Succession Crises

Queen Catherine gave birth to two more children, during the course of the Italian Wars, with the Queen giving birth to a son, Edward, Earl of Richmond in December 1514, and another daughter Margaret who was born in January 1516. The same month of Margaret's birth, James IV and Arthur agreed to the marriage of James, Duke of Rothesay, the nine year old heir to James IV to Elizabeth Tudor, Arthur's eldest daughter. [1]

In France, Arthur's sister the Queen of France gave birth to three more children, twins Marie and Anne (both 1516) and Prince Henry, Duke of Orléans (1517), securing Louis's succession. [2] However, Louis XII sudden death that same year, placed France in a difficult position, with Queen Mary as regent for Charles IX, who was only two years old. [3]

In Spain, the death of Ferdinand II in 1516, and the succession of his son John, Prince of Girona (born to his second wife Germaine of Foix) split the Crown of Aragon from that of Castille, with John III of Aragon also ruling Sicily, Naples and Sardinia, within the Italian peninsula. [4] The death of his daughter Joanna of Castille, saw the throne pass to his eldest grandson Charles I of Castille and Leon, who arrived in the country in 1516. [5] The Habsburg's spread would soon continue into the Holy Roman Empire, with a supposed elective monarchy becoming strangely hereditary...

[1] England and Scotland have at this point a very strong relationship, and are starting to be seen by some continental observers as natural allies.
[2] The Orléans branch of the House of Valois survives for the time being, though France keeps lurching from crisis to crisis.
[3] A position she would find difficult to maintain, given the various courtly machinations to influence her son against her.
[4] The brief semi-unity of Castille and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella, sadly doesn't last with John's succession ending their union. The Aragonese influence on the peninsula would prove to be long lasted.
[5] Yep its OTL Charles V: he's a powerful man though nowhere near as powerful as he was IOTL.
 
Ya. What he said.

<pet peeve 51>Seriously, people, if you don't know Elizabethan English/Latin/whatever, please, PLEASE don't attempt to fake it badly. It just makes one look ignorant (true) and stupid (presumably not true). </pet peeve>

That's a bit of shit thing to say don't you think? Instead of hitting down on someone why not actually tell them where they could improve, and perhaps say what the correct title would be instead of simply castigating them for getting it wrong?
 
What do people think of the timeline so far? I'm thinking of what to with the Holy Roman Succession after Maximilian's death, but I haven't any concrete ideas so far.
 
Changes in Domestic Power

Following the successful territorial gains in the war with France, Arthur appointed many of his long-serving allies and friends to positions of power. With many of his father's advisors removed from the council, in 1517, Arthur appointed his first fully independent council (since no member had served Henry VII.) These included:

William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln-Lord Chancellor
Gruffyd ap Rhys, Earl of Pembroke-Lord High Treasurer
Henry, Duke of York-Lord Privy Seal
Robert Radcliffe-Lord Great Chamberlain
Anthony Willoughby-Lord High Constable
Edmund, Duke of Somerset-Earl Marshal
Edward Howard-Lord High Admiral

In addition, Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1517, following the death of his father Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare.
 
Central European Chessboard

The Holy Roman Empire, had emerged from the Italian Wars, in a position of power: the French had been humiliated by his English allies, while the Empire had gained significant tracts of land in Italy, reducing Venetian power in the process.

Central Europe was next: Maximilian had encouraged positive relations with Vladislaus II of Bohemia, and had forced Hungarian King John I [1] to cede all Hungarian claims to Austria.. At the Treaty of Pozsony, John I agreed that his heir Christopher, would marry Maximilian's granddaughter Mary and John's daughter Anna would marry Maximilian's grandson Archduke Ferdinand, while Vladislaus' son Louis would marry another of Maximilian's grandchildren, Isabella. Maximilian now had a stronger position in Central Europe, with both Hungary and Bohemia allied to him through marriage.

[1] John Corvinus, illegitimate son of Matthias I of Hungary, managed to outflank noble moves to remove his claim, and following a brief but bloody civil war (1490-92) cemented his claim to the throne. Following his marriage to a Croatian noblewoman and the births of his two children Corvinus was safe in his position as Hungarian king, and continued many of the policies of his father.
 
Back in the HRE: Maximilian's Succession

Following the successes in Italy, Maximilian turned his attention to his succession, and with no real outside candidate, due to French instability and no real Habsburg opposition, Maximilian settled on his grandson Ferdinand as his successor, as the only other contender Charles I of Castille, was considered too much of an outsider by the electors.

Maximilian's death in 1518, at the age of 58, led to the election of he fourteen year old Ferdinand as King of the Romans, with a Regency Council led by his aunt Margaret of Savoy, who had been Governor of the Netherlands for his brother Charles, who held the title as well as the Castillan crown. Ferdinand would be in for an interesting time as Emperor...
 
House of Tudor's Monetary Concerns

While Arthur's foreign policy had reaped territorial rewards, it had also led his treasury to the brink, with the king levying large taxes as a result. This would prove problematic for Arthur, especially given his opposition to his father's punitive taxation. While there was little chance of open rebellion, the taxes raised caused large resentment amongst the nobility, particularly towards the Earl of Pembroke who served as the Lord High Treasurer. This resentment would lead to the formation of a small group of nobles, determined to end the "upstart Welshman's" sway over the king...
 
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