Triumph of La Beltraneja

Chapter 1
Triumph of La Beltraneja
Chapter 1

The question of Isabella's marriage was not a new one. Indeed, she had made her debut in the matrimonial market at the tender age of six, with a betrothal to Ferdinand, the younger son of John II of Aragon (whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara). At that time, the two kings, Henry and John, were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this double alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world. This arrangement, however, did not last long.

Ferdinand's uncle Alfonso V of Aragon died in 1458. All of Alfonso's Spanish territories, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, were left to his brother John II. John now had a stronger position than ever before and no longer needed the security of Henry's friendship. Henry was now in need of a new alliance. He saw the chance for this much needed new friendship in Charles of Viana, John's elder son. Charles was constantly at odds with his father, and because of this, he secretly entered into an alliance with Henry IV of Castile. A major part of the alliance was that a marriage was to be arranged between Charles and Isabella. When John II learned of this arranged marriage he was outraged. Isabella had been intended for his favourite younger son, Ferdinand, and in his eyes this alliance was still valid. John II had his son Charles thrown in prison on charges of plotting against his father's life; Charles died in 1461.

In 1465, an attempt was made to marry Isabella to Alfonso V of Portugal, Henry's brother-in-law. Through the medium of the Queen and Count of Ledesma, a Portuguese alliance was made. Isabella, however, was wary of the marriage and refused to consent.

A civil war broke out in Castile over King Henry's inability to act as sovereign. Henry now needed a quick way to please the rebels of the kingdom. As part of an agreement to restore peace, Isabella was to be betrothed to Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco, Master of the Order of Calatrava and brother to the King's favourite, Juan Pacheco. In return, Don Pedro would pay into the impoverished royal treasury an enormous sum of money. Seeing no alternative, Henry agreed to the marriage. Isabella was aghast and prayed to God that the marriage would not come to pass. Her prayers were answered when Don Pedro suddenly fell ill and died while on his way to meet his fiancée.

When Henry recognised Isabella as his heir-presumptive on 19 September 1468, he also promised that his sister should not be compelled to marry against her will, while she in return agreed to obtain his consent. It seemed that finally the years of failed attempts at political marriages were over. There was talk of a marriage to or to one of his brothers, probably , but this alliance was never seriously considered. Once again in 1468, a marriage proposal arrived from Alfonso V of Portugal. Going against his promises made in September, Henry tried to make the marriage a reality. If Isabella married Alfonso, Henry's daughter Joanna would marry Alfonso's son and thus, after the death of the old king, John and Joanna could inherit Portugal and Castile. Isabella refused and made a secret promise to marry her cousin and very first betrothed, Ferdinand of Aragon.

After this failed attempt, Henry once again went against his promises and tried to marry Isabella to Louis XI's brother Charles, Duke of Berry. In Henry's eyes, this alliance would cement the friendship of Castile and France as well as remove Isabella from Castilian affairs. Isabella once again refused the proposal. Meanwhile, John II of Aragon negotiated in secret with Isabella a wedding to his son Ferdinand.

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Mary of Burgundy, Queen of Aragon

On 18 October 1469, Isabella would found out that Ferdinand of Aragon is already married to Mary of Burgundy, this marriage was quickly arranged due to the birth of Philip of Burgundy on December 2, 1468, Isabella would lament this fate until an offer of marriage by John II duke of Lorraine who is the rival of the King of Aragon and claimant to the Kingdom of Aragon would appear on March 1470 for one of his sons, Isabella would quickly accept the marriage proposal and went to Catalonia to marry his son and heir, on the same time, Anne of Beaujeu, the eldest daughter of the Spider King is betrothed to Maximilian of Austria due to the broken betrothal between Nicholas and Anne.

The marriage between Mary of Burgundy and Ferdinand of Aragon is a ploy of the Spider king who celebrated the birth of his dauphin Charles on December 4, 1469, and for this reason Isabella would hate the Spider King as long as she lives.


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Isabella, Duchess of Anjou and Lorraine

On January 10, 1471, the 18 year old Isabella of Castile and Nicholas of Lorraine were married just after Nicholas' father John died on December 1470.

Henry IV of Castile would approve of the marriage between Isabella and would arrange the betrothal of his daughter Joanna and Prince John of Portugal.

Isabella, duchess of Anjou would give birth to a son on November 4, 1471 named Louis.




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Joanna, Princess of Asturias
 
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Chapter 2
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A Painting of Joanna I on her reign[1]

Chapter 2

Joanna was held in custody by the Mendoza family in 1465–1470, and by Juan Pacheco in 1470–1475. There were many negotiations for a marriage to someone who could defend her succession. On 26 October 1470, she was engaged and then married by proxy to John, Prince of Portugal, son of Afonso V of Portugal the cousin of the Portuguese King, and again proclaimed as legitimate heir to the throne.

When Henry died in 1474, she was recognized as Queen by some noble factions, while others recognized her half-aunt Isabella as Queen. This began the four-year War of the Castilian Succession.

In addition to the King of Portugal, Joanna was supported by some of the high Castilian nobility and by descendants of Portuguese families that settled in Castile after 1396: the Archbishop of Toledo (Alfonso Carrillo de Acuña); the powerful Marquis of Villena Diego López Pacheco; the Estúñiga family, with lands bordering Portugal; Rodrigo Ponce de León, Marquis of Cádiz; and the Grandmaster of the Order of Calatrava, Rodrigo Téllez Girón.

On the other hand, Isabella was supported by the most of the Castilian nobility and clergy: the powerful House of Mendoza; the Manrique de Lara family; Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia; Beltrán de la Cueva; the Order of Santiago; and the Order of Calatrava, except its Grandmaster.

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Joanna I of Castile in the Series the Avis, portrayed by Carmen Sanchez

n May 5 1475 Afonso V of Portugal invaded Castile and married Joanna to his son, Prince John in Plasencia, 15 days later. Joanna and Afonso held court at Toro, and she was considered a promising ruler by her courtiers, though too young. Joanna sent a letter to the cities of Castile, expounding the wish of her father that she should rule, and proposed that the cities vote for which succession they wished should be recognized. However, Joanna found many supporters than expected. Isabella would lose her support due to her being married to a foreign noble and also due to the fact that the French King supported Joanna, majority of Isabella's supporters would defect to Joanna.

Both armies met at Toro (March 3 1476). Afonso V and his son Prince John defeated the Castilian right wing, recovered the lost Portuguese Royal standard, and held the field, but overall the battle was decided and the Juanistas won the battle against the Isabellistas.

On April 3 1476, John and Joanna are crowned as Queen and King of Castile ending the opposition to Joanna's reign.

1. In OTL it is her niece who does not exist in this TL.
 
Cool Timeline will this lead to a Independent Aragon as the secondary power to Portugal-Castille in Ittl Iberia?
 
Children as of 1486


Children of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine and Anjou and Nicholas I of Lorraine and Anjou

Louis, Prince of Calabria b. November 4. 1471
Isabelle b. October 10, 1475
Jeanne b. November 10, 1479
Jean b. June 30 1481
Catherine b. December 4, 1485

Children of John II of Portugal and Joanna I of Castile
Infante Afonso VI b. May 20, 1478
Infanta Beatriz b. March 2, 1482
Infante Jorge b. August 21, 1485


Children of Mary of Burgundy and Ferdinand II of Aragon
Infante Juan b. July 22, 1476
Infanta Margarita b. January 4, 1479
Infante Francisco b. June 5, 1480
Infanta Maria b. November 4, 1485

Children of Maximilian of Austria and Anne of France

Eleanor of Austria b. 1478

Frederick of Austria b. 1481

Rudolf of Austria b. 1486

Anna of Austria b. 1491
 
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Charles VIII
Chapter 3

Charles was born at the Château d'Amboise in France, the only surviving son of King Louis XI by his second wife Charlotte of Savoy. His godparents were Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (the godchild's namesake), Joan of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon and Edward of Westminster, the son of Henry VI of England who had been living in France since the deposition of his father by Edward IV. Charles succeeded to the throne on 30 August 1483 at the age of 13. His health was poor. He was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but also as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state. In accordance with the wishes of Louis XI, the regency of the kingdom was granted to Charles' elder sister Anne, a formidably intelligent and shrewd woman described by her father as "the least foolish woman in France." She would rule as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, until 1491.

Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 4-year-old Infanta Margarita of Aragon. The marriage was arranged by Louis XI, Ferdinand II of Aragon. Margaret brought the Counties of Artois and Burgundy to France as her dowry, and she was raised in the French court as a prospective Queen consort, Roussillon and Cerdagne served as her dowry, however, after the attractive choice of marriage arrived with Anne of Brittany on 1488 after Francis II of Brittany died, Charles would abandon the betrothal of Infanta Margarita and chose to marry Anne of Brittany.

Meanwhile Joanna I of Castile would continue to the legacy and what her father Henry IV started and was able to give birth to three children of her own namely Afonso b. 1478, Beatriz b. 1482 and Jorge b. 1485.

Her husband John II would die on 1490 causing Joanna of Castile to remarry to the duke of Beja Manuel Immediately causing Joanna to give birth to two further children Joao b.1491 and Leonor b. 1500.


Joanna I of Castile m. John II of Portugal(a) Manuel, Duke of Beja(b)

1a. Afonso b. 1478

2a. Beatriz b. 1482

3a.Jorge b. 1485

4b. Joao b. 1491

5b. Leonor b. 1500
 
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The continued survival of the Houses of Burgundy and Anjou will also affect Europe in rather interesting ways. I've always been partial to TLs about independent Provence and Greater Netherlands.:)
Subbed.
 
Chapter 4
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Chapter 4

With the death of Kertabhumi, Ranawijaya was now indisputed ruler of Majapahit. He styled himself Girindrawardhana and Brawijaya VI, the latter to show continuity with his predecessors back to Kritavijaya in 1447. In the Trailokyapuri Jiwu and Petak inscriptions, Girindrawardhana claims that he reunited Majapahit as one kingdom. In the Jiyu inscription, he is referred to as Sri Wilwatikta Jenggala Kediri, which means ruler of Majapahit, and in 1486. However, his power was substantially smaller than his predecessors. Raden Patah named himself the Sultan of and ceased paying homage to the Brawijaya. From that time, the Demak Sultanate rose to become the dominant force in Java.

Demak continued to fight Girindrawardhana. As they claimed descent from Kertabumi, Raden Patah and his successor fought Girindrawardhana in retribution for his death. This conflict undermined the thriving economy, Demak and Girindrawardhana/Brawijaya VI would make a temporary peace in 1480's which would cause the ruler of Demak, Raden Patah to succeed in Majapahit in 1500, after the death of Brawijaya VI causing the followers of Brawijaya VI to leave to Bali.

The Pinatubo mountain in Saludong, a part of Majapahit Empire would collapse and a few earth quakes would shock the island of Saludong, the Pinatubo Mountain would spew ash although the ash would also fade in few days.

The cone of Pinatubo would collapse and form a lake in its Caldera, the Kingdoms of Sapa(Kingdom of Tondo) and Kaboloan would recover from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo and the merchants that trade in city states in Saludong such as Faru, Makabebe Kalumpit and Tundun would remain and the rivers would recover fast in a few months restoring the flow of trade to Majapahit from the North in a manner of a decade, Bruneian, Sumatran and Javanese merchants, immigrants from as well as muslim missionaries from there would later immigrate to the mouth of Bannag and Pampanga rivers as the result of the fertility caused by the ash of Pinatubo eruption in the areas of the Trading cities of Faru and Makabebe.

A few years later the armies of Girindwardhana would defeat the Nakhoda Ragam of Brunei forcing Nakhoda Ragam out of the Bay of Saludong and his possible trade ambitions with China would end.
 
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Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

As with several of his other children, Edward IV planned a prestigious European marriage for his eldest son, and in 1480 concluded an alliance with the Duke of Brittany , whereby Prince Edward was betrothed to the duke's four-year-old heiress, . The two were to be married upon their majority, and the devolution of Brittany would have been given to the second child to be born, the first becoming Prince of Wales, however this betrothal would be dropped due to Anne of Brittany being forced to marry the Dauphin of France, he would replace his betrothal to Anne of Brittany to his marriage with the young Isabelle of Anjou, the daughter of Isabella of Castile, duchess of Anjou and Lorraine and Nicholas I of Anjou and Lorraine.


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Young Isabelle of Anjou as Mary Magdalene

In the case of his sister, Elizabeth of York, she is betrothed earlier to the King of France, however the treaty of Ferdinand II with the Spider King will result to Louis of Orleans who had just sent his first wife, Jeanne of France to the convent to be considered choice of marriage for Elizabeth, causing Elizabeth of York to be married to John I of Denmark in 1481 and Mary is the one who is married to the duke of Orleans on 1481.

Richard, constable of England and Eleanor of Viseu would be very scheming in the family now that they have two children, namely Anne b. 1476 and Margaret b. 1482.


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Philip the Good of Burgundy had died, and Charles the Bold had become Duke of Burgundy. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, had turned against Edward IV, and was plotting against him with French support. Edward in such circumstances needed the support of Charles, and provided no further obstacles to the marriage negotiations, formally agreeing to it in October 1467. Negotiations between the Duke's mother, Isabella, and the King of England's in-laws, Lord Scales and Earl Rivers, then proceeded between December 1467 and March 1468.

Louis the Spider initially would object on the marriage, however he had a dream that such marriage would give France more prestige on the future and many things better would happen once the two were married.[1]

The marriage contract was completed in October 1467, and signed by Edward IV in March. The Papal dispensation arrived in late May, and preparations to send Margaret of York to Burgundy began. There was little enthusiasm for it outside Burgundy - the French naturally detested this union between their two enemies, whilst the English merchants, who still suffered from restrictions on the sale of their cloth in England, showed their disapproval by attacking Dutch and Flemish merchants amongst them.

Margaret left Margate for Sluys on November 23, 1467. Lord Scales and Richard Boyville were among those who escorted her to meet her future bridegroom. The following day, she met with her bridegroom's mother, Isabella, and daughter, Mary; the meeting was a success, and the three of them would remain close friends for the rest of their lives. On November 27 , she met Charles for the first time, and the pair were privately married between 5am and 6am on 3 July, in the house of a wealthy merchant of Damme. Charles then left for Bruges, allowing the new Duchess the honour of entering separately a few hours later.

Philip of Burgundy, the most awaited heir would be born on December 2, 1468 , Louis XI of France and Charles of Burgundy would push the match between Ferdinand of Aragon and Mary of Burgundy who were married by proxy on September 4, 1469, preventing a marriage between Isabella and Ferdinand and on January 10, 1470, the two are married in person.

Margaret of York would give birth to two further children Elizabeth b. December 2, 1472 and Jean b. August 4, 1474.

In the year 1474, Charles began to involve himself in the series of political struggles that would ultimately bring about his downfall. He first came into conflict with the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, to whom he refused to restore his possessions in Alsace for the stipulated sum. Then, he quarreled with the Swiss, who supported the free towns in the Upper Rhine in their revolt against the tyranny of the ducal governor Peter von Hagenbach (who was condemned by a special international tribunal and executed on 9 May 1474). Finally, he antagonized René II, Duke of Lorraine, with whom he disputed the succession in the Duchy of Lorraine, which bordered many of his territories. All of these enemies readily joined forces against their common adversary Charles.

Charles suffered a first rebuff in endeavouring to protect his kinsman Ruprecht of the Palatinate, Archbishop of Cologne, against his rebel subjects. He spent ten months (July 1474 – June 1475) besieging the little town of Neuss on the Rhine (the Siege of Neuss), but was compelled by the approach of a powerful imperial army to raise the siege. Moreover, the expedition he had persuaded his brother-in-law Edward IV of England to undertake against Louis XI was stopped by the Treaty of Picquigny of 29 August 1475. He was more successful in Lorraine, where he seized Nancy on 30 November 1475.

From Nancy he marched against the Swiss. He saw fit to hang or drown the garrison of Grandson in spite of its capitulation. Grandson was a possession of Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont, a close ally of Charles, that had been captured recently by the forces of the Swiss Confederacy. Some days later, on 2 March 1476, Charles was attacked outside the village of Concise by the confederate army in the Battle of Grandson and suffered a shameful defeat; he was compelled to flee with a handful of attendants and abandon his artillery along with an immense booty (including his silver bath).

Charles succeeded in raising a fresh army of 30,000 men that he used to fight the Morat on 22 June 1476. He was again defeated by the Swiss army, which was assisted by the cavalry of the Duke of Lorraine. On this occasion, unlike the debacle at Grandson, little booty was lost, but Charles did lose about one third of his entire army. The defeated soldiers were pushed into the nearby lake, where they were drowned or shot at while trying to swim to safety on the opposite shore. On 6 October, Charles lost Nancy, which the Duke of Lorraine was able to recover.

Making a last effort, Charles formed a new army and arrived in the dead of winter before the walls of Nancy. Having lost many of his troops through the severe cold, it was with only a few thousand men that he met the joint forces of the Lorrainers and the Swiss, who had come to the relief of the town, at the Battle of Nancy (5 January 1477). He himself perished in the fight, his naked and disfigured body being discovered some days afterward frozen into the nearby river. Charles' head had been cleft in two by a halberd, lances were lodged in his stomach and loins, and his face had been so badly mutilated by wild animals that only his physician was able to identify him by his long fingernails and the old battle scars on his body.


1. The POD
 
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The continued survival of the Houses of Burgundy and Anjou will also affect Europe in rather interesting ways. I've always been partial to TLs about independent Provence and Greater Netherlands.:)
Subbed.

The House of Anjou will inherit France in the long run so Provence will not stay independent..
 
Chapter 6
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Chapter 6

Anne of Brittany (Anne de Bretagne; : Anna Breizh) (25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was of from 1488 until her death, and of from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. During the , Anne also became , from 1501 to 1504, and , in 1499–1500 and from 1500 to 1512.

Anne was raised in Nantes during a series of conflicts in which the king of France sought to assert his suzerainty over Brittany. Her father, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, was the last male of the House of Montfort. Upon his death in 1488, Anne became duchess regnant of Brittany, countess of Nantes, Montfort, and Richmond, and viscountess of Limoges. She was only 12 at that time, but she was already a coveted heiress because of Brittany's strategic position. The next year, she was bethroted to Edward, Prince of Wales, but Charles VIII of France saw this as a threat and forced a marriage with her.

Anne eventually married Charles VIII in 1491. only one of her children with the marriage survived, Anne of France b. June 4, 1497, and when the king died in 1498, the throne went to his cousin, Louis XII . Following an agreement made to secure the annexation of Brittany, Anne had to marry the new king or his son, Louis XII who already had kids Margaret b. 1485 and Catherine b. 1487 and a living wife, Mary of York which makes the union impossible, however she would instead marry Jean of Anjou, second son of Isabella of Castile, duchess of Anjou and Lorraine, her younger sister, Isabelle is married to Louis, duke of Calabria right after Charles VIII married Anne of Brittany, however this marriage would only produce a daughter Renee b. 1505.
 
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