What if the Iberian Wedding never happened?

The Iberian Wedding between The Crown of Castile and The Crown of Aragon (Aragon and Naples) unified Iberia and practically made Spain the super power it was. Without this marriage, the course of history would have been significantly changed. Without a unified Iberia, would Aragon conquer Iberia? Would Napoleon have been able to be successful in his conquests of Iberia?
Full_Ornamented_Coat_of_Arms_of_Philip_II_of_Spain_(1580-1598).svg (1).png Full_Ornamented_Coat_of_Arms_of_Philip_II_of_Spain_(1580-1598).svg (1).png
 
Castile may actually be better off in the long run since it no longer has to send its blood and treasure to fight wars for dominance in Italy and elsewhere. On the same note Aragon will probably be worse off , as growing attention elsewhere to Italy threatens its interests which it probably could not maintain against some of the greater powers. In a later conflict Castile may actually be invited to take control of the territory in an aragonese succession situation, the rest of their holdings divvied up. Spain without Spanish empire is better off I believe. Castile may well still conquer most of the New World - tbd tho
 
Last edited:

Marc

Donor
One, and a critically massive problem with this concept is who would Isabella marry in lieu of Ferdinand? There are historically strong and compelling reasons as to why they got married. And, the timing is very bad for any plausible alternatives which leads to the implausible such as something as dramatic as one of the principals dying before marriage, or a Castillian change in attitude in regards to France, etc. You would be better off constructing an alternative history where Isabella was born with a Y chromosome and take it from there.

Oh, and in any scenario that has this kind of seismic shift in Western European history - Napoleon, along with a vast multitude of other significant personae over the next 5 hundred years, doesn't exist.
 
Last edited:

Marc

Donor
Isabella can marry John of Portugal.

Actually, I vaguely recall that there was an attempt to marry Isabella to his father, Alfonso? It failed as did every other suggestion outside of an Aragon prince, simply because of Isabella's unwillingness, and she apparently was given as part some complicated deal-making on the Castillian succession, the right of refusal. Now, give her a personality change... history, unless you're in the pure determinism camp, is heavily weighted in its consequences with the character of the principal actors.
 
Last edited:
The Iberian kingdoms would have been a lot better of without the bloody Hapsburgs.

It does not follow. Neither Ferdinand or Isabella were Habsburgs. It was an accident of deaths like their son Juan, or Miguel de Paz, that lead to Habsburg Spain.
 
Top