What medieval/Renaissance state had the largest chance of reuniting the Roman Empire?

Who had the best chance of uniting the Mediterranean from the 900s to 1500s?

  • Holy Roman Empire

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • Byzantine Empire

    Votes: 20 54.1%
  • Umayyad Caliphate

    Votes: 4 10.8%
  • Indepedent, United Kingdom of Italy

    Votes: 3 8.1%
  • Norman adventurers (Sicily, Antioch, etc.)

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • Angevin Empire

    Votes: 1 2.7%
  • Habsburg Empire

    Votes: 7 18.9%
  • Ottoman Empire

    Votes: 10 27.0%
  • Fatimid Caliphate

    Votes: 4 10.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 4 10.8%

  • Total voters
    37
What medieval/Renaissance kingdom or empire had the largest chance of conquering at least 80% of the Mediterranean basin, effectively reforming the Roman Empire's "Mare Nostrum" trade?

Edit: 900s to 1500s is the point of divergence.
 
Last edited:

Red Orm

Banned
My say is that it was practically impossible, but if anybody had a mouse's fart of a chance it's the Umayyad Caliphate with all of its resources and vast armies. If the Caliphate had decided for some reason to abandon Persia for the riches of the Byzantine Empire, or perhaps liberalizing and not treating Arabs specially, then they would have faced less unrest within their territories. Once Anatolia and Greece were conquered, they would of course be tempted to roll into Italy, or at least Sicily, unprotected as they are (relatively) from naval invasions. The Iberian coast is a bit harder to get and the French very hard without full conquest of Spain, but either way I see them getting 80% of the shoreline by the 1500's...provided that they are very lucky.

But hey, if Alexander happened I think anything is fair game.
 
My say is that it was practically impossible, but if anybody had a mouse's fart of a chance it's the Umayyad Caliphate with all of its resources and vast armies. If the Caliphate had decided for some reason to abandon Persia for the riches of the Byzantine Empire, or perhaps liberalizing and not treating Arabs specially, then they would have faced less unrest within their territories. Once Anatolia and Greece were conquered, they would of course be tempted to roll into Italy, or at least Sicily, unprotected as they are (relatively) from naval invasions. The Iberian coast is a bit harder to get and the French very hard without full conquest of Spain, but either way I see them getting 80% of the shoreline by the 1500's...provided that they are very lucky.

But hey, if Alexander happened I think anything is fair game.

The Umayyad no longer controlled all of that land in 900, the Abbasids did. The remaining Umayyads only controlled Iberia.
 

Red Orm

Banned
The Umayyad no longer controlled all of that land in 900, the Abbasids did. The remaining Umayyads only controlled Iberia.

I'm operating from a POD before AD 750. If the POD has to be AD 900 to 1500, then I say Hapsburg, considering that the Byzantines were spending more time selling fellow Christians off into slavery than effectively ruling.
 
I meant a POD any time from the 900s to 1500s, so the Umayyad Caliphate would be the remnant state in Iberia.
 
Find a way to re-unify the Frankish Empire, via royal marriage or whatever. Such a state would be easily the most powerful in Western Europe, and would be able to dominate the Italian Peninsula and the remaining Christian kingdoms in Spain. Maybe these latter can swear fealty to the Emperor in return for help and protection against the Muslims. With the resources of France and Germany behind it the Reconquista is completed much sooner, and the Empire then continues its push into North Africa. Now you have the whole of the western Mediterranean under Imperial control. As for the eastern part, maybe as the Byzantine Empire falls apart it could become increasingly dependent on Western aid, until it becomes (de facto, and perhaps even de jure) a vassal of the Franks. Maybe then the Franks can launch campaigns to retake Syria and Egypt for Christendom. There, now the whole Mediterranean is united under one power.
 
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