I've recently been considering writing a timeline, but I would appreciate some advice from the more learned members of the board.
When Charles V attacked Tunis in 1535, the Pope asked that no wars were fought between Christian powers during the raid. However, at the time, Francis I was close to Suleiman and the Ottoman empire, and allied with them against Charles the next year.
What if Francis had ignored the Pope's request? Coming at this time, a Franco-German war would have inevitably involved the Ottomans, and possibly given the Schmalkakdic League a new lease of life. Could this have lead to an earlier decentralization or collapse of the HRE, or even a protestant France? And would such a war draw in other major European powers, and if so, on whose side would they be likely to join?
When Charles V attacked Tunis in 1535, the Pope asked that no wars were fought between Christian powers during the raid. However, at the time, Francis I was close to Suleiman and the Ottoman empire, and allied with them against Charles the next year.
What if Francis had ignored the Pope's request? Coming at this time, a Franco-German war would have inevitably involved the Ottomans, and possibly given the Schmalkakdic League a new lease of life. Could this have lead to an earlier decentralization or collapse of the HRE, or even a protestant France? And would such a war draw in other major European powers, and if so, on whose side would they be likely to join?