WI: An Earlier War of the Austrian Succession?

I've been reading through the TL, The Prince of the Peace. AGAIN (because it's awesome).

Anyhow, so the Habsburg situation outlined there is as follows. In the 1550s-1580s alt-Maximilian II has only two kids - a son, Albrecht, and a daughter. Albrecht predeceases Maximilian, leaving only two daughters, one of which succeeds her grandpa as Queen of Hungary. Meanwhile, alt-Rudolf II is married to alt-Queen Elizabeth I's eldest daughter. He's homosexual, and in spite of this, he and his half-Tudor wife are expecting their first child at a later point.

Now, let's transpose this situation on OTL. Maximilian II had a raft of kids (mostly boys) with his first cousin. Eldest of these, Rudolf II succeeded Max as emperor, never married, and became the Habsburg that even his family didn't like. Now, Max died relatively young (in comparison to his male cousin/brother-in-law, or his brothers), so I figure if he lasts one or two more years, Rudolf could be forced to marry. If Rudolf succeeds married, but only has daughters, I could see him being as oddball enough to not be bothered about having no son. The other Habsburgs might've had other ideas, however.

What would the future of these archduchesses be? Could there be a succession war between the male line Habsburgs and these girls' husbands? OTL, Maria Amalie of Austria (daughter of Josef I) saw her husband, Karl of Bavaria claim the crown of Bohemia as well as the imperial diadem through her.
 
Well, considering the amount of Habsburg archdukes floating around, I suppose it's possible that both girls end up married to cousins. However, Rudolf dislike of, and by, his family could scupper that.

The Bohemian crown was elective wasn't it? And the rump Hungarian kingdom too? But I suppose it's not impossible that the Bohemians (Rudolf spent most of his life in Prague) elect the husband of one of the girls as king, maybe Hungary follows suit.
 
Another thought I had, who might the electors choose when it comes down to the wire, Rudolf's brother/nearest male heir, or his daughter's husband (if he's a prince inside the empire of course).
 
You could make the argument that the 30YW was a earlier War of Austrian Succession.

By a fair stretch, yes. It was a succession war originally over the crown of Bohemia, but it wasn't a succession war in the sense a la 18th century (Spanish, Austrian, Bavarian) because it wasn't fought between two BLOOD claimants to the throne. And if it HAD been a true succession war, it would've ended when Bedrich Falcky was deposed as king of Bohemia (since thereafter, he never made an attempt to regain the throne).

Here, Rudolf's daughters would find themselves in a similar boat to Josef I's. The Imperial diadem goes to the next Habsburg male (Matthias/Karl VI) but when he and his brothers die without legitimate issue, they can be argued to have a better claim than say Ferdinand II, if only in Bohemia and Hungary (which AFAIK worked on different succession laws to the empire - even if their thrones were in practice elective).
 
Well, considering the amount of Habsburg archdukes floating around, I suppose it's possible that both girls end up married to cousins. However, Rudolf dislike of, and by, his family could scupper that.


The Bohemian crown was elective wasn't it? And the rump Hungarian kingdom too? But I suppose it's not impossible that the Bohemians (Rudolf spent most of his life in Prague) elect the husband of one of the girls as king, maybe Hungary follows suit.

Rudolf might be the odd man out in his family, but the Habsburgs would probably swallow their dislike of him and marry those daughters. I would think that if they can marry his elder daughter to say OTL Ferdinand II or another hypothetical male cousin/uncle, they might depose Rudolf sooner rather than later in favor of his son-in-law (or at least have him declared unfit under a regency).
Another thought I had, who might the electors choose when it comes down to the wire, Rudolf's brother/nearest male heir, or his daughter's husband (if he's a prince inside the empire of course).

I would imagine it would come down to who has the most clout. When Louis II of Hungary died, Bohemia and half of Hungary went to the Habsburgs courtesy of his sister, while the remainder of Hungary went with Zapolya. It might be a similar case here. Maria Amalia was Josef I's younger daughter, but the Bohemian estates chose her husband as king over his brother-in-law, the king of Poland. So if Rudolf's daughter marries archcatholic Ferdinand II or Felipe II, I think the Bohemian estates might look to her younger sister and her husband (maybe she marries the duke of Bavaria).


You could make the argument that the 30YW was a earlier War of Austrian Succession.

You could I guess.
By a fair stretch, yes. It was a succession war originally over the crown of Bohemia, but it wasn't a succession war in the sense a la 18th century (Spanish, Austrian, Bavarian) because it wasn't fought between two BLOOD claimants to the throne. And if it HAD been a true succession war, it would've ended when Bedrich Falcky was deposed as king of Bohemia (since thereafter, he never made an attempt to regain the throne).

Here, Rudolf's daughters would find themselves in a similar boat to Josef I's. The Imperial diadem goes to the next Habsburg male (Matthias/Karl VI) but when he and his brothers die without legitimate issue, they can be argued to have a better claim than say Ferdinand II, if only in Bohemia and Hungary (which AFAIK worked on different succession laws to the empire - even if their thrones were in practice elective).

True, but I'm with Jurgen on this. It would be anachronistic to characterize a fight in the 16th century by 18th century definitions. It would probably still be between two rival BLOOD claimants though.
 
What would be fun is if Rudolf marries his daughters to non-Habsburgs. The rest of the family will throw a fit. I could see (depending on when they're born) whoever's ruling Poland being interested in marrying one - creating the Polish-Bohemian-Lithuanian-Hungarian superstate. Or maybe Rudolf marries one of them off to the duke of Bavaria? I can't think that any other non-electoral prince within the empire will be of suitable rank for her.
 
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