WI Anne of Brittany marries Maximilian?

In 1488, Francis II Duke of Brittany died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year old daughter Anne as his heiress. Anne, who feared for her Duchy's independence against the ambitions of France, arranged a marriage between herself and Maximilian, who had already married Mary of Burgundy in much the same circumstances in 1477. The Beaujeus refused to countenance such a marriage, however, since it would place Maximilian and his family, the Habsburgs, on two French borders; Brittany was invaded by the French army, Maximilian was unable to help, and Anne of Brittany was forced to renounce Maximilian (whom she had only married by proxy), and agree to be married to Charles VIII instead.
WI Maximilian had arranged to smuggle her somehow out of Brittany and married her formally thus annexing Britanny to the Habsburg Empire? Is this possible? How is this altering History? Any thoughts?
 
The King of France (I forget which one right now) is going to freak out to start with... :eek::D

That would be Charles VIII... Maybe this would lead to an interesting turn of events... Charles was always in poor health so the news of Anne's escape to Maximilian shock him and make him sick... France is leaderless and under the influence of the King's sister Anne Duchess of Bourbon...
 
The duchess of britanny is declared in rebellion and the Duchy formally annexed to France without a wedding ( at that point, french troops were occupying all the ducal castles except for 3, IIRC ), as had happened for the plantagenet or Toulouse/Provence lands.

Not much changes.
 
France is leaderless and under the influence of the King's sister Anne Duchess of Bourbon...

Given Anne, I wouldn't say that France is leaderless at that point; whoever tries to take advantage of France is going to have a nasty surprise ( she was her father's true daughter :D )

OTOH, this may butterfly away french involvment in the italian wars
 
The duchess of britanny is declared in rebellion and the Duchy formally annexed to France without a wedding ( at that point, french troops were occupying all the ducal castles except for 3, IIRC ), as had happened for the plantagenet or Toulouse/Provence lands.

Not much changes.

Wouldnt this caused a war between Anne (or Louis XII if Charles VIII dies) and Maximilian?
 
Wouldnt this caused a war between Anne (or Louis XII if Charles VIII dies) and Maximilian?


More than kidnapping his wedded wife and forcing her to wed someone else?

I doubt it. OTL pretext was even better for the Habsburg than ITTL, if they wanted war at that point.

The point which could be interesting is if Francis I's captivity is not butterflied away. Would Charles Quint require Brittany be given back in order to free the french king? and if so, will it be accepted? what will France not have to give that she had to OTL? and when will France conquer Brittany back ( inevitable in the long term )?

ANd will Phillippe II jold Brittany when he launches his armada? If so, it's likely England will face an invasion.
 
More than kidnapping his wedded wife and forcing her to wed someone else?

I doubt it. OTL pretext was even better for the Habsburg than ITTL, if they wanted war at that point.

The point which could be interesting is if Francis I's captivity is not butterflied away. Would Charles Quint require Brittany be given back in order to free the french king? and if so, will it be accepted? what will France not have to give that she had to OTL? and when will France conquer Brittany back ( inevitable in the long term )?

ANd will Phillippe II jold Brittany when he launches his armada? If so, it's likely England will face an invasion.

If this happens Charles V holds France by the neck and Philippe II can force the French to join him in his invasion to England...
 
If this happens Charles V holds France by the neck and Philippe II can force the French to join him in his invasion to England...

I'm not convinced that the immediate threat to France is that much worse than OTL that SPain can get France to play puppet.

Not that the situation wouldn't be bad, but it was already extremely bad OTL and the Spanish Netherlands were nearer to Paris than Brittany, IIRC.
 
I'm not convinced that the immediate threat to France is that much worse than OTL that SPain can get France to play puppet.

Not that the situation wouldn't be bad, but it was already extremely bad OTL and the Spanish Netherlands were nearer to Paris than Brittany, IIRC.

Well England would have started to be afraid... threatened from both sides...
 
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