WI Charles VI dies in 1711

[Bear Flag Oligarch]

What if Charles VI had died on his boat trip back from Spain to become emperor after the death of his brother? I don't know whether he had been elected King of the Romans prior to Joseph's death so I don't know if he was emperor yet, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

According to the Mutual Pact of Succession Joseph's eldest daughter Maria Josepha will inherit all of the Habsburg realms, but this raises a lot of questions:

1. Who will become emperor? Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the son of Eleonora Josefa Maria, half-sister of Leopold I, so he seems like the default candidate, but will anyone contest his election? And will Leopold just try to claim the entire Habsburg inheritance and cut out Maria Josepha?

2. Who will become king of Bohemia and Hungary? Both kingdoms had made the male line of Habsburgs hereditary monarchs, but with the male line extinct will they elect Maria Josepha, Leopold or someone else? Hungary has just had a large revolt against the Habsburgs put down but could they pick someone else to rule?

3. Will the Grand Alliance try to put Maria Amalia on the throne of Spain or not? I don't think that at this point in the war they have a chance of succeeding, but if they decide to keep fighting will the war last longer than it did IOTL where Charles would have ruled both Spain and Austria? If they don't then will the war end any sooner with the issue of the Spanish succession now dealt with?

4. What will become of Bavaria? At this point it was occupied by Austria and the Palatinate, and there were plans to divide it between them. If there is a partition now it would presumably be split between Lorraine and the Palatinate. In 1712 Maximilian II was made Duke of Luxembourg and Marquis of Namur by the Spanish. Since the Southern Netherlands are claimed by Maria Josepha instead of Leopold, I think he would be okay with giving away part of an inheritance he has no claim to while gaining more territory for himself.

5. What will happen in Italy? Leopold has claims to Mantua and Montferrat, but Montferrat was promised to Victor Amadeus II. Will Leopold try to offer Victor Amadeus additional Spanish territory, like Finale, to acquire Montferrat? Could Maximillian II be given an Italian kingdom instead of compensation in the Southern Netherlands? If he does get Sardinia, Sicily, or Naples will Victor Amadeus get a kingdom too?

6. Who will Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia be married to? Will they both be married to sons of Leopold so that the two family lines will be united? If not, then who else can they marry?

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

1. Who will become emperor? Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the son of Eleonora Josefa Maria, half-sister of Leopold I, so he seems like the default candidate, but will anyone contest his election? And will Leopold just try to claim the entire Habsburg inheritance and cut out Maria Josepha?

Leopold might. But it's worth noting, that like his son, besides Lorraine, he owns no other territory in the Empire. So we might see Maximilian II muscling in on the imperial election as well. Max is ambitious and he's gonna be damned if some duke of Lorraine is going to force him out of going for broke.

2. Who will become king of Bohemia and Hungary? Both kingdoms had made the male line of Habsburgs hereditary monarchs, but with the male line extinct will they elect Maria Josepha, Leopold or someone else? Hungary has just had a large revolt against the Habsburgs put down but could they pick someone else to rule?

Bohemia, like OTL, will follow from the rest of the Habsburg realms. OTL they put a Habsburg queen on the throne, just not the same one that everyone else wanted. They'd had a bad experience electing a non-Habsburg back in 1618. Most likely they stick with Maria Josepha and whomever her husband is. Hungary is a little bit more difficult to say. Rakoczi might come back and start causing trouble again. So it might stay Habsburg or it might go to whomever - I think there was a hope that the king of Prussia would take up the mantle at a time.

3. Will the Grand Alliance try to put Maria Amalia on the throne of Spain or not? I don't think that at this point in the war they have a chance of succeeding, but if they decide to keep fighting will the war last longer than it did IOTL where Charles would have ruled both Spain and Austria? If they don't then will the war end any sooner with the issue of the Spanish succession now dealt with?

Probably not. The issue of the Spanish Succession is a dead letter, IMHO. The Austrian claimant is dead, and his only possible successors are 12 and 10yo females at best. Besides, Austria's going to have it's own issues to deal with, so they'll probably sign a treaty acknowledging the French claim - although they'll still want a bunch of stuff - Italy, the Southern Netherlands, etc.

4. What will become of Bavaria? At this point it was occupied by Austria and the Palatinate, and there were plans to divide it between them. If there is a partition now it would presumably be split between Lorraine and the Palatinate. In 1712 Maximilian II was made Duke of Luxembourg and Marquis of Namur by the Spanish. Since the Southern Netherlands are claimed by Maria Josepha instead of Leopold, I think he would be okay with giving away part of an inheritance he has no claim to while gaining more territory for himself.

On the contrary. If the imperial crown ends up contested between Max and Leopold (who do you think's gonna walk away with it? Max has got the Elector Palatine, and the Elector of Cologne to vote for him, he only needs to buy one vote for a majority (probably Bohemia and he'll betrothe Karl Albrecht to Maria Josefa as a way of securing it). The duke of Lorraine, OTOH, only has his brother who's elector of Trier. That leaves the electors of Brandenburg, Hannover and Mainz as swing votes. Most likely what happens, Lorraine gets given the Southern Netherlands as a booby prize, his son gets married to Maria Amalie (if she isn't married to the duke of Savoy, as was proposed OTL), while Bavaria walks off with more than her fair share.

5. What will happen in Italy? Leopold has claims to Mantua and Montferrat, but Montferrat was promised to Victor Amadeus II. Will Leopold try to offer Victor Amadeus additional Spanish territory, like Finale, to acquire Montferrat? Could Maximillian II be given an Italian kingdom instead of compensation in the Southern Netherlands? If he does get Sardinia, Sicily, or Naples will Victor Amadeus get a kingdom too?

Monferrat's promised to Victor Amadeus to prevent him pushing for the duchy of Milan. A Bavarian emperor might have less interest in Italy than in Germany-Hungary-Bohemia, so he might give it to Victor Amadeus, leaving Leopold's Montferrat-Mantua duchy fine. However, a Bavarian emperor might also decide that the duchy of Mantua should go to the dukes of Guastalla and Monferrat to either the duke of Lorraine or the prince de Salm/Condé (the Guastalla boys don't have a claim to Monferrat IIRC).

6. Who will Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia be married to? Will they both be married to sons of Leopold so that the two family lines will be united? If not, then who else can they marry?

If Max becomes emperor, Maria Josefa's marrying Karl Albrecht and Maria Amalie's treaty bait. If Leopold becomes emperor same thing. Most likely match for Amalie is either the other candidate's son or the duke of Savoy's heir.

Of course, we can always think that Josefa might wed the duke of Beja as was contemplated, but I'm not sure that a Bragança second son with no lands in the empire will do better than Leopold or Maximilian.

 

[Bear Flag Oligarch]

Leopold might. But it's worth noting, that like his son, besides Lorraine, he owns no other territory in the Empire. So we might see Maximilian II muscling in on the imperial election as well. Max is ambitious and he's gonna be damned if some duke of Lorraine is going to force him out of going for broke.

On the contrary. If the imperial crown ends up contested between Max and Leopold (who do you think's gonna walk away with it? Max has got the Elector Palatine, and the Elector of Cologne to vote for him, he only needs to buy one vote for a majority (probably Bohemia and he'll betrothe Karl Albrecht to Maria Josefa as a way of securing it). The duke of Lorraine, OTOH, only has his brother who's elector of Trier. That leaves the electors of Brandenburg, Hannover and Mainz as swing votes. Most likely what happens, Lorraine gets given the Southern Netherlands as a booby prize, his son gets married to Maria Amalie (if she isn't married to the duke of Savoy, as was proposed OTL), while Bavaria walks off with more than her fair share.

If Max becomes emperor, Maria Josefa's marrying Karl Albrecht and Maria Amalie's treaty bait. If Leopold becomes emperor same thing. Most likely match for Amalie is either the other candidate's son or the duke of Savoy's heir.

Maximillian II and Joseph Clemens were both under an Imperial ban since 1706, and it was only revoked at the end of the war. Could he have even been considered for the position of emperor? And who gets their two votes if they aren't allowed to participate in the election? Are they just not counted?

 

[Emperor Constantine]

What if Charles VI had died on his boat trip back from Spain to become emperor after the death of his brother? I don't know whether he had been elected King of the Romans prior to Joseph's death so I don't know if he was emperor yet, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I've never even CONSIDERED such an idea before, but it has the potential to be a gigantic, fascinating mess of epic proportions!

1. Who will become emperor? Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the son of Eleonora Josefa Maria, half-sister of Leopold I, so he seems like the default candidate, but will anyone contest his election? And will Leopold just try to claim the entire Habsburg inheritance and cut out Maria Josepha?

No clue. Best scenario would be to have an interregnum and then elect Maria Josefa's new husband, if he's of age (I think one had to be sixteen to be elected Emperor but it might have been eighteen). If that doesn't work then whomever is elected Emperor would be a lifetime stopgap/placeholder, being succeeded by either the now of age King and Queen of Bohemia & Hungary or by a son the two produce. And Leopold can claim whatever the hell he likes; he's the ruler of a provincial Duchy that's undergone decades of French occupation and his only significant ally has been the Emperor. The Lorrainers aren't in a position to do jack sh*t.

2. Who will become king of Bohemia and Hungary? Both kingdoms had made the male line of Habsburgs hereditary monarchs, but with the male line extinct will they elect Maria Josepha, Leopold or someone else? Hungary has just had a large revolt against the Habsburgs put down but could they pick someone else to rule?

Maria Josefa. Contention in Bohemia would be a nonissue and had been sense the Battle of White Mountain nearly a century before. Hungary is harder to say, but I think they likely stay with Vienna. After all they'd been fighting the Habsburgs for eight years with very little to show for it and before his death Emperor Josef offered them a pretty great deal; I can't see the Hungarians all that eager to continue their rebellion.

3. Will the Grand Alliance try to put Maria Amalia on the throne of Spain or not? I don't think that at this point in the war they have a chance of succeeding, but if they decide to keep fighting will the war last longer than it did IOTL where Charles would have ruled both Spain and Austria? If they don't then will the war end any sooner with the issue of the Spanish succession now dealt with?

THIS is the big question in my book. Emperor Josef's death, and the spectre of his brother as Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, gave the allies a convenient excuse to end the war. However, Britain had been on the way out sense the Tory victory in 1710, so London's likely to go ahead and cut their losses with or without the Netherlands. While I agree that there isn't a huge likelihood of this happening, the possibility is there. Of course, with Maria Amalia as the Habsburg candidate there opens up the possibility of reconciliation by marriage, something impossible during her uncle's pretendership. Amalia could marry Luis, Principé de Asturias, reuniting the competing claims. However, there's a six year age difference, and that might be enough to torpedo the marriage. Now we know she was fertile (having seven children and five surviving ones) but the Spanish have no way of knowing. Of course, assuming that Maria Luisa still dies and Eisabeth Farnese succeeds her, I can see our favorite hated Queen encouraging the match if only to increase the odds of her sons' inheriting the Spanish throne.

4. What will become of Bavaria? At this point it was occupied by Austria and the Palatinate, and there were plans to divide it between them. If there is a partition now it would presumably be split between Lorraine and the Palatinate. In 1712 Maximilian II was made Duke of Luxembourg and Marquis of Namur by the Spanish. Since the Southern Netherlands are claimed by Maria Josepha instead of Leopold, I think he would be okay with giving away part of an inheritance he has no claim to while gaining more territory for himself.

OK I think your giving way too much credit to the idea of Leopold's succession to the Habsburg inheritance. It's a pipe dream at best; the only thing he might get is the Imperial crown and that doesn't come with the Habsburg Monarchy. Now that we have that out of the way, hard to say. Both Elector Maximilian II Emanuel and his brother Archbishop-Elector Josef Clemens of Cologne were under the Imperial ban (effectively they had been declared guilty of treason) and had been sense 1705; therefore, from a legal PoV, they're worthless in any discussion. Neither can vote in the Imperial election and it's up to the next Emperor on whether or not Max get's Bavaria back or if it's awarded to someone else. Josef's in a better position sense, as an ecclesiastical prince, the Emperor can't remove him from his position without Papal approval, but that the Crown can make sure he's never restored to his territories. As for the Southern Netherlands, that was a temp sop by Versailles to an ally and never meant to be a permanent thing. At best they hoped to weaken whomever got the Netherlands in the Treaty of Utrecht.

5. What will happen in Italy? Leopold has claims to Mantua and Montferrat, but Montferrat was promised to Victor Amadeus II. Will Leopold try to offer Victor Amadeus additional Spanish territory, like Finale, to acquire Montferrat? Could Maximillian II be given an Italian kingdom instead of compensation in the Southern Netherlands? If he does get Sardinia, Sicily, or Naples will Victor Amadeus get a kingdom too?

Assuming that the Habsburgs keep Milan, then they also Keep Mantua; it was way to valuable a fortress to let go. Prince Weather-vane is likely to try for more territory but isn't getting it. Now if they start playing musical thrones then I can see Maximilian getting Naples while Vittorio Amadeo gets Sardinia. Sicily could go to either one of them. I know OTL there was talk of giving Max an Italian crown, so not totally impossible.

6. Who will Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia be married to? Will they both be married to sons of Leopold so that the two family lines will be united? If not, then who else can they marry?

Really hard to say. Only thing I can say is Leopold's sons are out; they're simply too young in comparison to the Marias. Plus their claims aren't that valuable. I'd say the candidates would be, in no particular order, Portugal's Duke of Beja or Count of Ourém (their brother John V was married to the Marias aunt Archduchess Maria Anna), the Electoral Prince of Saxony, the Electoral Prince of Bavaria (if a deal with the exiled Bavarians can be made) the Prince of Piedmont (heir to Duca Vittorio Amadeo II), one of the collateral/eventual heirs to the Palatinate and maybe one of the minor Italians.

@Kellan Sullivan, you're getting your dates confused. In 1711 Max II and his brother the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne were under the Imperial Ban and in exile at Versailles. The Imperial ban can only be overturned/removed by, you guessed it, the Emperor. So he's out as a candidate. His son? Maybe if some kind of deal is made, but not Max. Plus the Elector Palatine just got about half of Bavaria (well the parts of Bavaria that were once part of the Palatinate but still) so no way he would vote for the man that's likely to take that new/restored territory away.

 

[Bear Flag Oligarch]

OK I think your giving way too much credit to the idea of Leopold's succession to the Habsburg inheritance. It's a pipe dream at best; the only thing he might get is the Imperial crown and that doesn't come with the Habsburg Monarchy. Now that we have that out of the way, hard to say. Both Elector Maximilian II Emanuel and his brother Archbishop-Elector Josef Clemens of Cologne were under the Imperial ban (effectively they had been declared guilty of treason) and had been sense 1705; therefore, from a legal PoV, they're worthless in any discussion. Neither can vote in the Imperial election and it's up to the next Emperor on whether or not Max get's Bavaria back or if it's awarded to someone else. Josef's in a better position sense, as an ecclesiastical prince, the Emperor can't remove him from his position without Papal approval, but that the Crown can make sure he's never restored to his territories. As for the Southern Netherlands, that was a temp sop by Versailles to an ally and never meant to be a permanent thing. At best they hoped to weaken whomever got the Netherlands in the Treaty of Utrecht.

Kind of, it just felt more natural to keep typing out "Leopold" instead of "The Emperor". Assuming Leopold or some other seat-warmer gets the crown and annexes Bavaria though, will its electoral vote transfer or merge back into the Palatinate's?

Really hard to say. Only thing I can say is Leopold's sons are out; they're simply too young in comparison to the Marias. Plus their claims aren't that valuable. I'd say the candidates would be, in no particular order, Portugal's Duke of Beja or Count of Ourém (their brother John V was married to the Marias aunt Archduchess Maria Anna), the Electoral Prince of Saxony, the Electoral Prince of Bavaria (if a deal with the exiled Bavarians can be made) the Prince of Piedmont (heir to Duca Vittorio Amadeo II), one of the collateral/eventual heirs to the Palatinate and maybe one of the minor Italians.

All of those choices sound really interesting. If she ends up marrying Augustus III like OTL would he be able to get elected king of Poland-Lithuania? And what about their kids? Will their collective inheritance be partitioned amongst their children?

 

[Vitruvius]

1. I could see Leopold making a claim to be Emperor but he has almost no base of support but he does have one Electoral vote, that of his brother the very recently appointed Archbishop-Elector of Trier so maybe? I agree with those who've pointed out that Max Emmanuel would be disqualified by the Imperial ban, not to mention that he's living in exile in France. The allies have the HRE pretty well under control by this point so a candidate favorable to France has no chance. As for the Electors themselves these are the ones who I believe will be participating:

Frederick Augustus of Saxony; just out for himself and currently preoccupied with the Great Northern War against Sweden, he'll use the Interregnum to go after Swedish Pomerania (since he and the Elector Palatine assume some powers during the Interregnum). He probably just wants a candidate that will back his claim to Poland
John William, Elector Palatine of the Rhine; Maria Josepha's great uncle. Definitely on the Austrian side as he annexed the Upper Palatinate from Bavaria and his sister is the elder Dowager Empress.
Frederick I of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg; probably would favor whoever would agrees to recognize is undisputed right to be King of Prussia.
King of Bohemia, may be exercised by the Austrian Regency
George of Hanover, Elector of Brunswick Luneburg; probably more preoccupied with go after Swedish Bremen and looking ahead to securing the British Succession
Elector of Mainz, Lothar Franz von Schonborn, definitely and ally of Austria, his nephew was Reich vice Chancellor in Vienna, but there maybe some friction with the Neuburgs over the recent appointment of Franz Ludwig of Palatine Neuburg as coadjutor Archbishop against his wishes
Elector of Trier, Charles Joseph of Lorraine, just appointed to the post earlier in the year.

Under Ban and living in Exile in France

Maximilian Emmanuel, Duke of Bavaria
Joesph Clement of Bavaria, Archbishop of Cologne, I believe the Cathedral chapter governed the territories of the Archbishopric in his absence but I don't know if anyone is allowed to cast of vote in his stead. He's not deposed as Archbishop (because that would be a Papal prerogative) but he's deposed of all Imperial offices.

So I could see Leopold of Loraine maybe making a play, but I don't know who else backs him besides his brother and his French wife could be a liability.

I could potentially see John William, or more likely his brother and heir Charles Philip making a play. They have the Palatine vote, they could get the support of Austria through the influence of their sister the Dowager Empress Eleonor Magdalene to secure the vote from Bohemia. They'd have good cause to desire the office, because if one of them is Emperor they can control the final disposition of the captured Bavarian territories and permanently secure the Upper Palatinate for Neuburg. As neither of them have a male heir they might not be so threatening as the other Electors would look at them as being less likely to establish a new Imperial dynasty as they'e both old and despite multiple marriages have no sons. But they could ensure that an enlarged Palatinate passes securely to the Sulzbach line.

Beyond that I think you're looking at a place holder Emperor, the capable but younger son of some minor dynasty, preferably someone older and childless but that seems fairly unlikely. No matter what the terms of the Election will be key and the Electors are likely to try to extract some pretty serious concessions from the new Emperor since who ever he is he'll be in a weak position to start. IIRC even Charles VI had to make some capitulations at his Election.


2. I agree that no one really has a claim to Austria beyond Maria Josepha. Maybe Hungary revolts again but the settlement of the last revolt was pretty well accepted at that point so as long as they show some deference to it and to the Hungarian Diet she'll probably be elected/acknowledged as Queen like Maria Theresa was OTL. The better question may be who becomes Regent for Austria? What role do the Dowager Empresses play (her grandmother Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg and her mother Wilhelmina of Brunswick-Luneburg)?


3. The Allies probably give up on Spain and cut a deal similar to what they got OTL (as regards the Asiento to the English and partitioning the Spanish territories in Italy). As was mentioned the British are already moving towards Peace and the Austrian court will see it as vitally necessary to secure a smooth succession for Maria Josepha while the German princes would rather fight over their place in the new order under a new Emperor that continue a war with France for the benefit of a defunct dynasty.


4. Bavaria's fate probably is dependent upon who becomes Emperor. If he doesn't get Bavaria back Max Emmanuel is probably given an Italian Kingdom out of the former Spanish Italy. I can't see the allies risking any of the former Spanish Netherlands falling into French orbit.


5. The British were big proponents of giving Savoy the Kingdom of Sicily while the French wanted it to go to Max Emmanuel. So some division is likely. I'd wager that Maria Josepha at least retains Milan. It's probably likely to be decided almost entirely by the French and British as the Austrians will have their hands full resolving the succession to Bohemia and Hungary. Since it had been proposed in previous partition treaties I could maybe see Leopold being forced to exchange Lorraine for Milan in return for being also recognized as heir to Mantua, but probably not if he is successfully made Emperor. Lorraine then maybe goes to Max Emmanuel as a French client and Bavaria is consolidated into the Austrian inheritance.


6. Probably impacted by the Imperial Election and the Austrian Regency question. But if the Neuburgs form a bloc of sorts and secure the Imperial throne for Charles Philip they could then marry Maria Josepha to John Christian of Palatine-Sulzbach, the younger son of the Count Palatine of Sulzbach. His elder brother is heir apparent to the Neuburgs and would go on the marry Charles Philip's daughter OTL and could do so here as well. So in this way you could establish two families, the elder Sulzbach line, becoming Elector Palatine ruling the Lower and Upper Palatinate along with Julich-Berg and the junior one that essentially succeeds to the Austrian dominions and becomes the new Imperial Dynasty.

On the other hand I like the idea of a Portuguese infante but IIRC John V did not get along with his brothers eldest two brothers so I'm not sure he'd like to see them gain such a great inheritance and potentially outrank him. But his youngest brother, Manuel, the Count of Ourem, was apparently quite active and somewhat adventurous so I could see him showing up in Vienna in person to court his cousin (his mother is the Dowager Empress Eleonor Magdalene's younger sister).

One outlier I'd add for fun is Francesco d'Este of Modena who would be her maternal first cousin. I don't know if Wilhelmina was particularly close to her sister Charlotte but if Wilhelmina has influence on Maria Josepha it's possible she could guide her towards such a match. It could secure Austrian influence in Northern Italy by absorbing Modena into a new Habsburg-Este dynasty but at the same time I don't think it terribly disrupts the balance of power, especially if her sister is made heiress of formerly Spanish territories in the South of Italy.

I agree with the other one's listed;

Frederick Augustus of Saxony; personally I think unlikely as he'd have to give up on Poland, but his family has proven to be ambitious and Austria may look more stable than Poland
Charles Albert of Bavaria; assuming his family is restored to Bavaria, perhaps he agrees to surrender the Upper Palatinate in exchange expectation of a much larger inheritance through a prestigious marriage?

Victor Amadeus or Charles Emmanuel of Savoy; maybe a double match if they both live. Though the Savoy's I'd actually pick for her younger sister Maria Amalia because I could imagine a scenario under which her sister is made heiress of Spanish Italy or whatever part of it isn't given out as compensation to Savoy or Bavaria. Thus Maria Josepha's line consolidates those formerly Spanish territories still within the HRE (the Spanish Netherlands and nominally the Duchy of Milan) and Maria Amalia retains those without (in the south of Italy, some combination of Naples/Sicily/Sardinia) for a separate line/dynasty. Perhaps a marriage of Maria Amalia to Francesco d'Este could also be used in this respect.

 

[Vitruvius]

Also one other random thing I thought of, that's poor old Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel who Charles left behind in Barcelona. I assume the allies recognize her as Dowager Queen of Spain but she'd quickly be forced into exile. I guess she probably just ends up in a castle or monastery somewhere in Austria being politely addressed as her Royal Majesty. But its fun to think of some more creative albeit much less likely possible outcomes, like her marrying Philip V when his first wife dies and remaining Queen of Spain or marrying Charles Philip of Neuburg as his third wife if he becomes Emperor and still become Holy Roman Empress like OTL.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

@Kellan Sullivan, you're getting your dates confused. In 1711 Max II and his brother the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne were under the Imperial Ban and in exile at Versailles. The Imperial ban can only be overturned/removed by, you guessed it, the Emperor. So he's out as a candidate. His son? Maybe if some kind of deal is made, but not Max. Plus the Elector Palatine just got about half of Bavaria (well the parts of Bavaria that were once part of the Palatinate but still) so no way he would vote for the man that's likely to take that new/restored territory away.

My mistake. I was under the impression that the imperial ban fell away once the emperor who had issued it died. Although, I agree, the Palatinate might be against his Bavarian cousin in the election, in a scenario where Max was getting the entirety of the Habsburg lands, I'd imagine that Max is willing to negotiate to get his cousin on side.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Also one other random thing I thought of, that's poor old Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel who Charles left behind in Barcelona. I assume the allies recognize her as Dowager Queen of Spain but she'd quickly be forced into exile. I guess she probably just ends up in a castle or monastery somewhere in Austria being politely addressed as her Royal Majesty. But its fun to think of some more creative albeit much less likely possible outcomes, like her marrying Philip V when his first wife dies and remaining Queen of Spain or marrying Charles Philip of Neuburg as his third wife if he becomes Emperor and still become Holy Roman Empress like OTL.

Well, she didn't want to convert originally, so it could make for fun times if she goes back to Brunswick, converts back to Protestantism, and her grandpa offers her to Alexei Petrovich (PS: I know he married in October 1711, but if Karl dies early enough in the year, Lieschen could be offered instead of Charlotte and the date pushed to 1712) She's prettier than her younger sister (the most beautiful princess in Germany), so I wonder if Alexei will have problems making babies with her like he did with the homely, pock-marked, flat-chested Charlotte.