True, though it is possible it was inherited, and just took a different shape than his ancestor's case.
WI: Edward IV marries Philippe of Burgundy's niece?
- Thread starter RedKing
- Start date
Still I like the idea of Edward IV marrying Catherine Bourbon. Marriage wise she’s not a bad choice as she provides a connection to Burgundy being a niece of Phillip the Good and first cousin/ sister-in-law to Charles the Bold. Also I think the Bourbons were in good standing or at least neutral with King Louis, so he might be ok with the marriage. Infact he probably might think how this marriage could benefit France in some way. Like trying to get a claim to Burgundy through marriage with his son and ATL Yorrkiest princess.
Just gonna slightly nitpick here. Afaik Charles was ambivalent to both sides and was willing to ally with anyone who would support Burgundy's interests. He only became pro-Yorkist during the readeption, when Henry VI (Warwick) allied with Louis XI and plotted to invade Burgundy. He already had Edward IV in his possession but only openly backed and funded Edward when he realised not backing him would result in many issues for Burgundy. Though even after the readeption Charles still wasn't a steadfast ally, shown by his reluctance to help the French invasion in 1475.
I think I've mentioned this in a thread before, but if EoW/Henry VI/Margaret are in France when Edward invades, I doubt Edward IV would leave without Edward of Westminster. And if it's that or getting "eaten" by the English (love that phrase you said), I think Louis would hand EoW over in a flash.
It would be weird if the cousin war would shift from England to the continent ( France), with France, Anjou, Lorraine for Lancaster( as I have a feeling Edward of Westminster would survive this timeline) and England, Burgundy, and ( maybe latter on) Brittany for the Yorks, with Scotland as the wildcard.
I read he was sympathetic to the Lancastrians in particular, though he only ever reallly wanted an alliance with England, so was obviously support them. I say he wasn’t fully committed until after the Readeption because his chronicler described him as being very unhappy at Edward’s arrival in Burgundy, and thought the treaty that he had signed with Edward still applied despite the King changing. But it was certainly around that time he committed himself to the Yorkists.
I mean if he’s in Lorraine, it’s not going to be easy to get him, unless Charles has better luck at the Battle of Nancy. Alternatively he could end all support, and the Lancastrians and make them 15th century Jacobites.
Scotland would likely ally with France because of the Auld Alliance. Also there’s a chance Edward of Westminster might be the Duke of Lorraine here, since I have seen it suggested in other threads.
That's what I meant. When Edward arrived in Burgundy, Charles was unhappy. But he committed to the Yorkists when Warwick and Louis formed an alliance against Burgundy, which was during the readeption.
And tbh, it's a bit touch and go on EoW and his fate. I don't know if he'd be able to secure himself as Duke of Lorraine either.
Oh, okay.
I mean his Grandfather is the Duke, and can will it to whoever he wants if his male line still goes extinct, so there's a chance he could inherit it. This is also assuming Nicholas of Anjou still dies as per OTL.
The only thing is that EOW has been plagued with rumors of his illegitimacy since he was born and if there are other Anjou relatives/cousins still around they are sure to use this rumor against him to disqualify him from inheriting, despite if Renee willed it or not. Heck I can even see King Louis using this excuse to annex Anjou/Lorraine
Those rumours are (probably) crap, they didn’t start spreading year 7 years after Edwards birth, and by none other than the Kingmaker (Ironic), so likely false IMO. Assuming lifespans are unaffected by the POD Louis will be dead by Renée’s death, so Lorraine should be safe enough. I don’t know how many other Anjou’s are running around, though you are right they could use it against II .
Not true. Also René I was NEVER Duke of Lorraine on his own right (so free to will it to anyone) as the Duchy had belonged to his wife Isabella of Lorraine and was inherited by their son and then grandson.
A Bourbon match for Edward IV is unlikely to go ahead when Louis XI is offering Bona as the Duke of Bourbon was an enemy of his brother-in-law (Charles married Isabella for sealing a truce and because he needed to marry a French princess) and was instead loyal to/allied with Louis XI
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The illegitimacy wouldn't matter since the claim of EoW to Lorraine/Anjou came through his mother not his father. So, yes, he'd be "illegitimate" (if there was any truth to the rumours) but his mother was also the younger daughter of René, so the argument is likely to be for "seniority" of the Vaudemont branch (married to Yolande d'Anjou) rather than the "illegitimacy".