WI: Francis I instead of Charles V

So, I'm sure it's been asked before but what if Francis I became HRE instead of Charles V?

Okay, so I've been brainstorming and I came up with the most likely scenario, in my mind, to accomplish the task. Though, give me some slack cause I ain't the best with HRE history.

Francis I plays up the fact that he's willing to take on some Protestants, this gets him the votes of Hermann, Archbishop of Cologne and Albert, Archbishop of Mainz.

Now, Joachim I, Margrave of Brandenburg, sides with Albert, his brother, and votes for Francis. George the Bearded, though a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, votes for Francis when he promises to pay for the Saxon loss of Friesland to Burgundy and then some, they let the territory go for only 100,000 florins.

So that's four, which is the amount needed.

If there are more than a few glaring holes just point 'em out, like I said, the HRE is my weak spot when it comes to European history, so this was just my best try.

And now comment on what the effect of Francis I coming to power instead of Charles V is.
 
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Looks pretty good. If Francis become emperor, many possible things could happen:

Francis uses whatever riches of the empire he can to make France more powerful. Maybe he uses France's superior military to occupy Protestant-controlled areas in the HRE, placing any prince that converts to the new heresy under Imperial Ban and seizing their land for the empire. This persecution would probably cause Protestantism to spread, but that would mean Francis just gets to conquer more land. He might be able to completely suppress Protestantism ITTL, at least in the Holy Roman Empire.
 
Charles V declares war on France and we get a massive continent wide war that would likely see much of France, Burgundy, and the HRE ravaged.
 
Charles V declares war on France and we get a massive continent wide war that would likely see much of France, Burgundy, and the HRE ravaged.

Agreed - i can't see the rest of Europe, or the Haspburgs wanting to see the French in control of so much land.
 
Francis uses whatever riches of the empire he can to make France more powerful.
Those are very limited indeed, there was ni Imperial tax system at all, the Emperor was basically a prestige position with little real power, other than some legal powers that had to be backed in any case by real force.
It would be interesting to see Charles V supporting the Protestant princes against France :)
 
Those are very limited indeed, there was ni Imperial tax system at all, the Emperor was basically a prestige position with little real power, other than some legal powers that had to be backed in any case by real force.
It would be interesting to see Charles V supporting the Protestant princes against France :)

Except this is taking place in 1520, only a decade or so after the Imperial Reform that took many steps to rebuild central authority. The Imperial Circles had been collected, which standardized the tax system of the empire. The empire did still have power then (it was only post-Westphalia that he was a true figurehead), and without the Reformation the Reichsreform might have been more successful.
 
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