I've been doing some reading up on the whole Wittelsbach mess that was Bavaria pre-1504. There were several branches of the house of Wittelsbach in Bavaria - based out of Landshut, out of Ingolstadt, Munich, and Straubing, all descending from Emperor Ludwig IV. By the late 15th century only two of these lines were still extant - namely Bavaria-Munich and Bavaria-Landshut (which had also inherited the territories of the Ingolstadt branch in 1445 from what I can make out).
Either way, there were two dukes of Bavaria at the time - Georg the Rich (who was married to a Polish princess, sister to the successive kings of Poland and to Ladislav II/VII of Hungary/Bohemia) of Landshut, and who had two surviving legitimate kids - Ludwig (b.1476) and Elisabeth (b.1478); and Albrecht (IV) the Wise (who was married to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I's sister) of Munich.
Then calamity struck in 1500, Erbprinz Ludwig of Bavaria-Landshut died without being married and thus without issue (I can't find if there were any brides being considered for him at the time of his death, but it seems strange to think that a crown prince would be 24yo and not a single betrothal, especially when he had no surviving brothers). Of course, this resulted in a scuffle a few years later when Georg died suddenly. It seems that Georg tried to name his daughter Elisabeth (who was married to the Elector Palatine's younger son) as his heir. Naturally, Albrecht thought that the lands were to go to him and the emperor agreed, and the War of the Lanshut Succession ended with most of the Landshut inheritance going to the Bavaria-Munich branch.
So, my WI is as follows: Ludwig doesn't die of whatever killed him, and he gets married ASAP (IDK to who, as I said, I can't seem to find that he was betrothed anywhere). But what of Bavaria? Does it remain fragmented? With the possibility of being further subdivided again (both Georg the Rich and his father, Duke Ludwig IX had been their dads' only surviving sons; whereas Albrecht had four brothers who if the dates of their reigns are anything to go by, were all sort of co-rulers - Albrecht had simply survived them all)? And if Bavaria may be subdivided again and again, would the Wittelsbachs ever be a threat to the Habsburgs as it was OTL? Or could a wily emperor simply just play the two lines off against one another, maybe even pick up more of Bavaria than they did OTL?
Either way, there were two dukes of Bavaria at the time - Georg the Rich (who was married to a Polish princess, sister to the successive kings of Poland and to Ladislav II/VII of Hungary/Bohemia) of Landshut, and who had two surviving legitimate kids - Ludwig (b.1476) and Elisabeth (b.1478); and Albrecht (IV) the Wise (who was married to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I's sister) of Munich.
Then calamity struck in 1500, Erbprinz Ludwig of Bavaria-Landshut died without being married and thus without issue (I can't find if there were any brides being considered for him at the time of his death, but it seems strange to think that a crown prince would be 24yo and not a single betrothal, especially when he had no surviving brothers). Of course, this resulted in a scuffle a few years later when Georg died suddenly. It seems that Georg tried to name his daughter Elisabeth (who was married to the Elector Palatine's younger son) as his heir. Naturally, Albrecht thought that the lands were to go to him and the emperor agreed, and the War of the Lanshut Succession ended with most of the Landshut inheritance going to the Bavaria-Munich branch.
So, my WI is as follows: Ludwig doesn't die of whatever killed him, and he gets married ASAP (IDK to who, as I said, I can't seem to find that he was betrothed anywhere). But what of Bavaria? Does it remain fragmented? With the possibility of being further subdivided again (both Georg the Rich and his father, Duke Ludwig IX had been their dads' only surviving sons; whereas Albrecht had four brothers who if the dates of their reigns are anything to go by, were all sort of co-rulers - Albrecht had simply survived them all)? And if Bavaria may be subdivided again and again, would the Wittelsbachs ever be a threat to the Habsburgs as it was OTL? Or could a wily emperor simply just play the two lines off against one another, maybe even pick up more of Bavaria than they did OTL?
