WI Henry of Navarre and Margaret of Valois have a son?

Just an idea: what could be the consequences of Margaret of Valois becoming pregnant of Henry of Navarre and having a son? I know that IOTL they lived separate lives, openly keeping lovers, but let's assume that she gets pregnant in 1572, during the six days between her marriage and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and so gives birth to a healthy son in June 1573. How could this affect Henry, Margaret and the religious and political conflicts during the reigns of Charles IX and Henry III?
 
Just an idea: what could be the consequences of Margaret of Valois becoming pregnant of Henry of Navarre and having a son? I know that IOTL they lived separate lives, openly keeping lovers, but let's assume that she gets pregnant in 1572, during the six days between her marriage and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and so gives birth to a healthy son in June 1573. How could this affect Henry, Margaret and the religious and political conflicts during the reigns of Charles IX and Henry III?

Hmmm. This is an interesting POD. Having a son born in 1573 would definitely change things. For one Henri wouldn't be able to divorce Marguerite. Everything else depends on how this son, lets call him Henri, is raised. If he stays at Court with his grandmother as a hostage for good behavior, which I imagine is most likely, then he'll no doubt be Catholic. Next, with one son we could end up seeing more from the Navarre Couple. Not likely sense they would have "got lucky" on the first try, but possible. Third, assuming the butterflies don't change anything, like Charles IX's daughter is born a boy or Louise of Lorraine has a child, things will gt even more interesting once uncle Henri III dies (If everything goes the same its not unreasonable to think there would be assassination attempts and that one could succeed) the question becomes what next? Do we follow the line of succession and make Henri of Navarre the Protestant King or do we bypass him and make Henri the Younger King directly? I think that question is gonna be a major one to answer.
 
Hmmm. This is an interesting POD. Having a son born in 1573 would definitely change things. For one Henri wouldn't be able to divorce Marguerite. Everything else depends on how this son, lets call him Henri, is raised. If he stays at Court with his grandmother as a hostage for good behavior, which I imagine is most likely, then he'll no doubt be Catholic. Next, with one son we could end up seeing more from the Navarre Couple. Not likely sense they would have "got lucky" on the first try, but possible. Third, assuming the butterflies don't change anything, like Charles IX's daughter is born a boy or Louise of Lorraine has a child, things will gt even more interesting once uncle Henri III dies (If everything goes the same its not unreasonable to think there would be assassination attempts and that one could succeed) the question becomes what next? Do we follow the line of succession and make Henri of Navarre the Protestant King or do we bypass him and make Henri the Younger King directly? I think that question is gonna be a major one to answer.

Well, by August, Elisabeth of Austria was already pregnant (her daugther would be born in October) so no butterflies would change the gender of the child here.* But is possible that Henry III wouldn't marry Louise of Lorraine, or she wouldn't suffer the miscarriage that probably rendered her infertile.

I can see "prince Henry" - or Antoine, or Jean, if Henry of Navarre wants to honor his father or his mother - being raised at the French court rather than in Navarre: it's something that Catherine de Medici would try to do. If so, he would be a Catholic.

*Actually, if Marie Elisabeth of Valois lives, she would be a strong candidate to be the bride of "prince Henry de Bourbon".
 
Well, by August, Elisabeth of Austria was already pregnant (her daugther would be born in October) so no butterflies would change the gender of the child here.* But is possible that Henry III wouldn't marry Louise of Lorraine, or she wouldn't suffer the miscarriage that probably rendered her infertile.

I can see "prince Henry" - or Antoine, or Jean, if Henry of Navarre wants to honor his father or his mother - being raised at the French court rather than in Navarre: it's something that Catherine de Medici would try to do. If so, he would be a Catholic.

*Actually, if Marie Elisabeth of Valois lives, she would be a strong candidate to be the bride of "prince Henry de Bourbon".


OK so definite Madame Royale/Princess. As for Henri's bride, if we want to get real interesting, we could have Henri's original choice, Marie of Cleves Princesse de Conde, not die. Henri wanted to arrange a divorce for Marie from her Protestant husband and marry her. It would be an interesting scenario, to say the least.

But if not, we could see Louise not miscarry, though the possibility of her only producing daughters, like the wives of the last Capet Kings, is still there. In such a scenario, I wonder who would be Henri the Younger's bride? A surviving Marie Elisabeth or a daughter of Henri III?

But yeah I can definitely see the Bourbon Prince staying at Court,as the potential heir of the next generation, a male grandchild of Catherine, and a hostage for Navarre and the Huguenots.
 
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