He was sickly and much like his predecessor in terms of lineage. I've read a few threads but none have satisfied me as of yet =P
For one thing, the young King would only be 8 years old, which means he'd need to have a regent; who would that regent be and would they be effective?
Secondly, would France and the other nations accept the Treaty of the Hague and partition the French empire, despite Charles II's will explicity stating that no such partition was to take place? It grafted the Italian territories to France and the Low Country territories to the Habsburgs. Would this go through, or would nothing happen- or would it all be done to appease each of the nations.
Lastly, while this might avoid a War of Spanish Succession as in OTL, would it happen anyway simply a bit later? Joseph-Ferdinand wouldn't be a great ruler if he managed to get to 16, and if the regent was a woman or a Habsburg would France accept that?
Would we simply see another war in Spain, perhaps under a different name but with similar implications and results or would this diverge alot and go off on a whole different tangent.
I realize there have been other threads- even rather recent ones, but none address all of these questions or if they do, they don't answer them as fully as I'd like to see =P
For one thing, the young King would only be 8 years old, which means he'd need to have a regent; who would that regent be and would they be effective?
Secondly, would France and the other nations accept the Treaty of the Hague and partition the French empire, despite Charles II's will explicity stating that no such partition was to take place? It grafted the Italian territories to France and the Low Country territories to the Habsburgs. Would this go through, or would nothing happen- or would it all be done to appease each of the nations.
Lastly, while this might avoid a War of Spanish Succession as in OTL, would it happen anyway simply a bit later? Joseph-Ferdinand wouldn't be a great ruler if he managed to get to 16, and if the regent was a woman or a Habsburg would France accept that?
Would we simply see another war in Spain, perhaps under a different name but with similar implications and results or would this diverge alot and go off on a whole different tangent.
I realize there have been other threads- even rather recent ones, but none address all of these questions or if they do, they don't answer them as fully as I'd like to see =P