WI King Henry of Portugal has an heir?

Henry was the younger brother of King Joao III and, as a younger son, he was not expected to succeed to the Portuguese throne. He served as regent for his grand-nephew, king Sebastiao I, after 1557, and then succeeded him as king after the disastrous Battle of Alcacer-Quibir in 1578. Henry renounced his clerical offices and sought to take a bride for the continuation of the Avis dynasty, but Pope Gregory XIII, affiliated with the Habsburgs, did not release him from his vows. The Cardinal-King died without having appointed a Council of Regency to choose a successor. One of the closest dynastic claimants was King Philippe II of Spain who, in November 1580, sent the Duke of Alba to claim Portugal by force. Lisbon soon fell, and Philip was elected King of Portugal on condition that the kingdom and its overseas territories would not become Spanish provinces.
WI the Pope had released him from his vows and Henry got married and had issue?
How is this altering History? Any thoughts???
 
Maybe in a clever thought (if Pope persists not allowing the Cardinal to marry) Henry could have sired a bastard and follow the "Portuguese solution" precedent... Aka raising a bastard to the throne when run out of legitimate heirs...
 
It might work if a more friendly Pope was in Rome... maybe that could be the POD. Someone besides Gregory XIII is elected (who else was candidate), and allows the Cardinal-king to marry.
 
Cardinal Charles Borromeo Archbishop of Milan was a serious contender to the Papal Throne and he received many votes in the Conclave... But if i am not mistaken he had stated that he would decline the tiara if elected...
Also Giulio Santorio could have made a bid for the throne too but he was absent from the 1572 Conclave...
Oh and u can count Cardinal Maffei as a "dark horse" he obtained some votes too...
 
Maybe in a clever thought (if Pope persists not allowing the Cardinal to marry) Henry could have sired a bastard and follow the "Portuguese solution" precedent... Aka raising a bastard to the throne when run out of legitimate heirs...

This "Portuguese solution" was only used twice and it only worked once, when John I of Aviz was made king. The other one, when Anthony, Prior of Crato was declared king was a complete failure. And Portuguese were not the only ones to use this solution in Iberia (the House of Trastamara was a bastard branch from the House of Burgundy).

But, if Henry had sired an illegitimate son (what is quite unlikely, since he was already 66 and had bad health when he became king) then you only have one more candidate for the Portuguese throne: a bastard infant. You still have around Anthony, the Duchess of Braganza and Philip II of Spain, the most powerful king in Europe. So, probably the Portuguese nobility would still ally with Philip.

The only to get rid of an Iberian Union in this case would be a legitimate heir. Henry would probably try to marry one of the daughters of Philip II, in order to keep the peace with Spain. But Philip knew that the only thing he needed to do to get Portugal was to wait Henry's death, and so is very unlikely to see him allowing such marriage. So Henry would need to choose other princess (who would be available?) or even a daughter of some important Portuguese noble (maybe Juliana de Lancastre, daughter of the Duke of Aveiro). But still you would need a lot of luck to have him getting a heir.
 
Henrique could have sired a bastard while Cardinal (he wouldnt be the first Cardinal to do so after all) and then have a Council legitimise his offspring shortly before he dies... Pope Gregory XIII wouldnt have let him to marry... (Had he do that he would have provoked King of Spain's wrath...)
With a legitimised heir Philippe looses his place in succession...
 
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