Exactly as it says on the tin. Louis XI and Charles the Bold were contemporaries as the King of France and Duke of Burgundy respectively in the 15th century, but their personalities and legacies could not be further apart. Louis was cautious and cunning, preferring plots to direct confrontation; for this he was known as "the Spider". On the other hand, and as his epithet pretty obviously shows, Charles was proud, vainglorious, and relished any chance of taking the fight to his many enemies head-on. The different results on their realms were stark: France continued to centralize and saw off its many enemies both within and without its borders, whilst Burgundy got divvied up between the Valois and the Habsburgs.
But what if these two men switched personalities? For Spider Charles this would require a pretty blatant personality transplant, but Louis was fairly reckless in his youth, rebelling against his father, Charles VII (and fleeing to exile in Burgundy for his troubles ironically enough), so its not wholly implausible. Butterflies will start flapping once the War of the Public Weal rolls around - Spider Charles should be able to control and wage the conflict much more skillfully than his historical counterpart, with a corresponding decrease in effectiveness on the part of Louis the Bold. Which would result in a severe curtailing of the French monarchy's power vis-à-vis its overmighty dukes and counts starting from the late 1460s onwards. Perhaps Charles, Duke of Berry, Louis XI's brother and rival, would survive long enough to spark further civil strife down the line? At the very least, Charles the Spider should be more than tactful enough to be crowned as King of Burgundy in 1473, if not earlier, since he will not scare off Emperor Frederick III with his naked ambition.
Meanwhile, Louis the Bold would surely want to direct his energies somewhere in a violent manner, whether it be sparking the Italian Wars three decades early, invading the Swiss cantons as Charles the Bold did OTL, even reigniting the Hundred Years War by trying to seize Calais, or some other wild course? Speaking of, Edward IV's invasion of France in 1475 would likely not be bought off with the Treaty of Picquigny, simply because it was not in the Bold's nature to make peace. Ever. Would the English be able to reassert their rights over continental France, in the context of a brotherly civil war and semi-independent feudal nobles? Most likely not, but Normandy or Aquitaine might be recovered if Louis the Bold massively screws up. However, given how Charles the Bold destroyed his army fighting against the Swiss three times IOTL, while making fervent enemies of all his neighbours, I would not put said massive screw up past Louis the Bold TTL. That itself will have knock-on effects in England itself, especially with regards to Clarence's crackpot plans to be "Regent of France" and so forth.
For the sake of a productive discussion, let's keep talk about alternate family trees to a minimum - the real POD here is the switch in personality itself, not whether Mary of Burgundy has a brother or if Louis XI marries differently. History is about way more than just a few noble families having sons instead of daughters, or vice-versa, anyways.
So, what are everyone's thoughts on this scenario?
But what if these two men switched personalities? For Spider Charles this would require a pretty blatant personality transplant, but Louis was fairly reckless in his youth, rebelling against his father, Charles VII (and fleeing to exile in Burgundy for his troubles ironically enough), so its not wholly implausible. Butterflies will start flapping once the War of the Public Weal rolls around - Spider Charles should be able to control and wage the conflict much more skillfully than his historical counterpart, with a corresponding decrease in effectiveness on the part of Louis the Bold. Which would result in a severe curtailing of the French monarchy's power vis-à-vis its overmighty dukes and counts starting from the late 1460s onwards. Perhaps Charles, Duke of Berry, Louis XI's brother and rival, would survive long enough to spark further civil strife down the line? At the very least, Charles the Spider should be more than tactful enough to be crowned as King of Burgundy in 1473, if not earlier, since he will not scare off Emperor Frederick III with his naked ambition.
Meanwhile, Louis the Bold would surely want to direct his energies somewhere in a violent manner, whether it be sparking the Italian Wars three decades early, invading the Swiss cantons as Charles the Bold did OTL, even reigniting the Hundred Years War by trying to seize Calais, or some other wild course? Speaking of, Edward IV's invasion of France in 1475 would likely not be bought off with the Treaty of Picquigny, simply because it was not in the Bold's nature to make peace. Ever. Would the English be able to reassert their rights over continental France, in the context of a brotherly civil war and semi-independent feudal nobles? Most likely not, but Normandy or Aquitaine might be recovered if Louis the Bold massively screws up. However, given how Charles the Bold destroyed his army fighting against the Swiss three times IOTL, while making fervent enemies of all his neighbours, I would not put said massive screw up past Louis the Bold TTL. That itself will have knock-on effects in England itself, especially with regards to Clarence's crackpot plans to be "Regent of France" and so forth.
For the sake of a productive discussion, let's keep talk about alternate family trees to a minimum - the real POD here is the switch in personality itself, not whether Mary of Burgundy has a brother or if Louis XI marries differently. History is about way more than just a few noble families having sons instead of daughters, or vice-versa, anyways.
So, what are everyone's thoughts on this scenario?
However, I do think this is transposing the finest qualities of OTL Charles onto ATL Louis, whilst doing the opposite for OTL Louis onto ATL Charles. From the sounds of it Charles the Bold was just a flat-out a better ruler than Louis the Spider, in both intrigue and war. 