WI the County of Flanders is untied with England instead of Burgundy?

I was reading a book on the Hundred Years' War and discovered that Flanders came close to union with the English crown; this was stopped by the desperate move of the French monarch to have it dynastically unified with the Duchy of Burgundy instead, as he dreaded the creation of a northern Guyenne. What if it had gone the other way? I don't think that it'll have much effect on the -final- outcome of the hundred years' war - the population and wealth disparity is simply too great, though the wealth of the Low Countries is nothing to sneeze at - but it has interesting implications for the politics of the HRE, at least, since even if there still is a Habsburg inheritance of Burgundy you don't have the mess that they got into with the United Provinces.

So does Spain use the saved treasure from the wars in the Netherlands to push the Reconquista south to Timbuktu and East to Carthage? Does France demand the County as part of any final peace agreement and become a force in the HRE (King Louis, Elector of Flanders, haha)?


edit: that'd be -united-, not untied :p
 
I was reading a book on the Hundred Years' War and discovered that Flanders came close to union with the English crown; this was stopped by the desperate move of the French monarch to have it dynastically unified with the Duchy of Burgundy instead, as he dreaded the creation of a northern Guyenne. What if it had gone the other way? I don't think that it'll have much effect on the -final- outcome of the hundred years' war - the population and wealth disparity is simply too great, though the wealth of the Low Countries is nothing to sneeze at - but it has interesting implications for the politics of the HRE, at least, since even if there still is a Habsburg inheritance of Burgundy you don't have the mess that they got into with the United Provinces.

So does Spain use the saved treasure from the wars in the Netherlands to push the Reconquista south to Timbuktu and East to Carthage? Does France demand the County as part of any final peace agreement and become a force in the HRE (King Louis, Elector of Flanders, haha)?


edit: that'd be -united-, not untied :p

Bad Spellers of the World, UNTIE!!!

That aside, it wouldn't be long before Spanish domination evaporated anyway. The Inquisition was killing off the Spanish middle class, so the moment plundered wealth stops flowing in from their New World colonies, Spanish dominance ends. They probably would have stood up a bit longer, though, and maybe won a few extra wars.

Also, Flanders being British means that Britain gets an influx of Low Province wealth. With the Dutch Golden Age rolling around, this might mean very different Anglo-Dutch Wars, Franco-British relations, etc. This really isn't my area of expertise, but it is certainly an intruiging possibility for a TL.
 
One thing: with this happening the Burgundian Inheritance might be butterflied away. Depending on the year in which this would happen, the Valois dukes getting the Low Countries might not happen either.
 
this would also mean English dominance of the textile trade by linking wool production (england) with the low country textile industry. There might even some mercantile policy to limit wool exports only to the "English" low country.
 
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