I have seen claims that Austria was up to 50% Protestant at one point. Now consider this PoD...
When the Reformation began, the Pope was Leo X. He was by all accounts devout and chaste, but also a "Good Time Charlie" who spent vast sums of Church money on luxurious living and artistic patronage. He pushed the sale of indulgences to raise money for these activities, particularly the completion of St. Peter's Cathedral. He died in 1521, aged only 46, of a sudden attack of pneumonia. There seems no particular reason that he could not have lived another 20 years; his predecessor, Julius II, died at 70, and his successor Adrian VI died at 64.
Adrian VI was Pope for less than two years; Clement VII then served until 1534. (Leo and Clement were both Medici scions, BTW.) Adrian and Clement didn't challenge the Protestants; Clement's successor Paul III launched the Counter-Reformation. But they did end Leo's high-spending ways and made the Papacy less blatantly offensive to reform-minded Germans.
So... WI Leo had lived substantially longer? Would the continuation of his practices aggravate Germans enough to lose the whole country to the Reformation?
Let's go further, and add the PoD of "No Habsburg inheritance", i.e. the Habsburgs don't inherit the Kingdom of Spain (and Spanish dominions in Italy). They remain a purely German house, and thus subject to being carried along with the Protestant tide. Some other Habsburg prince, "Maximilian" or "Louis", is Emperor, and decides that the Papacy are nothing but a lot of thieving Dagos; he embraces Lutheranism.
Can he do that and remain Emperor? Easily, IMO. If all Germany breaks with Rome, his breaking with Rome will be applauded. His authority will not be challenged. The question of the succession will come up - and probably be resolved by declaring the title hereditary. If the Habsburgs have not only their traditional "realm" in the southeast, but also the Burgundian lands in the northwest (which they acquired before the Spanish connection), the Habsburg Emperor is by far the greatest prince in Germany, and as defender of the Protestant faith against the Papists, generally popular. The princes of the Empire will be annoyed, but not so much as to rebel openly.
Over time, this could lead to consolidation of Germany in the 1600s or 1700s.
When the Reformation began, the Pope was Leo X. He was by all accounts devout and chaste, but also a "Good Time Charlie" who spent vast sums of Church money on luxurious living and artistic patronage. He pushed the sale of indulgences to raise money for these activities, particularly the completion of St. Peter's Cathedral. He died in 1521, aged only 46, of a sudden attack of pneumonia. There seems no particular reason that he could not have lived another 20 years; his predecessor, Julius II, died at 70, and his successor Adrian VI died at 64.
Adrian VI was Pope for less than two years; Clement VII then served until 1534. (Leo and Clement were both Medici scions, BTW.) Adrian and Clement didn't challenge the Protestants; Clement's successor Paul III launched the Counter-Reformation. But they did end Leo's high-spending ways and made the Papacy less blatantly offensive to reform-minded Germans.
So... WI Leo had lived substantially longer? Would the continuation of his practices aggravate Germans enough to lose the whole country to the Reformation?
Let's go further, and add the PoD of "No Habsburg inheritance", i.e. the Habsburgs don't inherit the Kingdom of Spain (and Spanish dominions in Italy). They remain a purely German house, and thus subject to being carried along with the Protestant tide. Some other Habsburg prince, "Maximilian" or "Louis", is Emperor, and decides that the Papacy are nothing but a lot of thieving Dagos; he embraces Lutheranism.
Can he do that and remain Emperor? Easily, IMO. If all Germany breaks with Rome, his breaking with Rome will be applauded. His authority will not be challenged. The question of the succession will come up - and probably be resolved by declaring the title hereditary. If the Habsburgs have not only their traditional "realm" in the southeast, but also the Burgundian lands in the northwest (which they acquired before the Spanish connection), the Habsburg Emperor is by far the greatest prince in Germany, and as defender of the Protestant faith against the Papists, generally popular. The princes of the Empire will be annoyed, but not so much as to rebel openly.
Over time, this could lead to consolidation of Germany in the 1600s or 1700s.