And thus concludes yet another Italian war. I really like that neither Francis nor Charles really came out ‘victorious’ in this war; with Lorenzo III ending up in the best spot through his marriage to Charles's illegitimate daughter. I also enjoyed hearing of Louis IV's attempts to regain Sicily for Naples… Maybe someday he’ll succeed. 😂 At least Charles will finally have his coronation, though—a full twenty-one years after he was elected! The Concordant is really interesting, and it looks like the Catholic Church in the Empire is going to undergo some more changes ITTL, though it’s good that the Pope will still have some say. Pius V seems to be pretty good at his job, all things considered. I feel bad for Francis, losing one of his sons like that. François of Bourbon joining the church, though…some interesting stuff is bound to come from that, with regards to his inheritance. 👀 An earlier Habsburg-Polish marriage is certain to be interesting, too; I hope that we can see something about Marie and Sigismund soon.
It sounds like the Dauphin and Isabelle genuinely love and care for each other, and I'm so here for it! Here’s hoping that they have many years together. It is quite sad to see that she has little relationship/attachment to Charles, but I suppose that’s to be expected when she’s been raised at another court for years and seems to have a loving relationship with her in-laws…aside from the queen (not that I can blame her, given that Beatriz doesn’t seem too thrilled about her either). Even if I do feel bad for her, the dynamic between Beatriz and the French royal family continues to make me laugh out loud; she’s managed to get all of Francis and Claude's children to dislike her somehow, and the fact that they all seem to like his mistress more just seems to be salt in the wound. She needs to get out of that court for her own sake at this point.
Georges de Boullan and Louise Borgia…You mad lad, you actually did it!! 😂 Thrilled with Georges getting the dukedom of his father-in-law, and I'm sure Louise will be glad to have the title, too. It’s a good match for both of them, all things considered; and it lines up well with Anne's desire to find George a wealthy heiress! Hopefully they can be happy together, or at least satisfied/cordial.
Another fantastic chapter! ^-^ I'm looking forward to the next one.
Thank you, Mickey!
Yes, this war ended up not really pleasing either side: though François now occupies Savoy, it remains to be seen if he'll return it to Duke Charles... he did it once before, but with the lack of progress in the Low Countries, he may decide to hang onto it for a bit longer. Certainly, Catherine of Austria is probably tired of being chased from her duchy every few years because her brother and the King of France get into it. It sort of reestablishes an equilibrium between the two parties, as France's previous victories were based more upon luck (capturing Charles in battle, then the state of Charles finances). He's in a better position to fight back, now. Louis IV will definitely attempt Sicily again, and his pirates will become a scourge of the Mediterranean.
The Concordat is very interesting, and is modelled upon the Concordat of Bologna. It extends some rights that the emperor had over Bishoprics and extends them throughout the empire, though obviously final say remains with the Pope. This also obviously doesn't impact the Electorates (including the spiritual electorates) which have their own concordat from 1447. This means that the spiritual electorates will continue to likely maintain their own elections, though of course the emperor and the princes will desire to foist their own candidates upon them, as they did IOTL. Beatriz... yes, she's a menace, isn't she? I do promise that good times will be coming for her, and she will eventually have a happy life, albeit one that isn't in France. She
has succeeded in giving François a living son:
Philippe Emmanuel, born in 1535. With his older brother killed in battle, he'll become Duke of Orléans now.
I remember we talked about a potential match for George, and I'll admit: the idea of Boleyn + Borgia was too much to pass up! Plus it provided an easy title for him in the Duchy of Valentinois. I think Louise will be willing to look the other way regarding Georges, uh, appetites... and they'll have a decent marriage and some children, too.
This was a really good chapter. I hope Isabelle and the dauphin are happy together.
Thank you, Blue!
It is very much a love match. I was influenced by François II and his marriage to Mary Stuart, where they were considered very fond of each other because they were raised together. I did love the idea of Isabelle and the Dauphin IATL having a very solid foundation for their marriage. The Dauphin is devoted to Isabelle, and vice versa. Even more surprising is the Dauphin's lack of mistresses: he'll remain monogamous and devoted to his wife throughout their marriage (a rarity for French kings).
Well, Maria is definitely gonna get an extremely prestigious match, as the eldest and perhaps only daughter, and the rest of the boys will need brides as well. One of the might enter the church and become archbishop of Toledo. Or even the pope.
Oh, they have more children.
Twelve all together though two more of them die fairly young (including Isabella who died young, before). They end up having three more living sons:
Carlos (b. 1536);
Enrique (b. 1538) and
Maximiliano (b. 1541) and two more living daughters:
Leonor (b. 1540) and
Margarita (b. 1543).
With the dearth of sons, the youngest can probably expect some plum clerical positions. I imagine aside from the heir, and the spare, and third son will probably remain in secular life, though he'll probably have to content himself with a domestic bride (if he marries at all).
For Maria, I'm sure Isabella would be pleased for her daughter to marry back into Portugal, though there's a rather large age gap between Maria and João III's eldest son, Carlos Manuel, who was born in 1522. The only princess who is of similar age to marry the heir of Portugal is Victoire, François' daughter... she was born in 1521, but given the treatment Beatriz has endured, I don't see the Portuguese angling for a French princess for their heir. A more far afield match for Carlos Emmanuel could be one of the daughters of Christian II, but I could see him desiring to use the marriages for alliances that would be of more use to Denmark...
So everyone in Paris hates Beatriz. I kinda feel sorry for her, even if she’s a bit difficult here. At least Isabelle is happy despite a distant relationship with her father. And Charles and Renee have another son! That leaves the Austrian branch secure too. It’ll be interesting to see how Charles secures imperial loyalty though. Otl Ferdinand could do that easier with the absurd number of kids he had that could be married off for alliances. Charles doesn’t quite have that luxury here
I promise that Beatriz is going to get her happy ending. She's still got some more time and agony to endure in France, but at least she has a son now, a son who is now the Duke of Orléans. Isabelle has had a very good life in France: it's sad that she's been separated from her parents and most especially her mother, but the relationship is sustained and cordial enough. Yes! The Burgundian Habsburg line is now secure, though thanks to God, little Maximilian is thriving.
Charles doesn't have the dearth of children that Ferdinand did, but Renée does give him several more daughters. Aside from Anne, mentioned in the previous chapter, there is
Adélaïde (b. 1537) and
Michèle (b. 1538). Though Marie will be going to Poland, that still gives him three daughters to use for alliances within empire. Perhaps Brandenburg, depending on their religious affiliation, and Cleves? Bavaria might work as well.
Hopefully he’ll be more succesful than otl’s Sigismund II in fathering an heir. I kinda want to see the Jagiellons survive and the PLC not turn into a hot mess
I have a soft spot for the Jagiellons, so they'll be surviving into the 17th century. Whether Sigismund II is successful remains to be seen, but he
does have a younger brother named Alexander...
Nice to see that Louise got a happy ending. I imagine that she’ll likely be happier in Naples than in Scotland as well
Louise is much more at home in sunny Naples than in cold Scotland! Louis IV and Louise has two children so far, with more to come:
Francesca (b. 1536) and
Renato (b. 1537).
Now that’s an intriguing match! Perhaps we’ll need to see a family tree for Mary, Anne and George at some point to see how far the Boleyns have climbed. But a Boleyn/Borgia match… Their children will have 100% drama and ambition flowing through their veins
Ask, and you shall receive:
House of Boullan (Dukes of Plaisance & Valentinois in France):
- Thomas Boleyn (1477 – 1539) m. Elizabeth Howard(1480 – 1538); Had Issue.
- Marie (1499 –) m. Jean du Tillet, Sieur de La Bussiére (1500 –); Had Issue.
- Georges, Duke of Valentinois (1504 –) m. Louise Borgia, Dame of Châlus (1500 –); Had Issue.
- Charlotte (1535); Died Young.
- Alain (1538 –)
- Jean (1541 –)
- Anne, Duchess of Plaisance (1507 –)
- [Ilg.] Elisabeth (1526 –) with François of France.
- [Ilg.] Jacqueline (1530 –) with François of France.
- [Ilg.] Octave (1533 –) with François of France.
- [Ilg.] Marguerite (1536); with François of France; Died Young.
- [Ilg.] Charles-Hercule (1540); with François of France; Died Young.
Marie's issue with the Sieur de La Bussiére is not included because they don't end up being of any importance, but they do have children. Marie ends up having a happy and prosperous life away from court in Paris, where she hosts a renowned salon. Jean du Tillet is a royal archivist... so not an amazing match as far as things are concerned, but it was arranged when Anne was just beginning her ascent. I've scrubbed some things out of this tree (namely, future titles) as I don't wanna give away too much yet.
Rip to the Duc D’Orleans. No French/Scottish heiress for him then. Bourbon’s turn to religion is certainly ominous. I wonder how that’ll influence the French wars of religion
Could definitely be interesting, presuming the junior Bourbon branch turns towards Protestantism. There's also the little heiress of Navarre, with her mother's inclinations, the House of Albret may end up Protestant as well, and her marriage could have a huge impact on things. I could see Beatriz angling for a marriage between Françoise and her own son, Philippe, to give him a crown of his own...
Honestly given the deception of Charles V here, I wouldn't be surprised if Francis prepared himself to do something similar and renegade the treaty so he can try and conquer Burgundian land again, especially with how pissed he seemed at having be dupped like this, wouldn't surprise me if he called for aid from Hungary, Naples and whoever (except Turks) that have beef with Charles and want to strike at him, I expect yet ANOTHER war in some 10 years or so.
As always, loved the chapter here.
Thank you Kurd!
Given the good luck France had been having, I felt it good to knock them down a peg: and in all honesty, the OTL Italian War of 1536 played out in much the same way, where nothing really changed hands. I figured with the emperor holding Milan, he was likely more than happy to return to François in exchange for him giving up his claims to Artois and Franche-Comté as Isabelle's dowry. François, at the very least, did occupy Savoy... given his inability to press any claims elsewhere, it seems that Duke Charles III had better get used to living in Brussels for a little while.
They will definitely end up at war again: and likely sooner rather than later. 😂
Great to see things developing. Others have made some of the points I wanted to make. I would be interested to see how Rene is doing. Did she view the war against France as justice for the way her rights to Britanny were usurped and her sister treated, was she against her husband fighting her homeland, or did she just take it with equanimity as a wife is expected to.
The birth of young Charles leads to the possibility Burgundy and Austria might be split, which is a terrible idea, as even if united they might not be strong enough to face the French. If I were Charles I would send him to the Chuch, and try to make him a Cardinal or an Elector.
Interesting to see Polish Austrian reconciliation. Presumably, Sigismund is not prepared to completely abandon Hungary. Anna is after all his niece. Maybe a compromise could be worked out similar to IRL, with Zapolya getting Transylvania, Elizabeth gaining the crown of Hungary, and presumably wedding her cousin Maximilian. Protestantism can both help and hinder this as on the one hand, shared Protestant beliefs might help Mary and Anna reconcile. On the other hand I doubt either, especially Anna, would be keen to have a Catholic Hapsburg presiding over the burgeoning reformation in their countries.
Renée's position towards the conflict was probably complicated. For one, there's probably not much love lost between François and Renée. After all, she was essentially forced to give up her rights to Brittany in exchange for the Duchy of Chartres: not exactly a fair trade. I'm sure she's well aware that Charles has no true ambitions towards regaining Brittany, and his attempts to bring it up were just part of his tactic of prevaricating when negotiating with the French. Renée and Charles have a fairly cordial relationship, though it lacks warmth, and he is troubled by her interest in the Protestant movement.
Charles will likely maintain the integrity of the Habsburg dominions, rather than trying to split them up. IIRC, Ferdinand gave his sons IOTL pieces of the Austrian dominions, but as appanages rather than directly splitting up the territories, so his younger son will likely be benefitted in that way. He may also receive the governorship of the Austrian territories, or perhaps even become Governor of Bohemia should Maximilian's marriage to Elisabeth of Bohemia come to pass.
Sigismund hasn't abandoned his relationship with his relatives in Hungary, but there are benefits to seeking a more positive relationship with the Habsburgs, especially with Mary's daughter being crowned in Bohemia. All are aware of the potential of her perhaps wedding into the imperial line and dragging Bohemia into the Habsburg dominions. Unfortunately I don't think any sort of compromise will be possible while Zápolya lives; he still maintains the whole of Hungary, and while his policies have lead to unease, he still remains vast support amongst the petty gentry, while the magnates have been all but cut down through the troubles at Mohac, the attacks by the Turks at Sopron, economic attacks through requisitions, ect. There remains an opposition force that champions the rights of Elisabeth to the Hungarian crown, but they've been much diminished in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion.
Perhaps there is hope for Mary and Anna to reconcile through their Protestant faith, but I think their political issues will always serve as a barrier: Mary is always going to believe that Hungary was usurped from her daughter, and she will likely lay that blame at Anna's feet, who chose to collaborate with (and marry!) John Zápolya rather than showing support to the claims of her niece. They are likely to remain enemies until their dying days.
Charles and Francis will duke it out while they are still in their eighties.
Gods, we don't need a world where a geriatric Charles and Francis are /still/ fighting over Milan into the 1580s...
