The Emirate of Sicily ruled the island for about two centuries, eventually falling apart due to Italian naval supremacy, Norman adventurism, and political fragmentation. But was it truly doomed to fall apart?
Sicily itself was not the only Muslim presence in Italy, but it was the most...
True, but these are not as distinct as one might think- the better analogy is driving recklessly on worn down tires and then getting your car wrecked. The "maintenance" contributed fairly directly to the collapse.
Absent imperial weakness the Latins wouldn't have been able to show up and seize...
Pre-1204 was not exactly sunshine and roses, and even if 1204 was a massive shock that unmoored the Empire there is a reason that the total collapse came more than a century later (and the final fall a century after that). Conversely, 1204 itself was not a bolt from the blue, but a fire...
The aftermath of Aljubarrota was not exactly favorable to Castille as it was; nevertheless, the Castillians pressed the English out. I could see John being favored as an adult King from a fairly military prestigious dynasty, eminently desirable after such a massive disaster (and preferable...
Bernabo Visconti had a few sons still alive in 1402 and several daughters. Iirc Gian Galeazzo also fathered at least one bastard.
Louis of Orleans would be Gian Galeazzo's choice (or more accurately Valentina and her consort), provided that Louis came and ruled Milan in his own right, rather...
I would suggest that a Roman republic is perhaps the most "likely" to become revanchist but it requires one to flex the definition of republic and consider the post-Carolingian political currents running through Italy and beyond. Specifically I think of the Tusculani, where Alberic of Spoleto...
The English would support whichever side bribed them better. They intervened under Henry IV against the Armagnac, but didn't get the full payout of land. Henry V strongly favored Burgundy and eventually sided with them.
A decisive victory over England is going to cement Armaganc power, so...
Killing off Henry V is easy enough; perhaps his wound taken in the Welsh religion festers and he dies before becoming King. Alternately, if Edward III had a son then the Lancastrians might not come to the throne at all.
Yet the root difficulty for France was the struggle for power between the...