italian wars

In 1476 the young Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza was assassinated leaving behind his minor son Gian Galeazzo Sforza. He ascended to the throne and his uncle Ludovico Sforza became his regent. He was married to Isabella of Aragon. She requested her father Alfonso II of Naples to help her...

I'm currently trying to explore a scenario inwhich Louis II of Hungary doesn't die at the Battle of Mohács. Putting aside the exact developments concerning Hungary itself, what I wish to discuss here is the potential butterflies West of the Leitha. This is sort of a sequel/reboot of my previous...

Prologue: An Awful Day In the spring of 1484, Charles VIII was returning to Paris from the Estates General at Tours with his regents, Anne of Beaujeu and the Duke of Bourbon. Having feigned illness to bring an end to the Estates General, the young king’s symptoms went undetected until he was...

What if the Holy league followed up on their victory at the battle of La Motta during the third Italian war? What would have been the ramifications of taking advantage of Venice's blunder? Considering Maximilian and Ferdinand wanted to install a relative in the Duchy of Milan rather than...

The League of Cognac was an alliance between France, the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of England, the Duchy of Milan, and the Republic of Florence against the Habsburgs under Charles V, who recently became Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. However, it did not fair too...

Having come back to my old idea of Prince Albert, Bona Sforza's tragically-lost child, surviving and inheriting Poland I was doing research on Sigismund II the Old. I stumbled upon a mention of Elisabeth Habsburg (his mother) hoping for him to inherit Austria. Is there any more information on...

So I'm working on a story where a successful Norse settlement in the New World and unsuccessful late 15th century European attempts at settling the new world results in a timeline where colonization of the Americas never happens on a large scale (but efforts towards the Indian Ocean trade...

Charles V and Pope Clement VII had a very rocky relationship IOTL: although they were allies on paper, the latter tried to double cross the emperor multiple times, from letting a French army commanded by the Duke of Albany headed for Naples march through Papal territory unmolested, trying and...

Fernando d'Ávalos was a Neapolitan condottiero of Aragonese origin who fought in the Italian Wars, most specifically the War of the League of Cambrai and the War of 1521-1526. He was, during the latter, one of the main commanders of the imperial army, and played an important role in the...

In OTL, Gaston of Foix "The Thunderbolt of Italy" fell during the Battle of Ravenna in 1512. This meant that the French were unable to capitalise on their victory at the Battle, and advance their cause in the war. But what if Gaston of Foix had lived? Obviously France is in a better position...

During the Italian wars, the French had their main objectives of enforcing their Agevin claims and capture both Milan and Peninsular Sicily and it's islands (Sicily and Sardinia), however due to a number of factors (coalitions against them, military failures, etc) they were kicked out of the...

During the starting phase of the Italian War of 1494 - 1498, when Charles VIII of France was marching throughout Italy without any opposition, Pope Alexander VI and King Alfonso II of Naples, in their desperation, even appealed to Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire. Alexander VI promised to...

The OTL end result of the seemingly endless slogging match that was the Italian Wars was an overwhelming Habsburg victory, with them gaining and keeping control of Milan and Naples. What would be the effects on both branches of the dynasty (Spanish and Austrian) if they instead lost both of...

Hey all, So, as we all know, the Holy Roman Emperor was elected by the various prince-electors, all of whom held their main titles in Germany and Bohemia. However, the HRE ruled much of Italy for a long time, and the Emperor was legitimised by the Catholic Church and was always crowned by the...

Like it says on the tin. What if France managed to consolidate their control over Milan instead of being kicked out of there by the Habsburgs after the Battle of Pavia? Would the kingdom's finances be affected to a considerable degree (Lombardy was pretty rich after all)? What about the Wars of...

William the Rich was duke of Julich, Cleves and Berg from 1539 until his death, but he also controlled the Duchy of Guelders for five years (1538-43) before being forced to yield it to Charles V in the Treaty of Venlo. What if he managed to hold on to Guelders for whatever reason? Say the French...

Adrian VI was the only Dutchman to ever become Pope, as well as the last non-Italian to be elected to the post until John Paul II four and a half centuries later. Wikipedia says he had some reformist ideas (but doesn't explain what said ideas were like) and that his proposals were hampered by...

What if Francesco II Sforza, the last member of his family to rule Milan, lived longer (say until the age of 60) and had an adult son at the time of his death? How would Italy be affected by a Lombardy that retains its independence instead of falling completely into the Habsburg orbit? What...

There are plenty on discussions about the French winning the Battle of Pavia, but I don't remember seeing any that looked at the things that could happen outside of Italy as a result. So, what could Francis I get in a peace treaty if he won the battle and captured Charles V? Milan is a given...

Basically the Hapsburgs don't get the Spanish kingdoms, but the two realms remain allied against France. Spain holds Naples and Sicily while the Hapsburgs restablish the tradtional HRE hold over northern Italy. Does this work out or can the French defeat them in detail?