All Hail Germania (The Actual TL)
- Thread starter ImperialVienna
- Start date
******! You have Signor Machiavelli playing for HRE!? The Habsburgs have pulled a coup and no one realizes it. France will be destroyed by a German Empire erected by an Italian genius, once more you seem to be breaking into my happy place.
Hmm, as for the New World this era is not speciality so I am not sure of the differences yet. The town Kolumbus founded on his first trip, is it on the site of OTL Santo Domingo? He was fired OTL, but was it for the same reasons?
Hmm, as for the New World this era is not speciality so I am not sure of the differences yet. The town Kolumbus founded on his first trip, is it on the site of OTL Santo Domingo? He was fired OTL, but was it for the same reasons?
No Saint Brendan is about where Cap-Haïtien, in Haiti would be IOTL (the fort he founded there was destroyed by the natives IOTL). And yes he was fired for basically the same reasons.
Legacy of a Monarch – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Part 1
When discussing Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor first thing that must come to mind is the famous couplet:
Maximilian I legacy is defined almost entirely by his use of marriage as the greatest weapon of his day.
Maximilian first moved to secure the House of Habsburg’s future and place in the world in the 1470s with his marriage to Mary the Rich of Burgundy. Mary’s father that hoped to use his daughter as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the future Emperor, however when Maximilian and Mary actually fell in love, his well laid plans to elevate Burgundy to a Kingdom collapsed and he refused to consent to the marriage. However Charles the Bold died shortly thereafter, and the new Duchess of Burgundy followed her heart and married the future King of the Romans in 1477. Mary gave him two children, the first a son, Philip who would eventually become the King of Burgundy (realizing his grandfather’s dream), Castile, and Aragon, and a daughter Margaret, whose first two marriages to the King of France and the Prince of Asturias were cut short before she married the Duke of Savoy. Mary tragically died in 1482 falling from her horse. Her death triggered a series of wars over succession to her domains, however eventually Maximilian did succeed in reclaiming all of her territories from the French for his son Philip the Handsome.
Maximilian next married Anne of Brittany, who was also heiress to a Duchy prized by France. After Mary, Anne had been the wealthiest woman in the world, and her marriage to Maximilian in 1491 gave him control of a large portion of Europe’s wealth. Their marriage, unlike Maximilian’s marriage to Mary, was purely politically motivated. Anne was 18 years Maximilian’s junior and the marriage initially took place by proxy. However as Anne and the Breton estates had some what hoped, her marriage did trigger outrage in France resulting in the War of Breton Betrothal. As a result of Charles VIII’s preoccupation with Naples and the aid of England and Castile, Brittany achieved de facto independence from France and much of Burgundy was returned to Maximilian.
When the young Christoph Kolumbus appeared in Maximilian’s court he agreed to finance the explorer, not really believing he would return, but hoping that if Kolumbus did, he would be able to break the spice monopoly that the Italians and Arabs held over much of Western Europe. Well Kolumbus returned with news of his discovery Maximilian quickly agreed to finance another voyage, this time intended to begin colonization.
In early 1495, Charles VIII of France dethroned the King of Naples and claimed the throne for himself. This was unacceptable to Ferdinand II in Aragon, who immediately sent a combined “Spanish” army to retake Naples from the French and restore his cousin, Ferdinand II to the throne. Maximilian also saw Naples as a means to check French power, not only on the Italian Peninsula, but also in Northern Europe. The English were planning to remove their garrisons in Brittany, to be redeployed in Ireland and along the Scottish border, and Maximilian would need a reason to present to the Breton estates as to why Burgundian troops should move in to fill the position. A war with France gave him that reason. So by the time Ferdinand II and Pope Alexander VI sent envoys to find out with Maximilian was willing to join an anti-French coalition, he had already begun preparations by moving soldiers to the Franco-Burgundian border.
In May of 1495, Habsburg troops had once again entered France, this time seeking to retake all of Burgundy. Charles VIII had brought a large majority of his army to Naples, and while this allowed him to successfully take the southern Kingdom, it also left his country almost defenseless and his army far from home. Charles begins a tactical retreat, defeating Spanish forces at Seminara, however becomes bogged down in Lombardy when Venetian-Milanese forces supported by Imperial/Austrian troops, prove more powerful then he first thought. While the Northern Italian forces in the end do not stop Charles’ retreat they do stall him for several months as he attempts to maneuver around them. By January of 1496, the French King as returned to France, however in that time, Burgundian forces had managed to retake the Duchy of Burgundy, which had be restored under the Treay of Reims but was only nominally under Habsburg rule, and secure Brittany. The French and Burgundian Armies met just south of Chalon. The French forces were tired and morale was low, and to no one, except Charles’, surprise, the French were defeated, and Charles once again captured.
The Treaty of Chalon was signed in early July; Maximilian decided this time to hold Charles as his prisoner for several months before beginning negotiations. In the treaty France was forced to recognize the independence of the Duchies of Brittany and Burgundian from the French monarchy’s thumb and the inclusion of the Duchy of Burgundy in the Holy Roman Empire. Ironically one day after the treaty was signed, Spanish troops retook Naples, capturing the French Viceroy, and restoring Ferdinand II.
As Maximilian’s armies brought home glory for the Emperor, so too did Kolumbus. As Kolumbus continued to explore the Indies, rumors of its wealth spread throughout Europe. The Portuguese continued to focus on Africa, and the Spanish looked to the Mediterranean, however the English, Scottish, and several Italian states also began to look to the West. Maximilian’s court was overrun by persons wishing to follow Kolumbus’s path, many of whom were Spaniards. It was also at this time that Maximilian’s son and heir, Archduke Philip married Joanna of Castile, the third child of Isabella and Ferdinand, as part of a double marriage (his sister Margaret married John the Prince of Asturias). Maximilian’s wedding present for the young couple was a most unique one; the Emperor elevated the newly reclaimed Burgundy to the status of Kingdom with in the empire, fulfilling Charles the Bold’s dream which he had blocked some twenty years earlier.
Over the next two years, the English and Venetians both lunch explorations westward. The English sought the Northwestern passage and the Italians sought to circumnavigate the world. Meanwhile the Portuguese reached a very different India, later prompting the realization that Kolumbus had not made it to India, but had discovered an unknown continent.
In 1498, a young Italian diplomat arrives at court as a representative of the Florentine Republic. Philip wass quick to convince his father that Niccolo Machiavelli would be a grand resource for the House of Habsburg, and while Maximilian had his reservation about the Florentine, he invited Machiavelli to join the court, where Machiavelli eventually became a key member of Maximilian’s and Philip’s entourages. In April of that same year, Maximilian’s hated rival Charles VIII of France died childless. He was succeeded by his cousin the Duke of Orléans, who became Louis XII.
In early April of 1499, Anne of Brittany gave birth to a healthy young boy, whom she named Francis, after her father. Maximilian was not present for the birth, as he was in Switzerland fighting along side the Swabian League against the rebellious Swiss. Many historians believe that Maximilian and Anne likely had not consummated their marriage until mid 1498. It is said that Maximilian had a very hard time over coming the fact that he was almost twice Anne’s age. News of his second son’s birth spurred Maximilian on and he pushedforward in Switzerland. Maximilian’s conflict with the Swiss came to a head at the Battle of Dornach. There Maximilian won a decisive victory against the Swiss, supported by Burgundian troops and Italian mercenaries. Following the defeat at Dornach, the Swiss forces began to evaporate, thanks in no small part to the Duke of Milan. Earlier in the year Louis XII of France had laid claim to the Milanese throne, and now it looked as though the French King would make good on his threat. Ludovico Sforza, the reigning Duke could not defend his Duchy without at least the help of Swiss mercenaries, and thus he offer to pay them far better then the Swiss themselves paid. Swiss finally agreed to the terms of peace which Maximilian demanded. In the Treaty of Basel the Swiss Confederacy was forced to accept that several portions of the territory it claimed rights over where actually subservient to the House of Habsburg, most notably, Thurgau.
Maximilian returned to Wienner Neustadt to find a bustling court. In his absence, Anne had greatly increased the number of people receiving some form of Imperial patronage. One of those people was Leonardo da Vinci, who had fled Milan for the Empire when the French began to sack the city. Da Vinci was official there as a military architect and engineer, however he also became the court painter for a time.
Maximilian’s first grandson, Charles is born in Ghent. This causes quite a stir throughout Europe, as Charles stood to inherit a massive estate. Through his mother he would hold Castile and likely Aragon, and from his father, hopefully the position of Holy Roman Emperor as well as King of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria.
When discussing Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor first thing that must come to mind is the famous couplet:
Let others wage war, but thou, O happy Austria, marry; for those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.
Maximilian I legacy is defined almost entirely by his use of marriage as the greatest weapon of his day.
Maximilian first moved to secure the House of Habsburg’s future and place in the world in the 1470s with his marriage to Mary the Rich of Burgundy. Mary’s father that hoped to use his daughter as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the future Emperor, however when Maximilian and Mary actually fell in love, his well laid plans to elevate Burgundy to a Kingdom collapsed and he refused to consent to the marriage. However Charles the Bold died shortly thereafter, and the new Duchess of Burgundy followed her heart and married the future King of the Romans in 1477. Mary gave him two children, the first a son, Philip who would eventually become the King of Burgundy (realizing his grandfather’s dream), Castile, and Aragon, and a daughter Margaret, whose first two marriages to the King of France and the Prince of Asturias were cut short before she married the Duke of Savoy. Mary tragically died in 1482 falling from her horse. Her death triggered a series of wars over succession to her domains, however eventually Maximilian did succeed in reclaiming all of her territories from the French for his son Philip the Handsome.
Maximilian next married Anne of Brittany, who was also heiress to a Duchy prized by France. After Mary, Anne had been the wealthiest woman in the world, and her marriage to Maximilian in 1491 gave him control of a large portion of Europe’s wealth. Their marriage, unlike Maximilian’s marriage to Mary, was purely politically motivated. Anne was 18 years Maximilian’s junior and the marriage initially took place by proxy. However as Anne and the Breton estates had some what hoped, her marriage did trigger outrage in France resulting in the War of Breton Betrothal. As a result of Charles VIII’s preoccupation with Naples and the aid of England and Castile, Brittany achieved de facto independence from France and much of Burgundy was returned to Maximilian.
When the young Christoph Kolumbus appeared in Maximilian’s court he agreed to finance the explorer, not really believing he would return, but hoping that if Kolumbus did, he would be able to break the spice monopoly that the Italians and Arabs held over much of Western Europe. Well Kolumbus returned with news of his discovery Maximilian quickly agreed to finance another voyage, this time intended to begin colonization.
In early 1495, Charles VIII of France dethroned the King of Naples and claimed the throne for himself. This was unacceptable to Ferdinand II in Aragon, who immediately sent a combined “Spanish” army to retake Naples from the French and restore his cousin, Ferdinand II to the throne. Maximilian also saw Naples as a means to check French power, not only on the Italian Peninsula, but also in Northern Europe. The English were planning to remove their garrisons in Brittany, to be redeployed in Ireland and along the Scottish border, and Maximilian would need a reason to present to the Breton estates as to why Burgundian troops should move in to fill the position. A war with France gave him that reason. So by the time Ferdinand II and Pope Alexander VI sent envoys to find out with Maximilian was willing to join an anti-French coalition, he had already begun preparations by moving soldiers to the Franco-Burgundian border.
In May of 1495, Habsburg troops had once again entered France, this time seeking to retake all of Burgundy. Charles VIII had brought a large majority of his army to Naples, and while this allowed him to successfully take the southern Kingdom, it also left his country almost defenseless and his army far from home. Charles begins a tactical retreat, defeating Spanish forces at Seminara, however becomes bogged down in Lombardy when Venetian-Milanese forces supported by Imperial/Austrian troops, prove more powerful then he first thought. While the Northern Italian forces in the end do not stop Charles’ retreat they do stall him for several months as he attempts to maneuver around them. By January of 1496, the French King as returned to France, however in that time, Burgundian forces had managed to retake the Duchy of Burgundy, which had be restored under the Treay of Reims but was only nominally under Habsburg rule, and secure Brittany. The French and Burgundian Armies met just south of Chalon. The French forces were tired and morale was low, and to no one, except Charles’, surprise, the French were defeated, and Charles once again captured.
The Treaty of Chalon was signed in early July; Maximilian decided this time to hold Charles as his prisoner for several months before beginning negotiations. In the treaty France was forced to recognize the independence of the Duchies of Brittany and Burgundian from the French monarchy’s thumb and the inclusion of the Duchy of Burgundy in the Holy Roman Empire. Ironically one day after the treaty was signed, Spanish troops retook Naples, capturing the French Viceroy, and restoring Ferdinand II.
As Maximilian’s armies brought home glory for the Emperor, so too did Kolumbus. As Kolumbus continued to explore the Indies, rumors of its wealth spread throughout Europe. The Portuguese continued to focus on Africa, and the Spanish looked to the Mediterranean, however the English, Scottish, and several Italian states also began to look to the West. Maximilian’s court was overrun by persons wishing to follow Kolumbus’s path, many of whom were Spaniards. It was also at this time that Maximilian’s son and heir, Archduke Philip married Joanna of Castile, the third child of Isabella and Ferdinand, as part of a double marriage (his sister Margaret married John the Prince of Asturias). Maximilian’s wedding present for the young couple was a most unique one; the Emperor elevated the newly reclaimed Burgundy to the status of Kingdom with in the empire, fulfilling Charles the Bold’s dream which he had blocked some twenty years earlier.
Over the next two years, the English and Venetians both lunch explorations westward. The English sought the Northwestern passage and the Italians sought to circumnavigate the world. Meanwhile the Portuguese reached a very different India, later prompting the realization that Kolumbus had not made it to India, but had discovered an unknown continent.
In 1498, a young Italian diplomat arrives at court as a representative of the Florentine Republic. Philip wass quick to convince his father that Niccolo Machiavelli would be a grand resource for the House of Habsburg, and while Maximilian had his reservation about the Florentine, he invited Machiavelli to join the court, where Machiavelli eventually became a key member of Maximilian’s and Philip’s entourages. In April of that same year, Maximilian’s hated rival Charles VIII of France died childless. He was succeeded by his cousin the Duke of Orléans, who became Louis XII.
In early April of 1499, Anne of Brittany gave birth to a healthy young boy, whom she named Francis, after her father. Maximilian was not present for the birth, as he was in Switzerland fighting along side the Swabian League against the rebellious Swiss. Many historians believe that Maximilian and Anne likely had not consummated their marriage until mid 1498. It is said that Maximilian had a very hard time over coming the fact that he was almost twice Anne’s age. News of his second son’s birth spurred Maximilian on and he pushedforward in Switzerland. Maximilian’s conflict with the Swiss came to a head at the Battle of Dornach. There Maximilian won a decisive victory against the Swiss, supported by Burgundian troops and Italian mercenaries. Following the defeat at Dornach, the Swiss forces began to evaporate, thanks in no small part to the Duke of Milan. Earlier in the year Louis XII of France had laid claim to the Milanese throne, and now it looked as though the French King would make good on his threat. Ludovico Sforza, the reigning Duke could not defend his Duchy without at least the help of Swiss mercenaries, and thus he offer to pay them far better then the Swiss themselves paid. Swiss finally agreed to the terms of peace which Maximilian demanded. In the Treaty of Basel the Swiss Confederacy was forced to accept that several portions of the territory it claimed rights over where actually subservient to the House of Habsburg, most notably, Thurgau.
Maximilian returned to Wienner Neustadt to find a bustling court. In his absence, Anne had greatly increased the number of people receiving some form of Imperial patronage. One of those people was Leonardo da Vinci, who had fled Milan for the Empire when the French began to sack the city. Da Vinci was official there as a military architect and engineer, however he also became the court painter for a time.
Maximilian’s first grandson, Charles is born in Ghent. This causes quite a stir throughout Europe, as Charles stood to inherit a massive estate. Through his mother he would hold Castile and likely Aragon, and from his father, hopefully the position of Holy Roman Emperor as well as King of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria.
I'm doing a map now, but frankly, time spent making maps is time that could be spent working on AHG or my Stargate TL so you're not gonna get a whole lot of them (I learned that lesson from Austria: Never Forget Thy Past).
Maps are lovely, but they should take a rear seat to the beef of the story. And what glorious, dripping blood, red as a communist banner, beef it is!
Hmm, getting hungry.
Hmm, getting hungry.
Legacy of a Monarch – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Part 2
The following years saw Maximilian begin to consolidate his power. When the Swiss Confederacy attempted to divide the canton of Basel, Maximilian seized the canton as part of the territory of the House of Habsburg, largely to remind the Swiss of Habsburg primacy over them. Also Maximilian sought to reach his goal of Habsburg dominance by placing Machiavelli in charge of reforming the Burgundian and later Austrian armies and signing the Treaty of Trente, in which he recognized the conquests of Louis XII in Italy (Milan, Genoa, and the Northern Part of Naples). It was during 1501 that Anne gave birth to the couple’s second (Maximilian’s fourth) child, Leonor of Austria, named after Maximilian’s maternal Grandmother.
1502 and 1503 passed largely without any international incidents involving the House of Habsburg. Archduke Philip traveled with his wife to Castile, where the Cortes swore loyalty to them. Shortly after Charles’ birth in 1500, King of Portugal’s, at that point, only son, and heir to Portugal, Aragon and Castile, died at the age of two. The fact that Joanna had already produced an heir largely secured her position in line for the thrones, despite her obvious insanity. As a result it became clear that Philip would be the power behind the throne something that Ferdinand II was none to keen on. Philip briefly returned to Burgundy in 1503, before being recalled to Castile after the birth of his second son, who was named after Ferdinand II of Aragon.
1504 is not so peaceful. The long war that had been fought on the Italian peninsula finally seemed to come to an end when Ferdinand II of Aragon expelled French troops from Naples, and claimed the crown for himself as Ferdinand III of Naples. However shortly thereafter his wife and consort, Isabella I of Castile died, thus creating an issue of succession in Iberia. In 1502, the Cortes of Castile had sworn loyalty to Philip of Burgundy; however the Aragonese Cortes refused to. Upon Isabella death, Philip and Joanna ascended to the Castilian throne, however Ferdinand, who detested his son-in-law and Philip’s policies plotted to block him from the Aragonese throne entirely. In 1505, Ferdinand II remarried, this time to the niece of his rival Louis XII of France. Ferdinand hoped that his new wife would bare him a male heir, thus displacing Joanna in succession.
Maximilian was not pleased by the events in Iberia. He had hoped that his eldest grandson Charles would inherit all of his mother’s and father’s holdings upon their deaths, however this no longer seemed to be the case. Maximilian now began to plot to secure the Castilian and Aragonese thrones for Charles and if not Charles then his second grandson Ferdinand, who having been born in Castile and at that point being raised there, would likely be a more acceptable candidate to Ferdinand. Tempers continued to flare between Philip and Ferdinand for the next several years. In 1507, Ferdinand attempted to appoint Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Grand Inquisitor of Castile and Leon, something that had been his prerogative during his reign with Isabella. Philip convinced the Castilian Cortes to block this appointment and effectively disbanded the Inquisition in Castile.
In 1508 hostilities reignited in Italy and before June the Emperor, who had used his journey to Rome for coronation as a pretext for an invasion of Venetia, had been pushed back to Austrian soil by the Venetians. Maximilian was forced to concede Istria to the Venetians. When the League of Cambria formed in the winter of that year, Maximilian was more then happy to join in hope of regaining his lost territory. With in the next year, the League had resoundingly defeated Venice, and divided her territory among them, however all was not well. By fall of the next year, much of the occupied territories had risen up in revolt, and Maximilian, have little vested in the actual out come of the war withdrew to Tyrol from all territories except Istria in early October.
It was also in 1509 that Germaine of Foix, Ferdinand II’s second wife gave birth to a boy, who he named Juan. However the child died only days after birth. The death of his son disheartened Ferdinand who now focused his efforts of succession on his young grandson Ferdinand. By early 1510, Ferdinand had declared his seven year old grandson as his heir. This angered Philip who believed that Charles should inherit all of his mother’s lands, not that Aragon and Castile should be divided once more. Armed hostilities almost broke out over the issue of succession until Maximilian recalled Philip from Iberia, fearing his son would undo all of his well laid plans. As Philip set sail to return to Burgundy, Maximilian set sail for Aragon, leaving Austria in the hands of Anne to govern.
In Aragon Maximilian met personally with Ferdinand. He felt that this was the only way that the issue of succession could be resolved without having a violent civil war. Eleanor of Austria, Maximilian and Ferdinand’s eldest granddaughter acted as the translator for the two. Maximilian understood Ferdinand’s desire to ensure succession to a native born Spaniard and his wish to keep the Aragonese Crown out of his hot headed son’s hands. In the end the two Monarchs reached an agreement known as the Pact of Barcelona. Charles would become Ferdinand’s immediate heir, by passing Joanna and Philip. Upon Ferdinand’s death Charles would assume the throne. Charles’ heir in all of Iberia would be his brother Ferdinand, meaning that eventually Ferdinand would inherit Castile, Aragon, Sicily, and Naples, unless for some reason Charles lost all of his territories in Central Europe. This agreement was ratified shortly thereafter by both the Aragonese and Castilian Cortes. It was while Maximilian was in Iberia that he sent Machiavelli to Portugal to negotiate a double marriage. In Portugal Machiavelli met with Manuel I, and negotiated the marriage of Catherine of Castile (Philip the Handsome’s youngest daughter) and Ferdinand of Aragon, to John (later John III of Portugal) and Isabella, the Kings two eldest children.
It was also while Ferdinand and Maximilian met in Barcelona that they discussed Italy. The Pope had recently formed the Holy League to defend the Italian states from the advancing armies of Louis XII. Both Monarchs were in league with the Pope however they also had separate agendas to his. Both did not want the Sforza line restored to Milan and Maximilian sought to take all of Venice for himself and the Empire.
Maximilian returned to Austria to the news that the island of Kuba had in total subdued by a pair of Spaniards who he had sent to the New World on his behalf. It was also in 1511 that Henry VIII of England, who was married to Joanna of Castile’s sister, entered the Holy League seeking to reclaim English claims in France.
The next several years saw various foreign and native armies sweep in and out of Italy with territories changing hands just as often. The argument over what to do with Milan, Florence, and Venice raged among the Holy League. By 1512, the Medicis had been restored to power in Florence and the Soforzas to Milan. English, Breton, and Burgundian armies swept into France, and in retaliation in Louis XII convinced the Scottish to invade England in 1513, a move that proved disastrous for the Scots, and likely resulted in James IV’s death. By July of 1514 peace had been made between all of the warring parties who returned home to rebuild their forces.
It was also in 1514 that Anne of Brittany died in Wiener Neustadt, where she was entombed. Her 15 year old son Francis traveled for the first time out of Austria to Brittany where the Breton estates confirmed him as King. Shortly thereafter his father convinces Francis to marriage Mary Tudor, the younger sister of Henry VIII of England. The wedding took place in Rennes in early November. Thus began the reign of the House of Habsburg in Brittany.
1515 saw the First Congress of Vienna occur between Maximilian and the Jagiellon brothers of Hungary-Bohemia and Poland. In exchange for the Emperor ending his support for Moscow and arbitrating several disputes between the Jagiellon dynasty and the Teutonic Order, Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary agreed to the marriage of his son Louis to Maximilian’s granddaughter Mary and his daughter Anna to Charles of Ghent. When Vladislas died a year later, both Louis and Anna were adopted by Maximilian for political security.
Also in 1516, Ferdinand II of Aragon died, and Charles of Ghent traveled to Barcelona to assume his grandfather’s throne. Once crowned Charles immediately proclaimed his brother Ferdinand, Prince of Girona, ensuring that Ferdinand who eventually ascend to the throne. In his will, Ferdinand II of Aragon has requested his grandson take care of his step-grandmother Germaine of Foix. The Queen-Consort was only twelve years Charles’ senior (as opposed to the 36 seniority Ferdinand II had over her) and all indications suggest the two had a torrid affair resulting in the birth of Germaine’s daughter Isabella. Affair was said to have kept up until Charles arranged for Germaine marriage to a minor Brandenburger Prince.
Maximilian managed to live out the remainder of his life in relative peace. One of his final acts as Emperor was to enrage the Pope by refusing the sent an army to fight the forces of Francis I of France. Maximilian died in January of 1519 and is interred next to Anne of Brittany in Wiener Neustadt.
The following years saw Maximilian begin to consolidate his power. When the Swiss Confederacy attempted to divide the canton of Basel, Maximilian seized the canton as part of the territory of the House of Habsburg, largely to remind the Swiss of Habsburg primacy over them. Also Maximilian sought to reach his goal of Habsburg dominance by placing Machiavelli in charge of reforming the Burgundian and later Austrian armies and signing the Treaty of Trente, in which he recognized the conquests of Louis XII in Italy (Milan, Genoa, and the Northern Part of Naples). It was during 1501 that Anne gave birth to the couple’s second (Maximilian’s fourth) child, Leonor of Austria, named after Maximilian’s maternal Grandmother.
1502 and 1503 passed largely without any international incidents involving the House of Habsburg. Archduke Philip traveled with his wife to Castile, where the Cortes swore loyalty to them. Shortly after Charles’ birth in 1500, King of Portugal’s, at that point, only son, and heir to Portugal, Aragon and Castile, died at the age of two. The fact that Joanna had already produced an heir largely secured her position in line for the thrones, despite her obvious insanity. As a result it became clear that Philip would be the power behind the throne something that Ferdinand II was none to keen on. Philip briefly returned to Burgundy in 1503, before being recalled to Castile after the birth of his second son, who was named after Ferdinand II of Aragon.
1504 is not so peaceful. The long war that had been fought on the Italian peninsula finally seemed to come to an end when Ferdinand II of Aragon expelled French troops from Naples, and claimed the crown for himself as Ferdinand III of Naples. However shortly thereafter his wife and consort, Isabella I of Castile died, thus creating an issue of succession in Iberia. In 1502, the Cortes of Castile had sworn loyalty to Philip of Burgundy; however the Aragonese Cortes refused to. Upon Isabella death, Philip and Joanna ascended to the Castilian throne, however Ferdinand, who detested his son-in-law and Philip’s policies plotted to block him from the Aragonese throne entirely. In 1505, Ferdinand II remarried, this time to the niece of his rival Louis XII of France. Ferdinand hoped that his new wife would bare him a male heir, thus displacing Joanna in succession.
Maximilian was not pleased by the events in Iberia. He had hoped that his eldest grandson Charles would inherit all of his mother’s and father’s holdings upon their deaths, however this no longer seemed to be the case. Maximilian now began to plot to secure the Castilian and Aragonese thrones for Charles and if not Charles then his second grandson Ferdinand, who having been born in Castile and at that point being raised there, would likely be a more acceptable candidate to Ferdinand. Tempers continued to flare between Philip and Ferdinand for the next several years. In 1507, Ferdinand attempted to appoint Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Grand Inquisitor of Castile and Leon, something that had been his prerogative during his reign with Isabella. Philip convinced the Castilian Cortes to block this appointment and effectively disbanded the Inquisition in Castile.
In 1508 hostilities reignited in Italy and before June the Emperor, who had used his journey to Rome for coronation as a pretext for an invasion of Venetia, had been pushed back to Austrian soil by the Venetians. Maximilian was forced to concede Istria to the Venetians. When the League of Cambria formed in the winter of that year, Maximilian was more then happy to join in hope of regaining his lost territory. With in the next year, the League had resoundingly defeated Venice, and divided her territory among them, however all was not well. By fall of the next year, much of the occupied territories had risen up in revolt, and Maximilian, have little vested in the actual out come of the war withdrew to Tyrol from all territories except Istria in early October.
It was also in 1509 that Germaine of Foix, Ferdinand II’s second wife gave birth to a boy, who he named Juan. However the child died only days after birth. The death of his son disheartened Ferdinand who now focused his efforts of succession on his young grandson Ferdinand. By early 1510, Ferdinand had declared his seven year old grandson as his heir. This angered Philip who believed that Charles should inherit all of his mother’s lands, not that Aragon and Castile should be divided once more. Armed hostilities almost broke out over the issue of succession until Maximilian recalled Philip from Iberia, fearing his son would undo all of his well laid plans. As Philip set sail to return to Burgundy, Maximilian set sail for Aragon, leaving Austria in the hands of Anne to govern.
In Aragon Maximilian met personally with Ferdinand. He felt that this was the only way that the issue of succession could be resolved without having a violent civil war. Eleanor of Austria, Maximilian and Ferdinand’s eldest granddaughter acted as the translator for the two. Maximilian understood Ferdinand’s desire to ensure succession to a native born Spaniard and his wish to keep the Aragonese Crown out of his hot headed son’s hands. In the end the two Monarchs reached an agreement known as the Pact of Barcelona. Charles would become Ferdinand’s immediate heir, by passing Joanna and Philip. Upon Ferdinand’s death Charles would assume the throne. Charles’ heir in all of Iberia would be his brother Ferdinand, meaning that eventually Ferdinand would inherit Castile, Aragon, Sicily, and Naples, unless for some reason Charles lost all of his territories in Central Europe. This agreement was ratified shortly thereafter by both the Aragonese and Castilian Cortes. It was while Maximilian was in Iberia that he sent Machiavelli to Portugal to negotiate a double marriage. In Portugal Machiavelli met with Manuel I, and negotiated the marriage of Catherine of Castile (Philip the Handsome’s youngest daughter) and Ferdinand of Aragon, to John (later John III of Portugal) and Isabella, the Kings two eldest children.
It was also while Ferdinand and Maximilian met in Barcelona that they discussed Italy. The Pope had recently formed the Holy League to defend the Italian states from the advancing armies of Louis XII. Both Monarchs were in league with the Pope however they also had separate agendas to his. Both did not want the Sforza line restored to Milan and Maximilian sought to take all of Venice for himself and the Empire.
Maximilian returned to Austria to the news that the island of Kuba had in total subdued by a pair of Spaniards who he had sent to the New World on his behalf. It was also in 1511 that Henry VIII of England, who was married to Joanna of Castile’s sister, entered the Holy League seeking to reclaim English claims in France.
The next several years saw various foreign and native armies sweep in and out of Italy with territories changing hands just as often. The argument over what to do with Milan, Florence, and Venice raged among the Holy League. By 1512, the Medicis had been restored to power in Florence and the Soforzas to Milan. English, Breton, and Burgundian armies swept into France, and in retaliation in Louis XII convinced the Scottish to invade England in 1513, a move that proved disastrous for the Scots, and likely resulted in James IV’s death. By July of 1514 peace had been made between all of the warring parties who returned home to rebuild their forces.
It was also in 1514 that Anne of Brittany died in Wiener Neustadt, where she was entombed. Her 15 year old son Francis traveled for the first time out of Austria to Brittany where the Breton estates confirmed him as King. Shortly thereafter his father convinces Francis to marriage Mary Tudor, the younger sister of Henry VIII of England. The wedding took place in Rennes in early November. Thus began the reign of the House of Habsburg in Brittany.
1515 saw the First Congress of Vienna occur between Maximilian and the Jagiellon brothers of Hungary-Bohemia and Poland. In exchange for the Emperor ending his support for Moscow and arbitrating several disputes between the Jagiellon dynasty and the Teutonic Order, Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary agreed to the marriage of his son Louis to Maximilian’s granddaughter Mary and his daughter Anna to Charles of Ghent. When Vladislas died a year later, both Louis and Anna were adopted by Maximilian for political security.
Also in 1516, Ferdinand II of Aragon died, and Charles of Ghent traveled to Barcelona to assume his grandfather’s throne. Once crowned Charles immediately proclaimed his brother Ferdinand, Prince of Girona, ensuring that Ferdinand who eventually ascend to the throne. In his will, Ferdinand II of Aragon has requested his grandson take care of his step-grandmother Germaine of Foix. The Queen-Consort was only twelve years Charles’ senior (as opposed to the 36 seniority Ferdinand II had over her) and all indications suggest the two had a torrid affair resulting in the birth of Germaine’s daughter Isabella. Affair was said to have kept up until Charles arranged for Germaine marriage to a minor Brandenburger Prince.
Maximilian managed to live out the remainder of his life in relative peace. One of his final acts as Emperor was to enrage the Pope by refusing the sent an army to fight the forces of Francis I of France. Maximilian died in January of 1519 and is interred next to Anne of Brittany in Wiener Neustadt.
A question: are is Germany gonna just own it's colonies, or are they gonna be settler colonies? If the latter is the case, do they interbreed with the natives like the Spanish did, or deport them or kill them off like the Americans did?
(I'm sorry, I know you're focusing on the situation in Europe right now, but I can't help asking this question!)
(I'm sorry, I know you're focusing on the situation in Europe right now, but I can't help asking this question!)
When Germania is formed it will control the colonies of the new world, currently places like Hybrasil and Kuba are held personally by Maximilian (now Philip) as King of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria.
Defining Event - The War of Imperial Succession
Maximilian’s death left the titular seat of the Emperor vacant, and so shortly after his burial the College of Electors was called together to elect his successor. However unlike Imperial Elections past, there was no clear successor. Philip of Burgundy was Maximilian’s eldest son, however he was not considered terribly German. He spoke French not German and ruled in Castile, and many of the electors questioned giving the reigns of the Empire to a foreign monarch. However the Pope’s candidate was also a foreigner, as Leo X put forth Francis I of France. Francis had no claim the Imperial Throne, however he did have deep pockets and the Pope’s backing made him seem to be a viable alternative to Philip. Further complicating matters at Frankfurt was the announcement that Henry VIII of England also wished tip his hat into the ring.
The first round of voting in early April resulted in no candidate gaining enough votes to take the crown. Philip received the support of his son-in-law, Louis II, King of Bohemia, and the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich III. Friedrich III of Saxony, neither having announced to seek nor wanting the Imperial Crown, received the support of the Count-Palatine and the Elector of Brandenburg, both of whom wanted a German Emperor. Francis I of France received all three of the spiritual electors’ votes through a combination of bribery and Papal pressure.
Henry VIII of England’s failure to gain the support of even just one elector along with the request by his brother-in-law, Francis III of Brittany, who in turn was Philip of Burgundy’s half brother, convinced the Tudor Monarch to withdraw his candidacy for the crown. Francis of Brittany pointed out to Henry, that he needed to support Philip, lest France gain a strengthened position in international affairs. Likewise, Friedrich III of Saxony formal withdrew his name and announced if he were elected he would refuse the crown. Friedrich’s deferral to Philip made it seem as though the Archduke had won, however Francis of France had other ideas.
It was no secret that the Elector of Brandenburg was unhappy with the prospect of Philip on the Imperial Throne; however Joachim did feel the need to follow the precedence set by Friedrich and vote for the Habsburg, until Francis of France came to him with a better option. By the early summer of 1519, it had become clear that no matter who won the throne, war would once again break out between France and the Habsburg realms. Francis promised Joachim of Brandenburg, that in exchange for his support, Francis would give him an increased say in Imperial Affairs and any conquered Habsburg territory.
Thus the electors met once again in June, and to the horror of many of the German princes who had gathered in the city, when all was said and done and the votes counted, Francis I of France had taken the throne, besting Philip of Austria, four (Trier, Mainz, Cologne, and Brandenburg) electoral votes to Philip’s three (Bohemia, Saxony, and the Rhineland). All of the parties gathered at Frankfurt left to prepare for war. Philip traveled to Austria to raise an army, while at the same time he sent word to Charles in Aragon, who was also his Viceroy in Castile. Francis led his entourage through the German countryside, believing that he had just stuck a blow Habsburg power that none of his predecessors had been able to. He dispatched a courier to Nuremburg to bring the Imperial Crown to Paris, where Pope Leo X was to crown him.
What happened after this is still heavily debated among historians today. French Court records indicate that Philip some how intercepted the courier and killed him to prevent the message from getting to Nuremburg of Francis’s election, and then Philip entourage pick up the crown on their way to Vienna to prevent the French from coming and taking it for themselves. The Austrian records on the other hand report that the Bürgermeister of Nuremburg did receive the news of Francis’s election, however he refused to accept Francis as Emperor and instead sent the crown on to Vienna where the man he believed to be the true Holy Roman Emperor now resided. In any case, the crown did end up in Vienna in Philip’s hands by late July and by early August, Francis had rallied the Pope, Venice, Brandenburg, and Scotland to his side to take it back.
Philip of Burgundy, however, was well prepared to take on the titular Holy Roman Emperor. Armies were being raised in Austria, Bohemia, Burgundy, Spain, England, and many of the German states in order to oust “Franz I” (the “loyal” Germans refused to acknowledge Francis as anything else but the Germanized version of his name). It was during this time, that a young monk named Martin Luther came to Philip’s attention. Luther called for reformation of the church, which notably included the acknowledgement of the fallibility of the Pope. However it will be another year before Philip and Luther actually first met.
War broke out when in late 1519, French troops began to enter Burgundy and Brittany. When new of the French advance in Burgundy reach Philip in Vienna, the Austrian army, along with Saxon and Bohemian troops began to move for Brandenburg seeking to take out one of the four “faithless” electors. Meanwhile, the English and Bretons fought to expelled Francis I’s forced from Brittany and make headway into Normandy while Spanish troops began to cross the Pyrenees, pushing into southern France and fought up from Naples seeking to siege Rome. Ironically however, the first major battle of the war was fought on the Rhine away from many of the larger armies. In February of 1520, the Count-Palatine of the Rhine sought to oust his neighboring faithless elector, the Archbishop of Trier. The Battle of Trier occured just outside the city between the two electors’ forces. After several long days, the Rhenish troops entered the city and captured the Archbishop who was eventually transported to Vienna where he remained imprisoned for several months.
While the Rhenish brought Philip an elector, all was not going well. In Italy the Pope had managed to repel the Spanish forced in Naples and in Burgundy Francis I had begun to make serious head way. However the break Philip needed truly came from Northern France. The English, who had quickly and quietly ended their war with Scotland, as the Scottish had little desire to defend the Francis’s “rights” to the Imperial Crown. With these extra forces a major invasion of Normandy had been undertaken, with much of the former Duchy subjugated. While this concerned Francis, he hoped to defeat the Austrians and force the English hand. However he was forced to deal with the English in Normandy when in June of 1520, Henry VIII arrived in Rouen. There the English King claimed his rights to the full title Duke of Normandy and proclaimed the restoration of the Duchy. French troops were pulled from the eastern fronts at a critical time, to go deal with the English.
Shortly before Henry’s arrival in Normandy, the Battle of Berlin had occurred in Brandenburg. Elector Joachim’s forced had been soundly defeated and Joachim had been ousted by the Austrians in favor of his distant cousin Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who just so happened to be married to Germaine of Foix, the second wife of Ferdinand II of Aragon and former lover of Charles of Ghent. As a sign of gratitude, Johann had announced Philip as his heir, should he not have a child of his own. Joachim for his part fled eastern to Prussia where his family was entrenched. Victory in the east now freed up much of Philip’s force to move westward for Francis and France.
Philip and Francis’s armies finally met in Lorraine near Verdun. There in a drawn out two week long series of battles, augmented by attempts to out flank the other, the fate of the Crown was decided. Eventually Philip’s forces, largely due to sheer numbers, won out and Francis was forced to begin retreating. But as he did, the German armies followed. The French and German armies met once again outside of Orleans. There, in a much shortly more decisive battle, the Germans once again were victorious and forced the French to sue for peace.
The terms that Philip and Henry VIII of England demanded were harsh. Francis was forced to acknowledge Henry’s primacy over Normandy, effectively restoring the Duchy’s independence from the French crown. Philip forced Francis to give up the Imperial Crown, so that he could call for another election and to transfer the County of Nevers from French dominion to Imperial. These peace terms were extended to include Venice, who had effectively dropped out of the war after a few months after Scotland because of the strain it had put on Venetian colonization projects. The Pope however was in somewhat of a more favorable position and was able to gain minor concessions from the Spanish viceroy in Naples.
Thus in December of 1520, another election was called, this time in Vienna. There Philip was unanimously confirmed as Holy Roman Emperor, with the remaining two unfaithful electors voting is his favor largely out of fear of losing their realms.
Maximilian’s death left the titular seat of the Emperor vacant, and so shortly after his burial the College of Electors was called together to elect his successor. However unlike Imperial Elections past, there was no clear successor. Philip of Burgundy was Maximilian’s eldest son, however he was not considered terribly German. He spoke French not German and ruled in Castile, and many of the electors questioned giving the reigns of the Empire to a foreign monarch. However the Pope’s candidate was also a foreigner, as Leo X put forth Francis I of France. Francis had no claim the Imperial Throne, however he did have deep pockets and the Pope’s backing made him seem to be a viable alternative to Philip. Further complicating matters at Frankfurt was the announcement that Henry VIII of England also wished tip his hat into the ring.
The first round of voting in early April resulted in no candidate gaining enough votes to take the crown. Philip received the support of his son-in-law, Louis II, King of Bohemia, and the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich III. Friedrich III of Saxony, neither having announced to seek nor wanting the Imperial Crown, received the support of the Count-Palatine and the Elector of Brandenburg, both of whom wanted a German Emperor. Francis I of France received all three of the spiritual electors’ votes through a combination of bribery and Papal pressure.
Henry VIII of England’s failure to gain the support of even just one elector along with the request by his brother-in-law, Francis III of Brittany, who in turn was Philip of Burgundy’s half brother, convinced the Tudor Monarch to withdraw his candidacy for the crown. Francis of Brittany pointed out to Henry, that he needed to support Philip, lest France gain a strengthened position in international affairs. Likewise, Friedrich III of Saxony formal withdrew his name and announced if he were elected he would refuse the crown. Friedrich’s deferral to Philip made it seem as though the Archduke had won, however Francis of France had other ideas.
It was no secret that the Elector of Brandenburg was unhappy with the prospect of Philip on the Imperial Throne; however Joachim did feel the need to follow the precedence set by Friedrich and vote for the Habsburg, until Francis of France came to him with a better option. By the early summer of 1519, it had become clear that no matter who won the throne, war would once again break out between France and the Habsburg realms. Francis promised Joachim of Brandenburg, that in exchange for his support, Francis would give him an increased say in Imperial Affairs and any conquered Habsburg territory.
Thus the electors met once again in June, and to the horror of many of the German princes who had gathered in the city, when all was said and done and the votes counted, Francis I of France had taken the throne, besting Philip of Austria, four (Trier, Mainz, Cologne, and Brandenburg) electoral votes to Philip’s three (Bohemia, Saxony, and the Rhineland). All of the parties gathered at Frankfurt left to prepare for war. Philip traveled to Austria to raise an army, while at the same time he sent word to Charles in Aragon, who was also his Viceroy in Castile. Francis led his entourage through the German countryside, believing that he had just stuck a blow Habsburg power that none of his predecessors had been able to. He dispatched a courier to Nuremburg to bring the Imperial Crown to Paris, where Pope Leo X was to crown him.
What happened after this is still heavily debated among historians today. French Court records indicate that Philip some how intercepted the courier and killed him to prevent the message from getting to Nuremburg of Francis’s election, and then Philip entourage pick up the crown on their way to Vienna to prevent the French from coming and taking it for themselves. The Austrian records on the other hand report that the Bürgermeister of Nuremburg did receive the news of Francis’s election, however he refused to accept Francis as Emperor and instead sent the crown on to Vienna where the man he believed to be the true Holy Roman Emperor now resided. In any case, the crown did end up in Vienna in Philip’s hands by late July and by early August, Francis had rallied the Pope, Venice, Brandenburg, and Scotland to his side to take it back.
Philip of Burgundy, however, was well prepared to take on the titular Holy Roman Emperor. Armies were being raised in Austria, Bohemia, Burgundy, Spain, England, and many of the German states in order to oust “Franz I” (the “loyal” Germans refused to acknowledge Francis as anything else but the Germanized version of his name). It was during this time, that a young monk named Martin Luther came to Philip’s attention. Luther called for reformation of the church, which notably included the acknowledgement of the fallibility of the Pope. However it will be another year before Philip and Luther actually first met.
War broke out when in late 1519, French troops began to enter Burgundy and Brittany. When new of the French advance in Burgundy reach Philip in Vienna, the Austrian army, along with Saxon and Bohemian troops began to move for Brandenburg seeking to take out one of the four “faithless” electors. Meanwhile, the English and Bretons fought to expelled Francis I’s forced from Brittany and make headway into Normandy while Spanish troops began to cross the Pyrenees, pushing into southern France and fought up from Naples seeking to siege Rome. Ironically however, the first major battle of the war was fought on the Rhine away from many of the larger armies. In February of 1520, the Count-Palatine of the Rhine sought to oust his neighboring faithless elector, the Archbishop of Trier. The Battle of Trier occured just outside the city between the two electors’ forces. After several long days, the Rhenish troops entered the city and captured the Archbishop who was eventually transported to Vienna where he remained imprisoned for several months.
While the Rhenish brought Philip an elector, all was not going well. In Italy the Pope had managed to repel the Spanish forced in Naples and in Burgundy Francis I had begun to make serious head way. However the break Philip needed truly came from Northern France. The English, who had quickly and quietly ended their war with Scotland, as the Scottish had little desire to defend the Francis’s “rights” to the Imperial Crown. With these extra forces a major invasion of Normandy had been undertaken, with much of the former Duchy subjugated. While this concerned Francis, he hoped to defeat the Austrians and force the English hand. However he was forced to deal with the English in Normandy when in June of 1520, Henry VIII arrived in Rouen. There the English King claimed his rights to the full title Duke of Normandy and proclaimed the restoration of the Duchy. French troops were pulled from the eastern fronts at a critical time, to go deal with the English.
Shortly before Henry’s arrival in Normandy, the Battle of Berlin had occurred in Brandenburg. Elector Joachim’s forced had been soundly defeated and Joachim had been ousted by the Austrians in favor of his distant cousin Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who just so happened to be married to Germaine of Foix, the second wife of Ferdinand II of Aragon and former lover of Charles of Ghent. As a sign of gratitude, Johann had announced Philip as his heir, should he not have a child of his own. Joachim for his part fled eastern to Prussia where his family was entrenched. Victory in the east now freed up much of Philip’s force to move westward for Francis and France.
Philip and Francis’s armies finally met in Lorraine near Verdun. There in a drawn out two week long series of battles, augmented by attempts to out flank the other, the fate of the Crown was decided. Eventually Philip’s forces, largely due to sheer numbers, won out and Francis was forced to begin retreating. But as he did, the German armies followed. The French and German armies met once again outside of Orleans. There, in a much shortly more decisive battle, the Germans once again were victorious and forced the French to sue for peace.
The terms that Philip and Henry VIII of England demanded were harsh. Francis was forced to acknowledge Henry’s primacy over Normandy, effectively restoring the Duchy’s independence from the French crown. Philip forced Francis to give up the Imperial Crown, so that he could call for another election and to transfer the County of Nevers from French dominion to Imperial. These peace terms were extended to include Venice, who had effectively dropped out of the war after a few months after Scotland because of the strain it had put on Venetian colonization projects. The Pope however was in somewhat of a more favorable position and was able to gain minor concessions from the Spanish viceroy in Naples.
Thus in December of 1520, another election was called, this time in Vienna. There Philip was unanimously confirmed as Holy Roman Emperor, with the remaining two unfaithful electors voting is his favor largely out of fear of losing their realms.
Valdemar II
Banned
Just one thing, few of the Germans would care that Philip spoke French, large areas of Germany/HRE was French speaking. While a form of early nationalism did exist for Germany, it was close to Swiss nationalism than modern language based nationalism, a German could speak French, German or a Vendish it didn't make a big difference. In OTL French-speaking Charles V succed against Francis based on him being more German.
I know, but even in Charles' election IOTL, the fact that he spoke French was brought up by the German speaking Electorate (the only one who may not have spoken German is Louis II of Bohemia, but I'm not sure). In both cases it doesn't really matter as both Philip/Charles and Francis spoke French and doesn't affect the election. It just an interesting (well hopefully) tid bit.
Legacy of a Monarch – Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor
Philip’s ascension to the Imperial Throne caused great concern with in the Papal Court in Rome. The man the Pope had so openly opposed now controlled several of the most powerful armies in Europe and could invade the Italian Peninsula at the drop of a hat. Philip had made it clear at his enthronement in Vienna that he fully intended to continue this feud with Rome until he had either come out victorious or was dead. What furthered worried the Roman Catholic Church were the cries of a German Monk named Martin Luther, who questioned the infallibility of the Church. Normally such blasphemy would be quietly silenced however Luther’s claims and views played very well into the hands of the new Emperor. By early 1521, Leo could no longer stand by and let the claims of this Monk go without response. He excommunicated Luther from the Church and demanded Philip declared this heretic an outlaw.
For a time it looked to Rome as though the Emperor had capitulated to Leo’s demands. The Emperor had called for a Diet in Vienna and ordered that Friedrich III of Saxony ensure Luther be there. However even as notices of the Diet went out to the Princes of Germany, Emperor Philip plotted his next move in Vienna. It was at this point that he recalled Machiavelli who had been serving as his Governor in Burgundy to Court. Machiavelli returned to Vienna just days before the Diet of Vienna began. By that point Philip had already made up his mind, the Church had strayed and it was up to Philip to restore it to the true path. Ousting the Church from Imperial Affairs also gave Philip much greater control over the Empire, a factor that also heavily influenced Philip’s decision. Thus Machiavelli was ordered to travel to Augsburg and gain the support of the powerful Fugger banking family. Even though wealth filled Philip’s coffers from Imperial conquests in Marianna and Augustina, it often took months for that wealth to arrive. Philip wanted to ensure that any war with the Pope could be easily funded from with in Europe and not have to rely on New World wealth to fight on.
The Diet of Vienna began in early March of 1521. Philip had not only summoned Luther to the de facto Imperial Capital, but also the seven electors and all of the Empire’s Cardinals. For three days Luther spoke before this audience about his misgivings with the Catholic Church. After which Emperor Philip publicly proclaimed his support for Luther’s reforms and called upon Pope Leo X to acquiesce to Luther’s reforms, knowing full well the Papacy never would.
Indeed Leo X was enraged by the news of events at the Diet of Vienna and began to search to rally support and ousted the Emperor. However his search did not go as well as he would have liked. Much of the Empire, at least publicly, stood behind the Emperor, as did Poland, Hungary, and Brittany. Aragon and Castile were considered effectively wild cards. Much of Luther’s works had yet to spread to Iberia so the populace remained unquestioningly Catholic; however they were ruled by members of the “heretic House of Habsburg” as Leo was supposed to have said. The only true allies Leo could find came from France and many of the Italian states.
Leo would die in early December. His last action as Pope was to excommunicate the Emperor as a heretic. However Leo’s death was poorly timed for the church. It meant that Philip now had the chance to try to influence a Papal Conclave and get a candidate of his choosing elected Pope.
The Papal Conclave of December of 1521 was one of the most well attended in history. Every Cardinal-Elector felt they had some stake in the outcome and made every attempt to attend. Quickly several faction formed among the electors. The most visible faction, called the Imperial Faction, was comprised of Cardinals loyal specifically to the Emperor, or more generally the House of Habsburg. It was composed largely of German and Spanish Archbishops who were led by Maximilianus Transylvanus, the Emperor’s personal Secretary and Archbishop of Salzburg. Then there was the French faction, composed of all the French Cardinals. The final noted faction was the Medici Faction, led by Giulio di Giuliano de'Medici, cousin of the late Leo X. The Medici’s held the loyalty of many of the Italian Cardinals and several Spanish and Portuguese. The English Cardinal Woolsey stood as a dark horse candidate who claimed to have Imperial support until Transylvanus arrived with a signed letter from the Emperor stating otherwise.
The first round of ballots resulted in no clear cut leader. Transylvanus, Medici, and the French candidate Franciotto Orsini received a majority of the votes, though none had enough to win. Woolsey surprised many by actually standing on his own with out any real political support and received other votes besides his own. Similar results occurred on the next two ballots. Eventually, as pressure mounted to elect a new Holy Father, the Medici faction began to crumble. News arrived that Francis I of France had threatened to break with the church should another Medici be elected and this combined with threats from Philip forced the Medici candidacy under. Many of the Cardinals once loyal to Giulio di Giuliano de'Medici now defected to the French faction. Finally after the fourth ballot a winner was declared. Franciotto Orsini assumed the Papal tiara as Pope Celestine VI putting the Papacy firmly in the hands of Francis I of France.
When Maximilianus Transylvanus returned to Vienna with news of the election of the French candidate as Pope, Philip was infuriated. Any chance that was left for reconciliation died wit Celestine VI’s election. Philip ordered Luther’s works be spread far and wide, knowing that fighting the Papacy would be infinitely easier if the soldiers he send against it were just as disillusioned as he. As Luther’s works spread rapidly throughout Europe, Luther himself remained hidden in Saxony as a charge of and protected by Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony. Fearing Papal agents working against him, Luther had gone into hiding shortly after the Diet of Vienna, where he began to translate the Bible from Latin into German.
With the Pope now firmly in French hands, and any chance of reconciliation with the Emperor dead, war loomed. Philip had gained full support from the Fugger family, who were keenly interested in their place in the new Holy Roman Emperor that Philip seemed to wish to create. It was not long before war broke out between the Habsburg Monarchies and France. Fought primarily on the Italian peninsula and in Eastern France the, the First Habsburg-Valois War was only a small taste of what was to come.
As the opposing Franco-Papal and Imperial armies moved throughout Europe, in Austria Philip carried through with his plans to end Papal Catholicism in the German Empire. In mid 1523 Philip summons all the Princes of the Empire as will as much of the high ranking Catholic Clergy to Vienna. There he demanded they conform to the teachings of Luther and break with the Catholic Church. He presented each of them with a newly printed copy of Luther’s German language Bible, except for Friedrich of Saxony to whom Luther had given the original hand written translation, and gave them three days to think it over. While many of the electors went off to contemplate the choice between aligning with the Emperor or the Pope, historians note that the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Prince-Elector of Saxony were the first member of the clergy and hereditary prince, respectively, to swear allegiance to the Emperor then and there. By the Emperor’s dead line, most of the secular princes had sworn off the Catholic Church. The Spiritual electors and clergy on the other hand were a different story. Of the high ranking clergy members present, only the Archbishop of Trier recanted his loyalty to the Pope thus saving himself from the Emperor’s wrath. The remaining clergy members were detained until they accepted or until such time as Philip stripped them of their rank and titles and replaced them. For his loyalty, Maximilianus Transylvanus, the Archbishop of Salzburg was established by the Emperor as the Chief Bishop of what eventually came to be known with in Germania as the Imperial Church.
Through 1524 war continued to rage in Italy and France. Imperial Armies began to make head way against the French after the Breton Army began to push into Anjou under the leadership of the 17th Earl of Warwick. The Earl was the last male descendent of the House of Plantagenet, and had been considered a very serious threat to Henry VII’s claim to the English throne. Edward had managed to escape to Brittany in 1499 from the Tower of London, largely due to incompetence among his jailers, shortly before he was to be executed. He now led the Breton Army with the hope of restoring the Duchy of Anjou and assuming the throne for himself. However, his reemergence also ended any possible help that the Breton Duke and the Emperor hoped to receive from the English King for the time being as Henry VIII now took a serious look at his options.
In early February of the following year the War between the Habsburgs and the French finally ended when Francis I was captured in Italy after Imperial forces sieged the city he had attempted to take refuge in. He was brought to Philip court in Vienna where he was forced to agree to peace terms. Anjou was restored as an independent Duchy from the French Crown, under Edward Plantagenet, who in turn to appease Henry VIII, formally renounced any claim he might have on the English Throne. Francis was also forced to agree to the independence of the German Imperial Church, on behalf and as proxy for Celestine VI. Once the terms of this peace had been carried out, Francis was released to return to Paris. Before he returned however, he stopped in Rome, which had barely been saved due to his capture. There he and Celestine VI began to plot their next move which hinged on forcing Philip to fight both Franco-Papal and Ottoman forces at once. Francis shortly there after dispatched an emissary to Constantinople to meet with the Turkish Sultan.
As per his agreement with the French King, Suleiman I stepped up his attacks against Habsburg allied Hungary. By 1526 full fledged war had broken out again. It was during this time that the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg died. Johann of Brandenburg, hand no children with his wife Germaine of Foix and thus as per his last will and testament, Brandenburg passed to Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor. Germaine acted upon Philip’s behalf until he arrived to claim his new territory after which she traveled to Anjou where she was now to marry the newly enthroned Duke Edward. It was while on his way back to Court in Vienna from Brandenburg that Philip received news of his first born grandson in Aragon who had been named after the Emperor.
It was not long after Philip returned to Vienna that he received news of Louis II of Bohemia and Hungary’s death fighting against the Turks. He immediately recalled Charles from Aragon. Charles was married to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary the sister of Louis II and most legitimate hereditary candidate for the thrones. However both Hungary and Bohemia were not hereditary monarchies, but elective ones. While the Bohemians had effectively assured Philip of Charles’ succession to the throne, the Hungarians had not. János Szapolyai, the Duke of Transylvania, had already begun to make a play for the Crown of St. Stephen and Philip had no desire to see a Turkish puppet running Hungary. Thus Charles charged Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, with leading an army from Bohemia to Transylvania to unseat the usurper. By spring of the next year Charles had been confirmed as not only King of Hungary, but Duke of Transylvania, after Szapolyai was killed in battle against the Duke of Bourbon.
The following year marked a remarkably peaceful period as Imperial, French, Turkish, Spanish, and Papal forces all attempted to rebuild their strength and numbers. However peace was short lived and by 1528 war has resumed in Hungary and Italy. German and loyal Hungarian armies under the Duke of Bourbon, laid siege Ottoman occupied Buda, while in Italy the Spanish under the Ferdinand of Aragon who is now acting regent for all of Castile and Aragon, began the siege of Rome. The Spanish eventually captured the city and Ferdinand, who was still a Catholic, met on equal terms with Pope Celestine VI. It was during this series of meetings that Celestine revealed events that had transpired in England, where Henry VII had demanded an annulment of his marriage to Ferdinand’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon. Celestine VI eventually refused to agree to the annulment, fearing that if he did, he will lose Spain to the growing Reformation.
A remarkable period in European history looked to have come to an end in 1530 when Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor, died at the age of 52. On his death bed, the Emperor received the Salzburg Confession. This document listed all of the beliefs and values Luther felt needed to be included in the new Church, which Philip approved. Emperor Philip I died on August 3, 1530, from what are believed to have been natural causes.
Philip’s ascension to the Imperial Throne caused great concern with in the Papal Court in Rome. The man the Pope had so openly opposed now controlled several of the most powerful armies in Europe and could invade the Italian Peninsula at the drop of a hat. Philip had made it clear at his enthronement in Vienna that he fully intended to continue this feud with Rome until he had either come out victorious or was dead. What furthered worried the Roman Catholic Church were the cries of a German Monk named Martin Luther, who questioned the infallibility of the Church. Normally such blasphemy would be quietly silenced however Luther’s claims and views played very well into the hands of the new Emperor. By early 1521, Leo could no longer stand by and let the claims of this Monk go without response. He excommunicated Luther from the Church and demanded Philip declared this heretic an outlaw.
For a time it looked to Rome as though the Emperor had capitulated to Leo’s demands. The Emperor had called for a Diet in Vienna and ordered that Friedrich III of Saxony ensure Luther be there. However even as notices of the Diet went out to the Princes of Germany, Emperor Philip plotted his next move in Vienna. It was at this point that he recalled Machiavelli who had been serving as his Governor in Burgundy to Court. Machiavelli returned to Vienna just days before the Diet of Vienna began. By that point Philip had already made up his mind, the Church had strayed and it was up to Philip to restore it to the true path. Ousting the Church from Imperial Affairs also gave Philip much greater control over the Empire, a factor that also heavily influenced Philip’s decision. Thus Machiavelli was ordered to travel to Augsburg and gain the support of the powerful Fugger banking family. Even though wealth filled Philip’s coffers from Imperial conquests in Marianna and Augustina, it often took months for that wealth to arrive. Philip wanted to ensure that any war with the Pope could be easily funded from with in Europe and not have to rely on New World wealth to fight on.
The Diet of Vienna began in early March of 1521. Philip had not only summoned Luther to the de facto Imperial Capital, but also the seven electors and all of the Empire’s Cardinals. For three days Luther spoke before this audience about his misgivings with the Catholic Church. After which Emperor Philip publicly proclaimed his support for Luther’s reforms and called upon Pope Leo X to acquiesce to Luther’s reforms, knowing full well the Papacy never would.
Indeed Leo X was enraged by the news of events at the Diet of Vienna and began to search to rally support and ousted the Emperor. However his search did not go as well as he would have liked. Much of the Empire, at least publicly, stood behind the Emperor, as did Poland, Hungary, and Brittany. Aragon and Castile were considered effectively wild cards. Much of Luther’s works had yet to spread to Iberia so the populace remained unquestioningly Catholic; however they were ruled by members of the “heretic House of Habsburg” as Leo was supposed to have said. The only true allies Leo could find came from France and many of the Italian states.
Leo would die in early December. His last action as Pope was to excommunicate the Emperor as a heretic. However Leo’s death was poorly timed for the church. It meant that Philip now had the chance to try to influence a Papal Conclave and get a candidate of his choosing elected Pope.
The Papal Conclave of December of 1521 was one of the most well attended in history. Every Cardinal-Elector felt they had some stake in the outcome and made every attempt to attend. Quickly several faction formed among the electors. The most visible faction, called the Imperial Faction, was comprised of Cardinals loyal specifically to the Emperor, or more generally the House of Habsburg. It was composed largely of German and Spanish Archbishops who were led by Maximilianus Transylvanus, the Emperor’s personal Secretary and Archbishop of Salzburg. Then there was the French faction, composed of all the French Cardinals. The final noted faction was the Medici Faction, led by Giulio di Giuliano de'Medici, cousin of the late Leo X. The Medici’s held the loyalty of many of the Italian Cardinals and several Spanish and Portuguese. The English Cardinal Woolsey stood as a dark horse candidate who claimed to have Imperial support until Transylvanus arrived with a signed letter from the Emperor stating otherwise.
The first round of ballots resulted in no clear cut leader. Transylvanus, Medici, and the French candidate Franciotto Orsini received a majority of the votes, though none had enough to win. Woolsey surprised many by actually standing on his own with out any real political support and received other votes besides his own. Similar results occurred on the next two ballots. Eventually, as pressure mounted to elect a new Holy Father, the Medici faction began to crumble. News arrived that Francis I of France had threatened to break with the church should another Medici be elected and this combined with threats from Philip forced the Medici candidacy under. Many of the Cardinals once loyal to Giulio di Giuliano de'Medici now defected to the French faction. Finally after the fourth ballot a winner was declared. Franciotto Orsini assumed the Papal tiara as Pope Celestine VI putting the Papacy firmly in the hands of Francis I of France.
When Maximilianus Transylvanus returned to Vienna with news of the election of the French candidate as Pope, Philip was infuriated. Any chance that was left for reconciliation died wit Celestine VI’s election. Philip ordered Luther’s works be spread far and wide, knowing that fighting the Papacy would be infinitely easier if the soldiers he send against it were just as disillusioned as he. As Luther’s works spread rapidly throughout Europe, Luther himself remained hidden in Saxony as a charge of and protected by Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony. Fearing Papal agents working against him, Luther had gone into hiding shortly after the Diet of Vienna, where he began to translate the Bible from Latin into German.
With the Pope now firmly in French hands, and any chance of reconciliation with the Emperor dead, war loomed. Philip had gained full support from the Fugger family, who were keenly interested in their place in the new Holy Roman Emperor that Philip seemed to wish to create. It was not long before war broke out between the Habsburg Monarchies and France. Fought primarily on the Italian peninsula and in Eastern France the, the First Habsburg-Valois War was only a small taste of what was to come.
As the opposing Franco-Papal and Imperial armies moved throughout Europe, in Austria Philip carried through with his plans to end Papal Catholicism in the German Empire. In mid 1523 Philip summons all the Princes of the Empire as will as much of the high ranking Catholic Clergy to Vienna. There he demanded they conform to the teachings of Luther and break with the Catholic Church. He presented each of them with a newly printed copy of Luther’s German language Bible, except for Friedrich of Saxony to whom Luther had given the original hand written translation, and gave them three days to think it over. While many of the electors went off to contemplate the choice between aligning with the Emperor or the Pope, historians note that the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Prince-Elector of Saxony were the first member of the clergy and hereditary prince, respectively, to swear allegiance to the Emperor then and there. By the Emperor’s dead line, most of the secular princes had sworn off the Catholic Church. The Spiritual electors and clergy on the other hand were a different story. Of the high ranking clergy members present, only the Archbishop of Trier recanted his loyalty to the Pope thus saving himself from the Emperor’s wrath. The remaining clergy members were detained until they accepted or until such time as Philip stripped them of their rank and titles and replaced them. For his loyalty, Maximilianus Transylvanus, the Archbishop of Salzburg was established by the Emperor as the Chief Bishop of what eventually came to be known with in Germania as the Imperial Church.
Through 1524 war continued to rage in Italy and France. Imperial Armies began to make head way against the French after the Breton Army began to push into Anjou under the leadership of the 17th Earl of Warwick. The Earl was the last male descendent of the House of Plantagenet, and had been considered a very serious threat to Henry VII’s claim to the English throne. Edward had managed to escape to Brittany in 1499 from the Tower of London, largely due to incompetence among his jailers, shortly before he was to be executed. He now led the Breton Army with the hope of restoring the Duchy of Anjou and assuming the throne for himself. However, his reemergence also ended any possible help that the Breton Duke and the Emperor hoped to receive from the English King for the time being as Henry VIII now took a serious look at his options.
In early February of the following year the War between the Habsburgs and the French finally ended when Francis I was captured in Italy after Imperial forces sieged the city he had attempted to take refuge in. He was brought to Philip court in Vienna where he was forced to agree to peace terms. Anjou was restored as an independent Duchy from the French Crown, under Edward Plantagenet, who in turn to appease Henry VIII, formally renounced any claim he might have on the English Throne. Francis was also forced to agree to the independence of the German Imperial Church, on behalf and as proxy for Celestine VI. Once the terms of this peace had been carried out, Francis was released to return to Paris. Before he returned however, he stopped in Rome, which had barely been saved due to his capture. There he and Celestine VI began to plot their next move which hinged on forcing Philip to fight both Franco-Papal and Ottoman forces at once. Francis shortly there after dispatched an emissary to Constantinople to meet with the Turkish Sultan.
As per his agreement with the French King, Suleiman I stepped up his attacks against Habsburg allied Hungary. By 1526 full fledged war had broken out again. It was during this time that the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg died. Johann of Brandenburg, hand no children with his wife Germaine of Foix and thus as per his last will and testament, Brandenburg passed to Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor. Germaine acted upon Philip’s behalf until he arrived to claim his new territory after which she traveled to Anjou where she was now to marry the newly enthroned Duke Edward. It was while on his way back to Court in Vienna from Brandenburg that Philip received news of his first born grandson in Aragon who had been named after the Emperor.
It was not long after Philip returned to Vienna that he received news of Louis II of Bohemia and Hungary’s death fighting against the Turks. He immediately recalled Charles from Aragon. Charles was married to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary the sister of Louis II and most legitimate hereditary candidate for the thrones. However both Hungary and Bohemia were not hereditary monarchies, but elective ones. While the Bohemians had effectively assured Philip of Charles’ succession to the throne, the Hungarians had not. János Szapolyai, the Duke of Transylvania, had already begun to make a play for the Crown of St. Stephen and Philip had no desire to see a Turkish puppet running Hungary. Thus Charles charged Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, with leading an army from Bohemia to Transylvania to unseat the usurper. By spring of the next year Charles had been confirmed as not only King of Hungary, but Duke of Transylvania, after Szapolyai was killed in battle against the Duke of Bourbon.
The following year marked a remarkably peaceful period as Imperial, French, Turkish, Spanish, and Papal forces all attempted to rebuild their strength and numbers. However peace was short lived and by 1528 war has resumed in Hungary and Italy. German and loyal Hungarian armies under the Duke of Bourbon, laid siege Ottoman occupied Buda, while in Italy the Spanish under the Ferdinand of Aragon who is now acting regent for all of Castile and Aragon, began the siege of Rome. The Spanish eventually captured the city and Ferdinand, who was still a Catholic, met on equal terms with Pope Celestine VI. It was during this series of meetings that Celestine revealed events that had transpired in England, where Henry VII had demanded an annulment of his marriage to Ferdinand’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon. Celestine VI eventually refused to agree to the annulment, fearing that if he did, he will lose Spain to the growing Reformation.
A remarkable period in European history looked to have come to an end in 1530 when Philip I, Holy Roman Emperor, died at the age of 52. On his death bed, the Emperor received the Salzburg Confession. This document listed all of the beliefs and values Luther felt needed to be included in the new Church, which Philip approved. Emperor Philip I died on August 3, 1530, from what are believed to have been natural causes.
No, even if Catholicism dies in Iberia, Italy, and Southern France (which currently I don't plan on happen away) there is always Ireland... Always.Sweetness!
So, do you plan on killing off Catholicism?