Double AHC: surviving, strong Aragon; and stronger republics of Venice and Genoa

[TheseusDeuteros]

See the map below. Your challenge is - should you choose to accept it - to think of a backstory, a timeline, points of divergence from actual history etc. so that (1) Aragon never unites with the rest of Spain (whether under Castilian supremacy or another kingdom's), becomes the main power in the Mediterranean, and acquires/keeps possessions in Occitania; and (2) the Italian thalassocracies of Genoa and Venice are 'stronger' up until at least the seventeenth, preferably the eighteenth century.

The map was created using:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon#mediaviewer/File:Corona_aragonum_1441.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Venice#mediaviewer/File:Repubblica_di_Venezia.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Genoa#mediaviewer/File:Repubblica_di_Genova.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartes_Occitanie.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Albania_(medieval)#mediaviewer/File:Kingdom_of_Albania.png

Note that Toulouse is an Aragonese vassal, which in turn has more vassals (lightest shade).

Bonus points if France and England are one country or union, and if there's still a rather powerful Ottoman Empire.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

I'm guessing to have Venice control the Chersonessos the POD has to be pre fall of Constantinople.

 

[Imperator Maximilianius]

I'm guessing to have Venice control the Chersonessos the POD has to be pre fall of Constantinople.

Either that, or have something go very wrong with the Ottoman Empire.

 

[TheseusDeuteros]

I'm guessing to have Venice control the Chersonessos the POD has to be pre fall of Constantinople.

All right... ehm, could you explain that to me a bit? (I'm not an expert on Venetian history, nor on Ottoman history... Nor an expert on any history at all, really.)

Oh, and minor changes may be made, so that the map is adjusted to fit the POD or timeline. So don't worry to much about small details.

I forgot to mention, by the way, that this Aragon should also be united and not a loose confederation of seperate kingdoms, like it was for some time IOTL.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

All right... ehm, could you explain that to me a bit? (I'm not an expert on Venetian history, nor on Ottoman history... Nor an expert on any history at all, really.)

I'm not too knowledgeable on Venetian and Ottoman history myself, but something would have to go seriously wrong for the Ottomans to lose the Chersonesse, just given it's location. The only way I can see the Venetian's holding that is if the region remains Balkanized.

As for the rest...I have no idea tbh (like I said, this is far from the area I'm familiar with). I believe Aragon-Naples had territory in OTL in Greece, so getting Albania shouldn't be too difficult with a pre-Ottoman conquest of Constantinople POD. Not sure how they'd hold Occitannia though. From what I understand, preventing the Iberian Wedding should be relatively easy as well.

 

[Simreeve]

That looks like a verrry decisive Aragonese victory over the [Capetian] 'Angevins'....

 

[TheseusDeuteros]

I'm not too knowledgeable on Venetian and Ottoman history myself, but something would have to go seriously wrong for the Ottomans to lose the Chersonesse, just given it's location. The only way I can see the Venetian's holding that is if the region remains Balkanized.

...

But what if the Venetians and Ottomans are allied? Maybe a quid pro quo: both states didn't like the Byzantines (Venice made a lot of money from the crusades), so perhaps Venice supplies the Ottoman army in exchange for that strategic peninsula...?