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Is there any way that the French Revolution could have happened over a hundred years earlier?
Gaston Jean-Baptiste, duc d'Orléans 1608 – 1660, was the third son of the French king Henry IV. His first son was Louis XIII 1601 - 1643. His second son died at the age of 4. If they both die, Gaston becomes king.
OTL, Gaston had nominal command of an army at one point. He rebelled against Richelieu twice and took refuge in Flanders. The second time he was exiled by Mazarin to Blois in 1652.
In 1642 he stirred up Cinq-Mars to attempt Richelieu's murder, and then deserted his unfortunate accomplice
What if Richelieu had been murdered? What if Richelieu and the king had both been murdered by Cinq-Mars? Maybe after they're both murdered Gaston and Cinq-Mars both flee to the New World.
The city of New Orleans is established early. OTL, New Orleans was founded in 1718.
Here's another possibility. New Orleans was named after this duke:
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Philippe Charles (1674 – 1723)
Duke of Orléans 1701–1723, Regent of France 1715 - 1723 for Louis XV.
His regency was the last and he is still referred to as le Régent and his regency as la Régence. He was son of Philip I, Duke of Orléans and nephew of king Louis XIV.
Louis XIV's oldest son Louis, the Grand Dauphin, died in 1711. What if the king dies in 1709, before Louis XV is born, Louis the Dauphin becomes king but dies a year later.
Henry IV's first daughter married Philip IV of Spain and his second daughter married Victor Amadeus I of Savoy, so those two countries might fight over the succession.
So Louis XIV dies early and France plunges into civil war. The Duke of Orleans flees to the New World to create a more stable and prosperous monarchy.
Henry IV's youngest child was Henriette-Marie 1609 - 1669, who married Charles I of England on June 13, 1625, in Canterbury Cathedral. What if all the other children had died? What if Charles I had died much earlier? What kind of political power could she have had in England or in France, or both? Her descendants might claim the throne of France. One of them might have been a duke of Orleans who didn't exist in OTL and emigrates to New Orleans.
Is there any way that the French Revolution could have happened over a hundred years earlier?
Gaston Jean-Baptiste, duc d'Orléans 1608 – 1660, was the third son of the French king Henry IV. His first son was Louis XIII 1601 - 1643. His second son died at the age of 4. If they both die, Gaston becomes king.
OTL, Gaston had nominal command of an army at one point. He rebelled against Richelieu twice and took refuge in Flanders. The second time he was exiled by Mazarin to Blois in 1652.
In 1642 he stirred up Cinq-Mars to attempt Richelieu's murder, and then deserted his unfortunate accomplice
What if Richelieu had been murdered? What if Richelieu and the king had both been murdered by Cinq-Mars? Maybe after they're both murdered Gaston and Cinq-Mars both flee to the New World.
The city of New Orleans is established early. OTL, New Orleans was founded in 1718.
Here's another possibility. New Orleans was named after this duke:
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Philippe Charles (1674 – 1723)
Duke of Orléans 1701–1723, Regent of France 1715 - 1723 for Louis XV.
His regency was the last and he is still referred to as le Régent and his regency as la Régence. He was son of Philip I, Duke of Orléans and nephew of king Louis XIV.
Louis XIV's oldest son Louis, the Grand Dauphin, died in 1711. What if the king dies in 1709, before Louis XV is born, Louis the Dauphin becomes king but dies a year later.
Henry IV's first daughter married Philip IV of Spain and his second daughter married Victor Amadeus I of Savoy, so those two countries might fight over the succession.
So Louis XIV dies early and France plunges into civil war. The Duke of Orleans flees to the New World to create a more stable and prosperous monarchy.
Henry IV's youngest child was Henriette-Marie 1609 - 1669, who married Charles I of England on June 13, 1625, in Canterbury Cathedral. What if all the other children had died? What if Charles I had died much earlier? What kind of political power could she have had in England or in France, or both? Her descendants might claim the throne of France. One of them might have been a duke of Orleans who didn't exist in OTL and emigrates to New Orleans.
