The High Flying Mazarinettes: The Story of Unlikely Success

[Valena]

Chapter I: Of Good and Bad Luck

In 1654 Te Deums were sung across the Holy Roman Empire for the recovery of Ferdinand IV, the King of Romans, from the smallpox. However, the illness left the face of the King horribly disfigured – so much that the King (and later the Emperor) covered his face in public with finely crafted silver mask – and even despite this, the nickname of “the Ugly” stuck to the future Kaiser.

The recovery caused Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, to hurry the marriage negotiations between his son and Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain. The Spanish bride arrived in Vienna on October 25, 1654, after the marriage by proxy took part in August.

The parades and pageantry in Vienna contrasted with the sadness in Paris, where Dowager Queen Anne of Austria has long wanted a Spanish match for her 16-years old son, Louis XIV. Now the idea of match is gone. Maria-Teresa was now the Queen of Romans, and was soon to be the Holy Roman Empress. And her remaining Spanish niece, Margareta Teresa, is barely a toddler of 3, too young even for Duc d’Anjou, not even speaking of the King.

Maybe if she marries Louis off right away, the Dauphin will be fit enough to marry Margareta? After all, the age difference would be 4 years, maybe 5, if Louis is unlucky. But to whom? Orleans girls? Mademoiselle de Montpensier – always a troublemaker, and she’s 11 years older than Louis. Maybe she would string him along – and her reputation of rebel does not help. Mademoiselle d’Orleans? Maybe… She’s of the right age, 16, that’s old enough for childbearing age. And the rest are hunchback and two kids – though Mademoiselle de Valois and Mademoiselle de Chartres can have their use, especially the youngest one. The peace with Spain needs to be signed anyways. And if her brother has a son… one of those little girls can well become the Spanish Queen. Provided there wouldn’t be any kids from Louis by then.

Now let’s look at foreign candidates… First, two cousins. Margarita Violante of Savoy – good agewise, though Anne disliked her mother. But anyway, mother at home has a lot more influence than a mother-in-law in Savoy. Henriette of England? An exile and too young. Maybe old enough for Philippe, but Louis needs kids, and needs them now. Infanta Catalina of Portugal? An alternative to Savoyard girl, but a bad one – if the peace with Spain is not signed yet, then seeking Portuguese match is too impractical right now. The negotiations can be opened with Savoy, and opened right now…

Anne opened the window. Louis walked the garden with young lady – well, he’s a teenager, and he has all the urges of youth. The lady? Maria Mancini, niece of her dear Julio, recently returned from exile with her uncle. And Louis seems infatuated with her. Well, anyways, a Mancini is not a Queen material. Especially not now, when the war with Spain rages on…

Four years after: Summer 1658. Blois

“Oh these ever-demanding Savoyards…” – Anne signed reading the letter from her sister-in-law. The Savoy court now demanded double marriage – Duke Charles Emmanuel to Mademoiselle d’Orleans and Margarita Violante to Louis. That was… good, if not for Louis now wanting to marriage the Savoyard girl at all. The Mancini brat seemed to take over his mind.

Julio told her that Maria was predicted to cause all kinds of trouble, by some horoscope, and that her mother even asked him to lock Maria up. Well, it seems she was right. The Queen was informed that Marie wanted to keep the relationship chaste… But Louis! Louis openly wanted her for Queen, saying that “maybe Philippe marries the Savoyard”. The boy is 20, he is the King, but he needs some discipline!

The news of the loss of Spaniards at the Dunes were the good news. Now, maybe this traitor Conde can crawl back to France for Royal pardon, after his self-esteem suffered so damaging blow. And his also means… Means that she can betroth Mademoiselle de Chartres, the youngest Petite-Fille de France [1] to Felipe Teodosio [2], Prince of Asturias, born in 1655. Of course, the boy is sickly and with somewhat a huge head, not to mention too small of a stature – dwarves are found at court as jesters, not as Royal offspring! Her brother did not do well after he took the rejected bride of her son for a wife. Of course, there are always Austrians – the new Emperor pretty much rules from his deathbed, but he managed to sire two girls – twins, Maria-Teresa and Anne-Eleonora, the last year. And one of these brats will grab Felipe Teodosio, especially since his younger brother, Diego Prospero [3], is horribly sickly – the Prince of Asturias is a dwarf, but his brother suffers from epilepsy.

“Mother, may I enter?”

“Of course you can, Your Majesty! Sit down, Louis, we need to talk.”

“About me leaving Marie to marry a Savoyard? First of all, she’s a daughter of a mere Duke… I have good ears, Mother. And I can listen. I have talked to Cardinal, he’s not against the marriage in principle. After all, Savoyards…”

“Are the strategic allies if Your Majesty’s armies need a push for Milan.”

“She’s almost a spinster! Her younger sister was married off before her for a reason. Her mother… my aunt, must have known something about health of her daughter, if she allowed her younger sister to marry the Elector of Bavaria before her!”

“You will marry her. The end. The Papal Dispensations have already arrived.”

…In December 1658 the double match was celebrated with pomp – Margherite Violante of Savoy married the King of France, and Marguerite Louise d’Orleans married the Duke of Savoy. The marriage cemented the alliance which was to strike the deathblow to Spain. Marie Mancini so far remained at Louis’ court, even though her being made lady-in-waiting to new Queen was infuriating to her. But she continued to see Louis in private, content with being his maitresse-en-titre – virgin so far, even though there was an idea to make her the Duchess d’Enghien, after the peace treaty with Spain will be signed.

The Pheasants Isle treaty between Louis XIV and Felipe IV was signed in July 1659 [4]. France gained Roussillon and Perpignan, Montmédy and other parts of Luxembourg, Artois and other towns in Flanders, including Arras, Béthune, Gravelines and Thionville, and a new border with Spain was fixed at the Pyrenees. However, the treaty stipulated only that all villages north of the Pyrenees should become part of France. The historic town of Llívia, once the capital of Cerdanya, was exempted from the treaty and became a Spanish exclave as part of the comarca of Baixa Cerdanya, the Spanish province of Girona. On the western Pyrenees a definite borderline was drawn and decisions made as to the politico-administrative affiliation of bordering areas in the Basque region—Baztan, Aldude, Valcarlos.

Spain was forced to recognise and confirm all of the French gains at the Peace of Westphalia.

In exchange for the Spanish territorial losses, the French king pledged to quit his support for Portugal and renounced to his claim to the county of Barcelona, which the French crown had claimed ever since the Catalan Revolt (also known as Reapers' War). The Portuguese revolt in 1640, led by the Duke of Braganza, was supported monetarily by Cardinal Richelieu of France. After the Catalonian Revolt, France had controlled Catalonia from January 1641, when a combined Catalan and French force defeated the Spanish army at Battle of Montjuïc, until it was defeated by a Spanish army at Barcelona in 1652. Though the Spanish army reconquered most of Catalonia, the French retained Catalan territory north of the Pyrenees.

Despite France and Savoy pushing more strongly in Milan, the Milanese gains were to be withdrawn as a condition of treaty, as Italian gains of France were to be returned to Spain as a dowry for eventual French bride of Prince of Asturias – either Mademoiselle de Chartres or the eventual child of Queen of France, as Margherite Violante carried the child who may as well be the Princess.

The support for Portugal clause also was the half-hearted ones, as negotiations for the match between the King of Portugal and Mademoiselle d’Alencon were ongoing, with French court being reluctant to quit this matter. However, soon the drama was to befall the French court.

October 1, 1659. Louvres. Queen’s Bedchamber

“Good news, Your Majesty. Your wife has delivered a fine Dauphin… But…”

“What “but!” Order the Te Deums! The Savoyard has done her duty…”

“Yes. But she’s struck with fever, and it’s unlikely she will push through. The Court Physician has arrived to relieve her suffering!”

“To make her bleed… Like the first wife of my uncle, the mother of that Grand Rebel.”, - Louis thought to himself. He had a son. A heir. And the Savoyard… well, he’ll live without her…

…The agony of Margherite Violante lasted for three days. She was truly of frailer health than her sisters, but thankfully the Dauphin, Louis, showed no signs of poor health, taking after his father. Margherite was buried in Saint Denis on October 20, Queen of France for less than a year.

Now, Louis XIV was free to remarry. And he surprised everyone – stating that his new wife and stepmother to Dauphin will be not a Stuart or Braganza princess – but Maria Mancini. His childhood love. The very idea apparently caused Anne of Austria to have a mild case of strike, but after all, the Dauphin will have the Royal Blood, so it is unlikely for a Mazarin’s grandnephew to ever become the King of France.
[1] In OTL she died in 1656, TTL, she lives through.
[2] OTL Infanta Maria Ambrosia born a boy, and even healthy by standards of Habsburg - if not for the fact he's a clinical dwarf. Think more realistic (without impossible-for-dwarf physical feats) Tyrion Lannister as the future King of Spain.
[3] OTL Felipe Prospero
[4] In OTL Spain and France reached the agreement in November, here Milanese campaign is a bit more successful with Savoy support, and the negotiations are reached by July.

 

[Valena]

Chapter II: Two Crowns for two Mancinis

The small wedding at the Louvre chapel in April 1660 was attended by unlikely guest – the exiled king of England and Scotland, Charles II. Charles has been pursuing a French bride, however he had no interest in Mademoiselle de Montpensier and thought Mademoiselle de Valois, her younger half-sister and the only of four surviving daughters of Marguerite de Lorraine not married or betrothed so far, a little young for him.

However Charles has approached Cardinal Mazarin, asking him for the hand of his niece, Hortense. The Cardinal was not against this – given how his other niece, the prosperized troublemaker, has just became the Queen of France. And the prospects of Charles’ restoration were not too dim, either. The only condition were that the marriage will take place only once Charles will be enthroned – to not to spoil the restoration negotiations.

However, there was another spanner in the works – Henriette Maria, Dowager Queen of England, who did not forget how badly Mazarin treated her as exile. She did not want a commoner in her son’s bed, even though she would be given a dowry of a Princess – 5 million livres. However, even more than this she did not want two commoners in her sons’ beds – as she has heard of idiotic idea of James Duke of York promising the marriage to a certain Anne Hyde, she strongly demanded her son the King to block this match.

“The Hydes do not need even more empowerment”, as she stated to his son regarding the marriage prospects. So with heavy heart Charles told James that he will not marry a commoner – after all, Charles himself did not marry the late Lucy Walter. He, however, could keep Anne as his principal mistress. The issue of future Duchess of York was pressing – Mademoiselle de Montpensier was an interesting prospect, but so was the Princess of Beira, especially since the Portuguese were desperate for an ally after the Peace of Pyrenees brought the match to the standstill.

In July 1660 Charles II warmly welcomed his new Queen, Hortense Mancini, in Dover. The Queen, despite being a Papist and a niece of Catholic cardinal, cared more about entertainment than religion, and was even seen at Anglican ceremonies. In the same month the negotiations between courts in London and Lisbon were opened about the new Duchess of York. The idea about Portuguese Queen of England was alive since 1640ies, but now Luisa de Gusman had to settle for the Duke of York. Well, for Portuguese economy that meant that they have to spend less money.

The dowry for the new Duchess of York was agreed on 23 June 1661, a marriage treaty was signed; England acquired Catherine's dowry of the Seven islands of Bombay (the latter having a major influence on the development of the British Empire in India), together with trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal and one million Portuguese crowns (about £150,000); while Portugal obtained military and naval support against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. Catherine journeyed from Portugal to Portsmouth on 13–14 May 1662, but was not visited by the Duke of York there until 20 May. The next day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies—a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service. The same marriage arrangement was followed a year before for Hortense Mancini and King Charles II.

Having married to a Catholic himself, and having securing a Catholic Duchess of York for his brother, Charles II decided on Protestant alliance for his remaining brother, Duke of Gloucester [1]. Henry was adamant about marrying a Protestant – the top candidates included Anna Sophia of Denmark, Erdmuthe Sophie of Saxony and Maria Orange-Nassau. The surprising move in 1661 was made by Erdmuthe Sophia’s father, Elector Johann Georg II. Originally he wanted a semi-domestic match for Erdmuthe, with Margarve of Brandenburg-Bayerth. However, the idea of Danish match for his heir interested the Elector even more, and he could not stand the British court to “steal” the Princess from him. So in September 1661 the agreement was reached with Saxony court, with the agreed dowry for the Duchess of Gloucester being 400 000 golden crowns – small one compared to the dowry of Queen or Duchess of York. The new Duchess arrived to Portsmouth in July 1662, continuing the wedding season started by the marriage of Duke of York.

The sisters to the King [2] were another matter, the one causing much headache. The marriage of the youngest, Minette, to the Duc d’Orleans went almost seamlessly, even though the dowry of the new Duchesse was somewhat recycled from the one of the Queen. Louis XIV was happy to receive some of Mazarin gold back (though the principal heiress of the Cardinal was his new Queen), not so happy to not have Dunkirk to be included in the Henrietta’s dowry. The marriage was consummated in January 1661, a year after the second marriage of Louis XIV.

The problematic one was the elder, Mary, Dowager Princess of Orange. The good news was that she abandoned her favorite, Baron Dover. However, she found a more interesting companion in Prince Rupert of the Rhine, newly created Duke of Cumberland. The spark between 40-years old prince and 30-years old princess appeared in winter of 1661, when Rupert went so far as to nurse the Princess back to health after she felt sick [3]. In April 1661 Mary asked her brother for permission to become the Duchess of Cumberland, with the clause being that she will return to England permanently once her son is of age, and that Rupert will act as a co-regent of Principality of Orange, for which she needed the French help until now. The petition was granted, however it caused the tensions in Netherlands, as the prospect of British (or Palatinate, but spending his entire life in Britain) stepfather to the future Stadtholter was not that interesting to some in the Estates General. The education of Willem now became a fight between the Estates General and his British maternal relatives, a fight that will soon go to the battlefield.

In France, the new Queen, Marie Mancini, welcomed her first child in the world on April 18, 1661– a girl, Madame Royale, christened Louise Marie. The birth was complicated, with the threat that Louis XIV would be a widower once again. On the same day it became known that her sister Hortense, recently Queen of England, is pregnant, and on October 25, 1661 a boy, named Charles and created Prince of Wales, was born.

[1] Survived 1660 TTL.

[2] Yes, plural, as Mary did survive as well.

[3] Survived, but with scarred face and probably barren (though I would let dices decide on this one)

 

[chateauroux]

Enjoying this! Please keep it coming. I wonder how Catherine of Braganza would feel about having a commoner for a sister in law who ranked above her at Court.

 

[Valena]

Enjoying this! Please keep it coming. I wonder how Catherine of Braganza would feel about having a commoner for a sister in law who ranked above her at Court.

There is some more chapters in day or two, I'm on the writing spree due to hiatus at work.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

The idea of a Tyrion Lannister Habsburg is always good news!

Enjoying this! Please keep it coming. I wonder how Catherine of Braganza would feel about having a commoner for a sister in law who ranked above her at Court.

Probably the same way she would've had to deal if the match between her and D. Juan José of Austria had gone through. Portugal's desperate. They're not gonna start cleaving hairs if it means that they can get an ally.

 

[Valena]

Chapter III: Of Dwarves, Hunchbacks and Empresses

By 1663 Felipe IV had mixed feelings about the Prince of Asturias. In general, Felipe Teodosio showed remarkable health, especially compared to two “bewitched” siblings Queen Mariana produced afterwards – while Diego Prospero died in 1661, the youngest of surviving children, Carlos Felix of Spain, was suffering from multiple disabilities, and many expected him to follow his elder brothers, Infantes Diego Prospero and Fernando Carlos, to early grave. On the contrary, Felipe Teodosio was a lively boy, as healthy as the previous Prince of Asturias, Baltasar Carlos, was at this age of 7. The only problem was his height. The Prince has the typical physique of a dwarf, with disproportionally huge head on small body, and by estimations of court physicians, would not be taller than 4 feet as an adult. Well, better the dwarf than the imbecile, but… There goes the glory of dynasty.

Regarding the French match, Felipe had mixed feeling. On the one hand, one was promised by the Treaty of Pyrenees. On the other hand, there were Austrian cousins and nieces for the Prince, or even half-aunts… But then, the alliance with Austria was already cemented, and despite the death of Ferdinand IV in 1660 and his ability to father only two Archduchesses with his Spanish wife, Maria-Teresa remarried in 1661 with the urging from her father to Ferdinand’s successor and brother, Leopold I. From this match she already had healthy, if a bit pudgy, infant, christened Ferdinand Wenzel, born in May 1663, and was hoping for further children.

Between Mademoiselle de Chartres and Madame Royale, the youngest daughter of Gaston d’Orleans was much better match. A child of 11 was better than a toddler of 2, even disregarding that his French nephew got himself into morganatic marriage with this Italian woman. Of course, the Dauphin Louis was born from “true” wife, even though he was too young to think of him as a groom for Margareta Teresa, whose future match was of much headache for the King. The Austrian court already got an Infanta for Empress, there was no need for another one. Kings of France and England were already with wives, even though of commoner stock. Bavaria? Taken. Afonso of Portugal? This imbecile usurper? No way!

In 1662 a proposal arrived from Italy – the hand of Margareta Teresa of Spain was sought by Cosimo Medici, the Grand Prince of Tuscany. Of course, the Infanta was barely 11, while the Prince was 20, but it was agreed by the parties as profitable, with Infanta being sent to Tuscany in 1665 to become the Grand Princess. The same year, which will be proven the last one for Felipe IV, the bride handover ceremony was held at the Pheasants Isle, with 13-years old Marie Anne d’Orleans, Mademoiselle de Chartres, formally becoming Maria Ana de Orleans, Princess of Asturias – and the Queen of Spain since the next year, when her father-in-law died finishing the marriage arrangements for his children.

Meanwhile, the French court was in the middle of marriage dramas. Since 1659 Louis XIV had to be the arbiter in the “Ladies’ War” raging in the court of Savoy after the double marriage of himself to Savoyard princess and of Marguerite Louise d’Orleans to the Duke of Savoy. While “dear Margot” was quick to pump out the Hereditary Prince Charles Amadeus in December 1659, she was always at odds with her aunt and mother-in-law, Dowager Duchess Christine Marie, who agreed to Marguerite as a Duchess only to round up the marriage between the now-late Margherite Violante and Louis. Christine felt herself “cheated”, saying until her very death in 1663 that Mademoiselle d’Alencon or Mademoiselle de Valois would have made the better Duchesses, not to mention Savoy-Nemours branch.

However, the untimely death of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine of stroke allowed his nephew, Prince Charles of Lorraine, to inherit the title, and he was enthroned as the Duke of Lorraine in 1662. The same year he married the elder of the two Nemours princesses, Marie Jeanne Baptiste. In order to keep the status of Looraine as French protectorate, the match was arranged by its proponents at the French Court, first of all the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria.

However, this was not the only marriage of interest at the French court. In December 1662 Claire Clemence, the Princess of Conde, succumbed to smallpox. The widowed Prince soon found consolation in his Fronde-times companion, Duchesse de Montpensier, who in April 1663 expressed the want to become the Princess of Conde. Surprisingly, the match between two symbols of Fronde was taken better than expected in Paris – after all, Duc d’Enghien was already married to Anne Henriette of Bavaria, first cousin once removed of English king, the same year, and this there was no fear than Montpensier and Conde-Montmorency riches will be united in the same hands for longer than a couple of decades. In July 1663 the marriage was celebrated with great pomp, and in December the new Princess of Conde announced her first – and alas, the last – pregnancy.

On July 24, 1664 Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orleans, Princess of Conde and Duchesse de Montpensier, went into labor. Sadly, the same complications that killed her mother 37 years before, combined with the advanced age of first labor, proved to be fatal for her. Anne-Marie-Louise died on July 27, with her daughter, Anne Louise Benedicte de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, inheriting her mother’s vast fortune at the age of mere 3 days. [1]

The Grand Conde has never remarried, Duchesse d’Enghien becoming surrogate mother for her little half-sister-in-law. In April 1665 Louis XIV approached the Prince with proposal of betrothal between Anne Louise de Bourbon and his second son, Philippe Jules, Duc d’Anjou, born on December 18, 1664. While Conde wanted to see “the Heiress of Fronde” as the Dauphine, Louis was against the domestic match for his first son, but was amenable for the greatest heiress of France for the second one. But so far this was only the negotiation regarding the two toddlers.

By 1665 Louis XIV was no longer madly in love with his second wife. He was getting older, and the childbirths became to ruin the “Beautiful Marie”, making it easier to concentrate on other women. In 1663 his relationship with a certain Louise de La Valliere was made public, around the time Marie Mancini miscarried her second child. The Queen’s ambitions regarding the prestigious marriage for her brother Philippe, Duc de Nevers and de Mayenne [3], also were getting on the King’s nerves – Marie wanted Philippe to marry either Mademoiselle de Valois (or d’Alencon, provided she is not taken by the Portuguese court, with which the negotiations resumed after death of Felipe IV), or Mademoiselle de Nemours, Marie-Francoise of Savoy-Nemours, younger sister of the Duchesse de Lorraine.

Louis was pissed off because he considered Philippe to be good for nothing, and even removed him from command of the Mousquetaries de Roi, the position Philippe showed no ability or inclination for. With reconciliation between King and Queen in 1665 it was possible that the prestigious wife will be found for Philippe, but so far it seemed unlikely.

In April 1666 the marriage by proxy was finally signed – between Mademoiselle de Valois and King Afonso VI of Portugal, but as the cousin of the Sun King left for Portugal, the tragedy happened. On May 2, 1666, at 4:30 AM, Afonso of Portugal was found dead on the flight of stairs in the Ribeira Palace, leading to his private chamber. Given the King’s physical infirmity, the death was attributed to the accident, especially since no signs of violence were found on the body. However, the theories that somebody “helped” the crippled king to break his neck, became ones of the most popular in Portuguese history of the XVII century.

The new King, Pedro II, pronounced that he will respect the marriage arrangement with the French Princess and will marry Mademoiselle de Valois. The new negotiations postponed the arrival of Francoise Madeleine to Portugal till April 1667, where Queen Francesca Magdalena (as she was now known) was met with enthusiasm.

The rejected Portuguese candidates, Marie-Francoise of Savoy and Elisabeth-Marguerite d’Alencon, found domestic matches. For Marie-Francoise her older sister, Hereditary Princess de Lorraine, arranged the marriage with Louis-Joseph de Guise, Duc de Guise, in May 1667. As for Elisabeth-Marguerite, she was married to Charles-Paris d'Orleans-Longueville, Duc de Longueville, who was of suitable rank for Petite-Fille de France. The Queen's intrigues for prestigeous match for her brother so far came to naught, especially since Louis had other reasons to hate "The Italian Upstart".

However, the family drama was not the thing most on the mind of the Sun King. Since 1663 he was a lukewarm signatory of the coalition of German princes and Holy Roman Emperor against the Ottoman Porta - lukewarm given the Porta being time-honored ally against Habsburgs. Since military successes of 1664 the Ottoman diplomacy began to apply the pressure on French court to remove them from the conflict, but they were outplayed by the Austrian court - Louis was offered the hand of Archduchess Maria-Teresa, the eldest daughter of the late Ferdinand IV, for the Dauphin, and some offers regarding the status of Lorraine, which Louis wanted fully annexed. By 1666 the process of Hungary liberation has became somewhat of European crusade, with even the King of England joining the war effort - officially in support of Elector of Saxony, his relative by marriage, Charles II sent a small contingent of 8,000, commanded by his brother the Duke of Gloucester, to aid Gloucester's father-in-law the Reichmarshal. The Hungarian campaign also became a trial by fire for Charles' illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, who accompanied his uncle Gloucester, and was considered the start of the path of Monmouth as one of the finest British generals of XVII century.
However, by 1667, as the Turks were able to regroup and manage couter-offence, the events began to brew in the North of Europe, changing the political landscape. What started as a family matter in the House of Orange, soon was to grow into conflict engulfing many European countries.


[1] Life is not fair, and so are dice.

[2] OTL the titles of Duc de Mayenne and de Mazaren were given to husband of Hortense Mancini, TTL, since Hortense is the Queen of England, all the titles go to Philippe Mancini after his uncle’s death.

 

[Valena]

Next chapter - on British and Dutch affairs and TTL Second Anglo-Dutch War - coming soon! I'll try to reflect the dynamics between the new Queen, the Duchess of York and the Duchess of Gloucester (ironically the only one of three with mother of Royal blood).

 

[Valena]

It just occured to me - without the OTL Devolution War casus belli France has no immediate reason to withdraw from the coalition of Austro-Turkish War of 1663 in 1664. Moreover, BRITAIN can be dragged into it via Saxonian dynastic ties TTL, not that it can get to the "Crusade" A&D level, but... can get interesting. Thoughts about plausibility?

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Well, there's also the fact that Philippe (I think it was), was the one who 'deflowered' Monsieur OTL. So Louis might also hold that against him, plus the whole being "Italian" thing. Speaking of Monsieur, is everything there going as OTL?

 

[Valena]

Well, there's also the fact that Philippe (I think it was), was the one who 'deflowered' Monsieur OTL. So Louis might also hold that against him, plus the whole being "Italian" thing. Speaking of Monsieur, is everything there going as OTL?

As for Monsieur - roughly as OTL so far, though HERE the "commoner outranking me" dynamics between Minette and the Queen will be in full play, unlike the situation with Catherine Braganza (whose mother was a non-Royal as well).
Philippe (Mancini) is going to be a massive thorn in the butt, and I think I may reverse the arrangement between him and Guise, or even not giving him a bride of Royal blood at all. I'm undecided about what to do with Mlle d'Alencon, then. An idea occured for Longueville marriage for her (Charles-Paris de Longueville as a candidate, but no earlier than 1667 - he's even a bit more prestigious than her OTL husband). I think I will do some rewrites to part 3 regarding this.

 

[Valena]

Rewrote a bit of Chapter III, regarding Philippe and the Austrian matter (I honestly forgot about this one, so I'm correcting this). Also, TTL Second Anglo-Dutch War is postponed, since here, unlike OTL, Charles II is not a legal guardian of Willem.

 

[Valena]

Maybe posting British-centric update today.

 

[Valena]

Chapter IV: On Storms and Serenity

If there was anything the Italian Queen of Charles II was good at, it was her fertility: from October 1661, when Charles, Prince of Wales, was born, till 1667, Hortense Mancini gave her husband 4 more children – Mary-Henriette, Princess Royal, in January 1664, Henry, Duke of Clarence and Ross, twin of the above, Elisabeth-Sophia, Princess of England, in October 1665, and Philip Julius, Duke of Kendal and Kintyre, in August 1666. That was clearly no final count of the Royal nursery population, Queen being clearly fertile, being from family that saw 8 children to live to adulthood.

The same was not true about Duchesses of York and Gloucester, who only had 3 miscarriages between two in the same time period. While the wife of the Duke of York was a petite sad woman content with her tea parties and small circle of friends, the Duchess of Gloucester was more interesting person – if only for the fact that she was one of the first two women among founding members of the Royal Society – the second being her friend Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle. The two women had one thing in common, besides their health not being ideal for childbearing – love of history and natural philosophy, and the philosophic disputes between the two high born ladies became the unusual treat to the Society members.

The Duke of Gloucester, despite the failure of his Saxon wife to give him living children, did, however, show remarkable fidelity to his “German Minerva”, as Erdmuthe-Sophie was nicknamed at court. That was in stark contrast with his brothers the King – who has been sleeping with Barbara Palmer aside despite being married to the pretty and fertile Queen, and the Duke of York – in whose bed Anne Hyde was replaced by a certain Arabella Chrurchill, a "tall creature, pale-faced, and nothing but skin and bone." Gloucester had no official mistress, and this, coupled with his pronounced Low Church sympathies, made him popular with the Country party.

By 1667 Charles II was the only male descendant of Charles I to have legitimate issue – however, his sisters, Duchesse d’Orleans and Dowager Princess of Orange, now Duchess of Cumberland, did not do bad as well. Henriette had four surviving children – Marie Louise d’Orleans, Mademoiselle d’Orleans, born in 1662, Philippe Charles d’Orleans, Duc de Valois, born on July 16, 1664, and twins – Henriette Agnes d’Orleans, Mademoiselle de Chartres (known as Mademoiselle de Valois since 1667 after the previous Mlle de Valois became Queen of Portugal) and Louis Alexander, Duc de Chartres, born on July 9, 1665 [1]. The birth of twins caused significant strain to Henriette, though thankfully the personal physician of Prince of Conde and formerly of Queen Christine of Sweden, a certain Bourdelot, was able to nurse her back to health. However, it was declared that the twins are likely her last children, and the Duc and Duchesse parted amicably, the Duc d’Orleans returning to the company of his favorites led by the infamous Chevalier de Lorraine (and including the Duc de Mazaren as well, despite Louis XIV loathing to see “despicable creature” of his brother-in-law anywhere near her brother).

Mary Stuart, meanwhile, managed to have two children with Rupert from 1663 to 1666 – Lady Elisabeth of Cumberland, Princess Palatine of the Rhine, born on March 29, 1663, and Robert William, Earl of Holderness and Prince Palatine of the Rhine, born on December 25, 1665 (both a Christmas present and the belated birthday for Rupert). Young William of Orange adored his step-siblings, and got along pretty well with his stepfather, who put the emphasis on the military education of the young man, wanting him to be “fine soldier first, fine statesman second”, in the vein of his granduncle Maurice of Orange.

The Anglo-Palatinate stepfather of the Prince of Orange showed the remarkable interest in Orangist faction powerbase, knowing the grandmother of William since she was a lady-in-waiting to Rupert’s mother and nursed baby Rupert during the flight to Netherlands from Bohemia after the Winter King’s unlucky and short reign. He also communicated with the Stadtholder of Friesland, William’s uncle William Frederick of Nassau-Dietz – Friesland did not like to be dictated from Holland, and William Frederick could have been the easy candidate for Stadtholder office, if not for his role in military coup preceding the death of William II.

The position of the Orangists was the precarious one – while they could easily count for English support (and back in London a lot of people would have been enthusiastic about the war, including Cumberland himself and the Duke of York, who were the major shareholders of many English trade companies, competing with the Dutch ones), that made them look like traitors at home.

By 1666 the conflict became inevitable – minor raids of Dutch shipping were performed by the British privateers, and the refusal to give William III any major military or political office, as he was nearing the majority, was seen at London as the insult to English royal family themselves. The only considerations so far were the precarious position of the English “White Elephant” of Dunkirk and the raging plague in England, which took almost the year to die down. The spread of plague and the Great Fire of London of 1666 were blamed on the Dutch, which was popularly supported. However, the problem was the position of France, bound to assist the Dutch in war with England in case England attacks, and the need to consider it.
But by winter 1667 the war, waged so far unofficially in colonies, was moving to Europe.

[1] In OTL there was stillborn girl in 1665 and stillborn male twins in 1667, here there is a bit more luck.

 

[Valena]

I think I'm stealing the Great War idea from Velasco's TL, having the war start in 1666-1667, but I don't want to shamelessly plagiarize his ideas. Next chapter is due the next week.

 

[Valena]

Chapter V: The Drums of War
Many apologies to Velasco for stealing some plotlines from his amazing TL, with all due credit for some matching paragraphs given to him.

The formal declaration of what was known as first the Second Anglo-Dutch War was postponed by the unsecure position of France, which had the defense agreement with the Netherlands concluded in 1662. While Charles II of England sought to sought to end Dutch dominance on international waters and to assure the succession to power of his nephew, William of Orange; Louis was motivated by the prospect of annexing the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and Maastricht, thus driving a French-owned wedge between Spanish possessions in Brabant and Luxembourg and giving his armies direct access both to the United Provinces and northern Germany. The English had had some successes but were financially at their limit: Louis had much to gain by swooping in at the final hour and assuring a joint victory, by which the Dutch and Spanish would be weakened and the Stuart government would become most obliged to him.

Allied to the Dutch was King Frederick of Denmark, much indebted to them by past favors and recent subsidy payments. Frederick had secretly broken with the Dutch in 1665, plotting with the English to seize the return fleet from the Dutch East Indies - a delay in the arrival of his orders saw his Norwegian fleet join the Battle of Vagen on the Dutch side and defeat the English. Now he had no reason to ally with England and much to gain by assisting the Dutch.

The Swedes were lured into the war on Anglo-French side, however the position was unstable – considering the Kingdom was still a regency. The guardians of 15-years old Karl XI were tempted by high financial promises.

The Swedish situation in many ways mirrored the Spanish one – where Dowager Queen Mariana was a regent for 13-years old Felipe V, “the dwarf king for huge Empire”. The position of Queen was precarious one – her son was not so far removed from majority, and while him being a 3 feet 10 inches tall dwarf did prevent him from having proper military education (in stark contrast with his half-brother, Don Juan Jose of Austria, who was an aspiring general), there was no reason to expect that Mariana’s regency would be any longer than needed. Moreover, the 15-years old Queen of the young King, Maria Ana de Orleans (later known as Mariana the Younger), was showing some teeth of her own. While she was rarely seen at court events or in public, having inherited her mother’s agoraphobia, she was far from shy in private.

While the French match played its role in making peace with Portuguese in January 1667 (aided by the fact that the new Portuguese Queen was elder full sister of Maria Ana de Orleans), the Dowager was afraid that the young wife will steer her son towards more pro-French politics. The offer of hand of Princess Royal for Mariana’s second surviving son, Infante Carlos, nicknamed “the Bewitched” since the boy seemed to have every malady on the face of earth, was taken with the pinch of salt, so the Spanish stayed neutral for at least a year.


By May 1667 Liege and Maastricht were conquered by France. French aggression on the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (an Imperial fief) and the alacrity with which French armies mauled their way northward lead to the collapse of the League of the Rhine and the prompt declaration of war by the Emperor Leopold I, the absentee Prince-Bishop Maximilian Henry of Bavaria (who also happened to be Archbishop-Elector of Cologne) and by the princes of Bavaria, Hesse, Brunswick and Brandenburg. The brutal effectiveness of the modernized French military impelled Frederick William, the Elector of Brandenburg, to abandon his pro-France and pro-Sweden stance and move with the Emperor to safeguard his own Duchy of Cleves, which lay adjacent to the United Provinces and stood threatened by the French if they gained a foothold in the region. The death of his Dutch wife, a princess of Orange-Nassau, no doubt alleviated his sense of obligation toward her nephew (on whose behalf the English claimed to be acting).


The pro-French and half-English Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, initially joined the Anglo-French alliance alongside John George II, Elector of Saxony (relation to British court by virtue of marriage of his daughter to the Duke of Gloucester); no doubt in the hope of reacquiring the Lower Palatinate from Bavaria once peace rolled around. They quickly found themselves surrounded and outnumbered and, impressed by Brandenburg's example, defected to the Imperial coalition, declaring war on France, England and Sweden (late March 1667).


By April 1667 Spain finally made the decision to join the war on side of the Imperial coalition, neutrality to Portuguese being secured. After much bickering at court Don Juan Jose was assigned Governor General of Spanish Netherlands, the act of cruel necessity, since after the Dutch are “properly neutered”, the Spanish gains were on the menu for Louis.


The reaction to Louis' success had allowed the Emperor Leopold to achieve the unimaginable and unite the German princelings against a common foe. With the Swedes locked in intense struggles against the Danes, the Prussians and Pfalzers pressed against Swedish possessions at Bremen and western Pommern. The Spanish Netherlands succumbed piecemeal to the French advance: as the Spanish did not have a single large standing army, the war was to be one of small skirmishes and sieges. At sea the Portuguese caused trouble for the Dutch while the English had their hands tied. The Ottoman aid Louis had counted on was not forthcoming: the Grand Turk was busy in Crete and meddling in the Ukraine with the Cossacks against the Poles and Russians.


The French subsidies not being paid, and the influence of French-raised Italian Queen (subject to many a cartoons in London) decreasing with her popularity plummeting, by 1668 Charles II was forced to sign the separate peace treaty with the Dutch – the Treaty of Portsmouth [1] of May 1668 was in many ways the typical uti possedesses treaty. However it abolished the previous Act of Seclusion, which prohibited the election of an Orange-Nassau to the office of Stadtholder, and ensured Prince William of Orange taking the office by his majority – in 1673. In exchange the Dutch kept some recent colonial acquisitions - including precious sugar factories on Suriname and the nutmeg monopoly afforded them by possession of Pulau Run - as well as obtaining more advantageous trading rights in England. Charles' excluded his French allies from the treaties and unofficially approved Dutch moves against French colonies and shipping while the Dutch and Portuguese recognized English occupation of Acadia, a French colony.


The Treaty of Portsmouth left the French without significant allies besides Sweden and Christoph Bernhard von Galen, Prince-Bishop of Munster, an expert soldier who had done much to ameliorate the combined Hapsburg, Hohenzollern and Wittelsbach battering the French and Swedes were facing in the fields of north-western Germany. However, the Imperial request for aid to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, dragged down into both its internal conflicts and with downfall of the war with Russia, only recently ended with the Truce of Andrusovo (1667).


Without England and Portugal to worry about, the Dutch were able to focus their attention on Louis XIV's France. They seized the French colony on St Kitts and skirmished on Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Lucia. A combined Imperial, Spanish and Dutch force defeated Louis' forces at the Battle of Stravelot (1668) and the Genoese, Spanish allies, were able to repulse a Savoyard incursion abetted by King Louis. The English themselves did not lose the opportunity to loot and ransack when it showed itself, as it readily did.


The Peace of Wismar (1668) shortly afterward saw Sweden and their allies in Holstein make peace with Denmark and the Empire. The Danish King forced Christian Albert of Holstein-Gottorp and Karl XI of Sweden to take as brides his daughters Frederika Amalia and Ulrika Eleonora: Christian made over to his father-in-law the recently inherited county of Oldenburg and Karl was forced to abandon the Free City of Bremen, which he had long hoped to annex to his duchy of Bremen-Verden. The Elector of Brandenburg received Sweden's strip of Hinterpommern (Farther Pomerania), on the right side of the Oder, which included the towns of Damm and Gollnow, and Karl renounced the right of succession to the rest of Farther Pomerania in case of Hohenzollern extinction. Karl was also forced to hand over Verden, the smaller part of Bremen-Verden, to the Emperor. A reluctant Denmark abandoned the captured island of Rügen while Brandenburg withdrew from the rest of Swedish Pomerania.


The peace between France and Imperial coalition in 1669 saw the return to 1659 borders in Catalonia and Milan (where France and Savoy jointly attacked the Spanish forces), and Cambrai, Bregues and what remained of the Imperial county of Artois (including St. Omer) were left in French hands, as were Louis' previous gains in Alsace. The United Provinces were also forced to part with Staats-Vlaanderen (Zeelandic Flanders), a strip of seaboard apart from the rest of the Provinces and close-by to Antwerp and Brussels. Moreover, France finally annexed all of Lorraine (the war previously forced Prince of Lorraine and his French-Savoyard wife to flee to Austrian court in 1667, the Princess Marie-Jeanne being stripped by the Royal edict from her rights to the Duchy of Aumale in favor of her sister, Duchesse de Guise, who thus became suo jure Duchesse d’Aumale et de Nemours).


The fate of Principality of Verden remained uncertain. The Emperor Leopold I did not want to strengthen French and British allies, giving to them what was taken from Swedish hands. So, neither Elector Palatine, nor his younger brother Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland and stepfather to young Prince of Orange, were the suitable candidates by this logic.


After much pondering, the Prince-Bishop was named in person of Jorgen of Denmark, the younger brother to the King of Denmark, with condition that should the Jorgen’s line be extinct, the Principality of Verden will again become the Imperial fief, not merging into the Crown of Denmark. While technically a minor prince, Jorgen was awarded greatly by the hand of the Emperor’s half-sister, Eleanor of Austria, with marriage being celebrated in May 1670, and being considered the marriage alliance between Denmark and Holy Roman Empire.


Another Leopold’s half-sister, Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, was promised in marriage to Electoral Prince Karl Emil of Brandenburg, with the marriage taking place no earlier than 1672.


Western matters settled, now the Emperor was free to look to the East, where the Polish King John II Casimir was going to abdicate his throne in 1669 after the death of his beloved French wife. The natural candidate to succeed him, championed by the late wife, was the Duc de Longueville, whose wife, former Mlle d’Alencon, was the sister to Queens of Spain and Portugal and to the Duchess of Savoy. However the French candidate was intolerable to the Austrian interests. They did not want the local wildcard or the exotic candidates like the Tsarevich Alexis of Russia or the Piast Duke of Liegnitz from cadet branch of the former ruling dynasty of Poland to take the throne.

Since 1668, after the Queen Ludwika died, the opinion was shaped by generous bribes via multiple local sejmiks – yes, the strong foreign alliance is desirable for Poland. No, ruling by the hated French is not what a proper Pole or Litsvin should want. And anyway, if you elect the nearest kin to the former ruler, why should it be the kin to the Queen, and not to the King? A ruler allowing himself to be ruled by women is a weak one.

The free election of 1669, accompanied by scandals, skirmishes and almost full-blown revolt led by pro-French party of the Crown Hetman Sobieski, showed a surprising winner. Philip William of Palatinate-Neuburg [2], brother-in-law to King John II Casimir by virtue of his late first wife, was elected the King Philip I of Poland, and with his huge and ever-growing family, it seemed that the House of Neuburg is there to stay, despite the results of election being faced with discontent from both East and the West.
[1] TTL version of OTL Treaty of Breda.
[2] In OTL finished third, here the "Piast" faction is lured to Austrian side with generous bribes, and the French have weaker candidate than the Grand Conde in form of Duc de Longueville.

 

[Valena]

Children of Louis XIV de Bourbon, King of France:

From the marriage to Marguerite Violante of Savoy (b.1635, d. 1659)

1) Louis, Dauphin of France (b. 1659)

From the marriage to Marie Mancini (b.1639)

1) Louise Marie, Madame Royale (b.1661)

2) Miscarriage (1663)

3) Philippe Jules, Duc d’Anjou (b.1664)

4) Elisabeth-Hortense, Fille de France (b. 1665 d. 1667)

5) Henri-Louis, Duc de Berry (b. 1666 d.1667)

6) Charles-Henry, Duc de Berry (b.1668)

7) Louise-Olympia, Fille de France (b.1670)

Children of Philippe de France, Duc d’Orleans

From his marriage to Princess Henrietta of England (b.1644)

1) Marie Louise d’Orleans, Mademoiselle d’Orleans (b.1662)

2) Philippe Charles d’Orleans, Duc de Valois (b.1664)

3) Henriette Agnes d’Orleans, Mademoiselle de Valois (b.1665)

4) Louis Alexander d’Orleans, Duc de Chartres (b.1665)

Children of Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conde

From his marriage to Claire-Clemence de Maille-Breze (b.1628, d.1662)

1) Henri Jules de Bourbon, Duc d’Enghien (b.1643)

2) Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Bourbon (b.1652; d.1653)

3) Marie-Claire de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Bourbon (b.1657)

From his marriage to Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orleans, Duchesse de Montpensier (b.1627, d.1664)

1) Anne Louise Benedicte de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Montpensier (b.1664)

 

[Valena]

A small feedback request - shall the next chapter be French/English one, Spanish/Austrian one, Italian (Savoy, Tuscany) one or deal with Neuburg Poland consequences?

 

[Ciniad]

A small feedback request - shall the next chapter be French/English one, Spanish/Austrian one, Italian (Savoy, Tuscany) one or deal with Neuburg Poland consequences?

Sorry cant really decide I like all those proposition equally.

 

[Valena]

Descendants of Felipe IV of Spain:

From marriage with Elisabeth de France:

Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain (b.1638)

From the marriage with Ferdinand IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1633 d.1659)

Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria (b.1657)

Archduchess Anne Eleonora of Austria (b.1657, twin of the above)

From the marriage to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b.1640)

Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (b.1663)

Archduke Karl Leopold of Austria (b.1664 d.1668)

Miscarriage (1665)

Archduchess Elisabeth Margarita of Austria (b.1667)

Stillborn girl (1668)

Archduke Leopold Joseph of Austria (b.1669)

From marriage with Marianna of Austria

Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain (b.1651), betrothed to Cosimo III de Medici in 1665

Infante Felipe Teodosio, Prince of Asturias, later King Felipe V (b.1654), married to Marie Anne d’Orleans (b.1652) in 1665

Infante Diego Prospero (b.1657, d.1661)

Infante Fernando Carlos (b.1658, d.1659)

Infante Carlos Felix (b. 1661)

 

[Valena]

Descendants of Charles I of England and Scotland

Charles II (b.1630)

From the marriage with Hortense Mancini (b.1646)

1. Charles, Prince of Wales (b.1661) m. Countess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (b.1655) in 1677

2. Stillborn girl (b.1662)

3. Mary-Henriette, Princess Royal (b.1664)

4. Henry, Duke of Clarence and Ross (b.1664)

5. Elisabeth-Sophia, Princess of England (b.1665)

6. Philip Julius, Duke of Kendal and Kintyre (b.1666, d.1668)

7. James, Duke of Kendal and Kintyre (b.1669)

8. Charlotte Hortense, Princess of England (b.1672)

9. Miscarriage (1673)

10. Catherine Laura, Princess of England (b.1674)

Mary, Princess Royal, Dowager Princess of Orange, Duchess of Cumberland (b.1631)

From the marriage with William II of Orange (b.1626; d.1650):

1. William III of Orange (b.1650)

From the marriage with Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland (b.1619)

1. Lady Elisabeth of Cumberland, Princess Palatine (b.1663)

2. Robert William, Earl of Holderness and Prince Palatine (b.1665)

Henry, Duke of Gloucester (b.1640)

From the marriage with Erdmuthe-Sophia of Saxony (b.1644 d.1673)
No living children, a miscarriage in 1665

From the marriage with Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dowager Countess of Palatinate-Simmern-Kaiserslautern (b.1642)
1. Charles, Duke of Cambridge (b.1676)