Alternate History

[CyrilVladisla]

Louis Bonaparte was a younger brother of Emperor Napoleon I of France. Napoleon made Louis King of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806.
Suppose Napoleon had made his brother Joseph King of the Kingdom of Holland instead.

Napoleon II had to live with his mother Marie Louise in Austria after Napoleon I was exiled. While living in Austria he was known as Franz.
Suppose his grandfather Emperor Francis I of Austria allows Napoleon II to marry.

[Gawin]

Napoleon II died at the age of 21. Even if he had been allowed to marry there might not have been enough time to survey the pool of suitable choices, make a selection, and complete the necessary negotiations.

BTW- After 1816 Marie Louise lived in Parma, leaving her son behind in Austria.

[JR76]

One do wonder what kind of bride he could've marry.
Many of his Bonaparte cousins struggled to make royal matches so they married either each other or like in the case of Napoleon III and Mathilde married members of the aristocracy.
Another descendant of the Napoleonic nobility, the future Oscar I of Sweden-Norway was shunned by the royal courts and had to settle for a Leuchtenberg.
The Leuchtenberg themselves must be said to have made the best marriages of all the Napoleonic families with one sister marrying the aforementioned King of Sweden-Norway, one sister the Emperor of Brazil, one the Prince of Hohenzollern-Heichingen, one the Duke of Urach while the brothers married the Queen of Portugal (and his sister's stepdaughter) and the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.
My guess is that Franz wouldn't had been allowed to marry a royal but would've been given a bride from one of the more prominent Austro-Hungarian houses.

[wyevale]

After the Congress of Vienna, the Bonaparte clan, was seen as the upstarts they were.. NO self-respecting Royal house would have sought an alliance with them..

[Gawin]

Originally Posted by JR76

My guess is that Franz wouldn't had been allowed to marry a royal but would've been given a bride from one of the more prominent Austro-Hungarian houses.

I agree. If allowed to marry I think he would have been limited to what the Habsburgs would regard as a "morganatic" marriage, to someone who wasn't royal or even semi-royal (like a Leuchtenberg). This would ensure that any children would not be accepted as equal by other royal families and more easily controlled. The Habsburgs certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for creating any more trouble-making Bonapartes.

I also believe Franz would have had a very unhappy & unfulfilling life if he hadn't died at 21.

[CyrilVladisla]

The eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, Ferdinand IV (1633-1654) was granted the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary. He was crowned King of the Romans in 1653. He died in 1654.
Suppose Ferdinand IV lives numerous years past 1654. Thus in 1658 he does become Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand IV. What is his reign like?

Emperor Charles I of Austria was no longer sovereign of Austria after the First World War. He died in 1922.
Suppose he was able to relocate to Budapest, Hungary. Hungary had been allowed to remain a monarchy. Thus Charles continues to be King Charles IV. In this scenario he dies in 1942. What does he do as King of Hungary?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Emperor Charles I of Austria was no longer sovereign of Austria after the First World War. He died in 1922.
Suppose he was able to relocate to Budapest, Hungary. Hungary had been allowed to remain a monarchy. Thus Charles continues to be King Charles IV. In this scenario he dies in 1942. What does he do as King of Hungary?

Be ousted by the fascists in 1940 and died in exile somewhere. In any case this Hungarian monarchy would end in 1945, when the communists took over.

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1908 King Carlos I of Portugal and his son and heir, Crown Prince Luis Filipe were assassinated. Suppose Carlos and Luis Filipe were not shot. Carlos remains King. How long would Portugal have remained a monarchy?

Ferdinand VI was King of Spain in 1808 and again in 1813 to 1833. His wife, Queen Maria Christina had him set aside the Salic Law. Isabella II, their daughter, became Queen Regnant in 1833.
Suppose the Salic Law had not been set aside. Ferdinand VI's brother, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina succeeds as King Charles V.

[CyrilVladisla]

What if in 1555 there had been no Peace of Augsburg allowing each prince within the Holy Roman Empire to decide for himself and his realm between Catholicism and Lutheranism?

[Alison H]

I think the princes would have gone their own way anyway: the Habsburgs were too overstretched to stop them. If they'd tried, and carried on fighting, the French, the Turks or both would have taken advantage and barged into the Empire. Could've been interesting!