WI Habsburgs never inherited Spain or Burgundy, but did inherit Bohemia and Hungary?

[Rob]

WI instead of the Habsburgs spending until 1700 occupied with Spanish interests, until the 1790s with Netherlands interests and the mid-19th century with Italian interests the core of the Habsburg realm were focused on Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and only other adjacent territories?

How does the history of Europe unfold?

[Alex Milman]

Post by Rob
WI instead of the Habsburgs spending until 1700 occupied with Spanish interests, until the 1790s with Netherlands interests and the mid-19th century with Italian interests the core of the Habsburg realm were focused on Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and only other adjacent territories?
How does the history of Europe unfold?

And who and how would rule Spain and its OTL domains? This is important for the European history.

BTW, at least initially, Spanish claims in Italy had nothing to do with the Hapsburgs: they were based upon rule of the Aragonian dynasty in the Southern Italy (Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples) and Sardinia. It seems that claim to the Duchy of Milan also had Aragonian roots: Isabella of Naples, was Duchess of Milan by marriage to Gian Galeazzo Sforza.

[Graham Truesdale]

Post by Alex Milman

Post by Rob
WI instead of the Habsburgs spending until 1700 occupied with Spanish interests, until the 1790s with Netherlands interests and the mid-19th century with Italian interests the core of the Habsburg realm were focused on Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and only other adjacent territories?
How does the history of Europe unfold?

And who and how would rule Spain and its OTL domains? This is important for the European history.
BTW, at least initially, Spanish claims in Italy had nothing to do with the Hapsburgs: they were based upon rule of the Aragonian dynasty in the Southern Italy (Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples) and Sardinia. It seems that claim to the Duchy of Milan also had Aragonian roots: Isabella of Naples, was Duchess of Milan by marriage to Gian Galeazzo Sforza.

If https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_Prince_of_Asturias had lived and produced offspring, he and they would have inherited Spain, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. But in this scenario, Philip the Handsome (Habsburg) still inherits Burgundy from his mother as well as Austria from his father. To avoid this, you would probably have to prevent either his parents' marriage or the birth of a son. And that would get rid of Philip's son Ferdinand, who married into Hungary.

[Rob]

Post by Graham Truesdale
If https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_Prince_of_Asturias had lived and produced offspring, he and they would have inherited Spain, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. But in this scenario, Philip the Handsome (Habsburg) still inherits Burgundy from his mother as well as Austria from his father. To avoid this, you would probably have to prevent either his parents' marriage or the birth of a son. And that would get rid of Philip's son Ferdinand, who married into Hungary.

Indeed, the whole set of marriage inheritances as we knew them would be disrupted, and the Habsburgs would just be measly little Holy Roman Emperors, Archdukes of Austria and ruler of the scattered southwest German holdings called "Hither Austria".

However, since the Habsburgs in several generations intermarried with Bohemian and Hungarian royalty, perhaps a generation later things could work out so that the Habsburgs inherit the Crowns of Bohemia and Hungary. I think the Habsburgs tried for marriages more often with those neighbors than more distant lands' rulers, and often Bohemian or Hungarian rulers themselves had been interested in expansion into Austria.