The King is dead - A Renaissance TL

[isabella]

The 24 February of 1525 would remain forever among the worst days in the history of France as the battle of Pavia had been a terrible defeat and likely the end of any italian ambition: the French army was destroyed, most of the men dead or captured and the same for its nobility: King Francis was among the dead on the battlefield and his brother-in-law, the Duke d‘Alençon, who had not escaped uninjured the battlefield was desperately trying to lead the retreat of what remained of Francis’ glorious army across the Alps, hoping who his messengers had reached Duchess Louise, left by her son as Regent, informing her of the tragedy and of his request of help…
Charles d’Alençon’s only comfort in his desperate situation was who he would not be nowhere near to his over ambitious mother-in-law when she would realize who her damned ambition had caused the death of her only son and left France in desperate conditions as the Duke of Bourbon, the victorious commander of the enemy’s army would have never betrayed France for the Emperor if Louise had not claimed his lands after Suzanne’s unfortunate death. He just hoped to be able to live long enough to die on french soil and been buried there, like Francis, as they had recovered his body and were bringing back it with them…

The retreat through the Alps had been fully completed, among great difficulties, only few of days before the remnants of the glorious army of Francis I lost his latest leader, as the unlucky Duke d’Alençon died before his army reached Lyon, were a desperate Duchess Marguerite reached the soldiers who were brought the bodies of her brother and husband in the city.
Marguerite d’Alençon knew who she would have never forgotten that tragic hours, in which she fought hard for not losing herself in her sorrows, for all the remaining of her life. Still she was a daughter of France and knew what she should do, so after two agonizing days, she put herself at head of the funeral procession of her brother and husband as they departed for Paris, where Duchess Louise, now Regent of France for her seven years old grandson, awaited them.

 

[isabella]

Louise of Savoy, Duchess of Angoulême and Regent of France had cried when she had received the news of the death of her most beloved son and raged for the defeat of Pavia, but had soon started her plotting for securing the regency for her grandson and searching a way to blame someone different from her most beloved son for that tragedy. Her first thought had been to blame Alençon and his cowardice for it, but her son-in-law Charles had acted valorously and wisely and the fact who he had been able to lead back in France the survivors of the army and the body of his King and brother-in-law, before dying for the injuries he had received in the battle meant who Charles d’Alençon was to receive the funerals of an hero. Another possibility would be blaming the traitor Charles of Bourbon for the defeat as he had been the commander of the Imperial Army at Pavia, but that could easily backfire and she had other plans for Bourbon, who now was also the First Prince of Blood, at least in theory, and she hoped to receive soon an answer to her letter to the Duke, and she needed a positive one.
Still the thing who Louise feared the most were the requests of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, for signing a peace to end that war who France, right now on the brink of collapse, could not afford to continue.

 

[isabella]

Charles V at 25 years was doubtless the most powerful monarch of the Christianity and after Francis I‘ death he had the freedom to dictate conditions to the defeated French who could stop once for all their tentatives of expansion, but he also needed to be just and taking only what NOT belonged to France or a too harsh peace would be the start of another round of wars in few years: France naturally was to renounce to any pretension on Milan and give him back the Duchy of Burgundy and renounce forever to pretensions to any lands who had belonged to Charles the Bold and so was part of his rightful inheritance and the young Francis II was to marry a relative to Charles V for sealing the treaty, but asking more would likely complicated things so the Duke of Bourbon and his engagement to Eleanor had become Charles V’s biggest problem in dictating his conditions as Bourbon had been the victorious commander at Pavia and expected to be rightly compensated for it but the French Regent Louise of Angoulême would likely find that the most hard part of the Imperial request to satisfy, so the Emperor had chosen to wait and pray for something who would resolve his troubles. In the meantime he had resigned himself to renounce to the English match who he had previously wanted so much as Princess Mary was still only nine years old, and he started to feel the weight of the absence of children of his own, as things with France would be much easier if he had a daughter around the age of the young King of France (or at least his still childless brother Ferdinand had provided him with a niece) to offer instead of Eleanor‘s daughter as little Maria of Portugal was a darling girl but also destined to be Bourbon’s stepdaughter, and that would mean who he had to impose her to the French… And after that he had to settle things with the Pope, as Clement VII had allied with enemies for satisfying the political ambitions who he had for his birth family, ignoring the fact who Charles V and not Francis I was the champion of the Christianity (and that was unforgivable) so he had ordered to Bourbon to march over Rome with his troops.

The mind of the Emperor returned to his matrimonial troubles and the hard decision who he had taken: renouncing to the English match and bend to the will of the Cortes of Castile and Aragon who had long hoped and asked for his marriage to his cousin Isabel of Portugal: Eleanor, who had been stepmother of the 21 years old princess, had only good words to say about the girl, her appearance, her character, her piety and her determination in waiting for Charles, believing who they were destined to each other (and Charles could not deny to be flattered from that, and knowing who Isabel was interested in his Crowns more than him do not changed the fact) so he had resigned to the fate and proposed a double match to King John III of Portugal, asking for Isabel as bride and offering his youngest sister, the 18 years old Catalina, as bride to the still unmarried King and was waiting for the surely positive answer from Portugal when he received a letter from the Duke of Bourbon, who resolved much of his troubles, as the Duke was asking to be released from the service of the Emperor and the engagement to the Dowager Queen of Portugal as the French Regent had offered him the royal pardon and the hand of her just widowed daughter Marguerite with all the Bourbon lands as dowry and he had decided to accept the offer as Marguerite at least was in her 30s and, unlike her mother, was not an harpy so he could tolerate the match and his conscience would feel better in being restored by the Regent than for the intercession of the Emperor.
Charles V naturally had lost no time in giving his assent to the requests of the Duke as they resolved his greatest troubles, and freed Eleanor for another, more useful, match as soon he would be able to arrange it, likely to Francis II of Milan, for guaranteeing the full loyalty of that Duke to the Habsburgs. The price to pay was to renounce to the planned expedition against Rome but the Pope could be punished depriving his relative (or maybe illegitimate son) Alessandro of the rulership of Florence and maybe only the threat of doing that would be enough for bringing the Pope back in the fold and persuade him to pray more and renounce to his intrigues…

 

[isabella]

Marguerite, Dowager Duchess d’Alençon was simply furious with her mother and her damned intrigues and knew who their relationship would likely never the same after the furious fight of few hours earlier, when Louise had informed her daughter of what she expected her to do: Marguerite in the end had yielded to her mother‘s will, after an initial refusal, but had explicitly said who if she was to be Iphigenia, sacrificed for repaying her mother’s faults, then Louise was to remember who she was Agamemnon. Marguerite had added also who she would never forgive her mother for the deaths of her beloved brother Francis and her first husbands Charles d’Alençon as she was the responsible for them and the defeat of Pavia as Charles of Bourbon would have never betrayed France if Louise had not stolen his lands for satisfying her avidity. She would marry Bourbon but would do that only for little Francis II and his siblings as she loved her poor her nephews and nieces, so young and parentless, and loved France but Louise, acting this way, had lost her affection and respect.
Louise had been hit hard by her daughter’s words but at least Marguerite had accepted to do her duty and she knew who whatever opinion her daughter would have of her, she would remain loyal to the young King and would do her best for keep also Bourbon loyal and that was more than enough for the Regent.
Someone else, after such words, maybe would have tried to reduce Marguerite’s access to the Royal children but Louise knew her daughter far too well for thinking who she could try to poison the children’s minds against their grandmother and Francis had left to Marguerite the custody of his daughters and five years old Madeleine and two years old Marguerite loved their aunt and would suffer a lot in being separated by her or their brothers…

 

[isabella]

A couple of months after receiving the news of the defeat and death of the Francis, Henry VIII would find difficult say what had been his reaction to it. Surely the death of Francis I and the minority of Francis II made Calais safer, but on the other side he had lost a rival but also a potential ally, and both the best matches previously available for his only daughter had gone to the infantas of Portugal as Charles V had broken their engagement for marrying Isabel of Portugal, who had already the age for being married and giving him heirs and the young Francis II of France was to marry Maria of Portugal, Isabel’s much younger half-sister.
Then Henry VIII‘s thoughts shifted from the lost opportunities for his daughter to his own absence of sons as young Mary was the only surviving child who he had by his wife Catherine of Aragon, Charles V’s aunt. Seven years had passed from Catherine‘s last pregnancy and his wife was almost 40 years old, so he knew who Catherine would not birth another child to him and the six years old Henry Fitzroy, his much beloved but illegitimate son, would remain his only son, unless he followed Woolsey’s suggestion and petitioned the Pope for an annulment of his marriage for the good of England and Henry was seriously taking in consideration the idea: sure, Catherine was a good and devoted wife and Queen and he loved her, but England needed male heirs and he was convinced who he had made a serious mistake in marrying his brother‘s widow, all that years ago, specially as his own late father had been strongly against that match for him.
After taking some more time for reflecting about his options, the King called his Chancellor as he had taken his decision and told him to prepare the petition for the Pope. Henry reflected about informing Catherine of his decision before sending the petition, but quickly decided against it: his wife was proud and haughty, and convinced who she was Queen of England for God’s will it and who the fact who they had no surviving son meant who God wanted Mary as next ruler of England and Henry, who had earned deservedly the title of Defensor Fidei, had to admitt who sometimes he was scared by his wife‘s religious fanatism

 

[isabella]

Pope Clement VII, head of the Church was secure of few things: chief among them was the conviction who Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor was his biggest enemy and who any mean was good for trying to destroy the power of the Spanish King, who could not be allowed to extend his power in Europe. The Pope had allied with the late King of France for trying to destroy the power of the Emperor, but sadly Francis I had died in a costly defeat at Pavia. After receiving the news of Pavia, the Pope had feared who the Emperor would take his revenge over him but luckily Louise of Savoy, now Regent of France, had reached a deal with the Duke of Bourbon and the Pope had gladly given his consent for Marguerite’s remarriage after only three or four months of mourning. Bourbon leaving the service of the Emperor for return in France meant also who the dangers for Rome disappeared, with his great joy, as now Charles had lost the best of his commanders, leaving only the italians at his disposal, and the Emperor would not give to any of them the order to march on the Holy See and that left him free to continue his intrigues against the Emperor and had just received another opportunity to damage him as Cardinal Woolsey, the Lord Chancellor of England, in name of his King had petitioned the Pope for the annulment of the latter’s wedding to Catherine of Aragon, aunt of Charles V and great supporter of Spain, as the King of England was sure who the absence of surviving sons was a sign of the invalidity of the marriage and God’s displeasure with him for having married his brother’s widow. The most interesting thing was a letter, in the King’s hand, added to Woolsey‘s petition (and reserved exclusively to the Holy Father‘s eyes) in which King Henry asked the Pope’s forgiveness as he now had understood who in marrying Catherine, blinded by his lust for the Spanish princess and the desire to take everything who had belonged to his late brother, of which he had always been jealous and invidious, he had sinned against Gods and against his own father, then recently dead, who had always opposed to marry his second son to Catherine.
Freeing King Henry from the wedding to his Spanish Queen, who would be likely replaced by a French bride, at least in the intentions of Woolsey, would surely damage the Emperor as Queen Catherine was know to be a great supporter of her nephew and to have much influence over her husband and the Court, so the Pope decided to order the start of an investigation on the matter (and sent to Woolsey an answer who he needed to respect and follow the procedures but to not have fears about the final outcome)

 

[isabella]

Marguerite d’Angoulême, now Duchess of Bourbon, knew who she had been lucky to find quickly some common ground with her new husband, as Charles of Bourbon also had lost a wife for which he had deeply cared and had been truly sorry for the fate of Alençon (less for that of King François but Marguerite could understood that as her brother and mother had not been correct toward him). Still the first private conversation with her husband-to-be, shortly after the Duke’s arrival in Paris as securing a private chat with her had been among her fiancé’s priorities, had given a lot of relief to Marguerite as Charles of Bourbon had been quite blunt in saying who they both were victims of her mother and her intrigues, and who their love for France and their duties to the young King were the only reasons for which they had accepted that wedding. Louise would be regent, but Marguerite had the job and duty to prevent who her nephew would become a puppet of anyone: luckily the Portuguese princess to which little Francis was engaged was some years younger than him, only four years old, and hopefully would take both appearance and character from her mother as Eleanor of Austria, now engaged to the Duke of Milan, was beautiful, kind and pious. Maybe that had been only her imagination but Marguerite had understood who Bourbon had also believed his former betrothed to be boring (or maybe far too meek and dutiful? She had heard rumors about the Dowager Queen of Portugal being extremely unwilling to remarry to Bourbon, but she had accepted her brother’s will). Still Marguerite was glad to know who her new husband had no regret about the loss of the match with the sister of the Emperor and had few doubts about the fact who Charles, now who had back his lands and was the First Prince of Blood, was fully loyal to her young nephew and so was able to ignore her mother‘s constant requests of keeping her husband under control for securing his loyalty. Marguerite had been irritated at the beginning but her husband, who respected Louise‘s role as regent but continued to dislike her, had guessed what she wanted and laugh over it, making clear who he would not blame Marguerite for her mother’s intrigues…

 

[isabella]

The departures of both Eleanor and Catalina had left Charles alone, without any of his siblings near for the first time ever, but the Emperor knew who he would have not much time for feeling lonely as the men who were escorting Catalina to the borders with Portugal would soon return with Isabel of Portugal, his new bride, and they would marry in Seville in around 15 days and he hoped who Eleanor‘s praises of their cousin had not been too exaggerated as he could not believe who his sister had been fully truthful about her stepdaughter, to which she was clearly close. Still Eleanor was the sibling to which he was closest and likely the most loyal so he could not believe who she would willingly tell lies to him. Charles really hoped who Eleanor would be able to find happiness in Milan, but he had not a great opinion of the Duke Francis II, who was far too meek and manipulable for his liking. Hopefully having Eleanor as Duchess would keep him loyal to the Habsburg and Eleanor would be able to influence him and his rule. At least he now had nothing more to fear from France as the Regent Louise of Savoy had signed the peace accepting all his territorial requests in exchange of paying lower reparations (and on his side he had agreed who France could detract a substantial sum as dowry for Eleanor’s little daughter).
Charles had been quite anxious all the time ahead his first meeting with his bride-to-be so was understandably nervous, specially as they would practically meet at the altar and when the dreaded moment had arrived his anxiety dissolved completely leaving him stunned and enchanted by the beauty of his bride and her kind and hopeful smile: a week after the wedding, while they were honeymooning in Granada at the Alhambra, the question who was more often in his mind was for what reason he had waited so long to marry Isabel, who was clearly the perfect wife for him and the besotted Emperor ordered the seeds of a Persian flower, never seen before in Spain, for her. When eventually that flower grew in the red carnation, Isabel was delighted and so Charles ordered to plant thousands of that flowers in all the country in honor of his wife.

 

[isabella]

Catherine of Aragorn would keep her conviction to be the only legitimate wife of Henry VIII, and the rightful Queen of England until her last breath, in the far away Castile, her native country, but she would be the only one to see things in that way. The Pope, undoubtedly pressed by Cardinal Wolsey, had given to Henry his most desired annulment, leaving Catherine without anything: at least her Mary had kept her legitimacy and rank as princess, but she would be soon replaced as heiress by the children of whatever stupid girl Henry choose to put in her place, as Catherine, who had tried everything for keeping her rank and Crown had been unable to persuade the Papal legate and the majority of the jurors to pronounce their verdict in her favour. Catherine would continue to send curses towards Wolsey, who had destroyed her life and persuaded her Henry to betray her and their marriage for his own political interest, for the rest of her life, hoping who the damned Cardinal would take soon his place in the hell...
Henry had offered her a good deal but she had rejected it refusing to accept the title and rank of Dowager Princess of Wales and leave her rightful place to Henry’s new bride (and she had the sensation who Henry would announce soon his new engagement to whatever bride Wolsey had found him, who surely would not be comparable to her in any way). Leaving Mary behind would be hard, but the Spanish ambassador had given her a letter from the new Empress Isabel in which she had said who while she hoped who every thing would go for the best for Catherine, if things would go against her and she do not wanted remain in England she would be most welcome to return in Castile and Catherine had decided who accepting the offer made by Maria’s daughter and Juana’s son would be better for her than playing second fiddle to Henry’s next bride…
Henry had won and would have his freedom but she had her pride and would keep it intact leaving England forever.

 

[isabella]

Marguerite, Duchess of Bourbon had always fiercely loved all the children of her brother Francis and had been a maternal figure for them since the death of her unlucky sister-in-law Claude, but still was surprised to discover how much she loved her own child as soon her little Francis, styled Count of Clermont, was born: maybe the difference was owed to the fact who carried him in her womb for nine months and suffered in the childbirth room, instead of simply supporting Claude, or maybe was the fact who Francis was undeniably hers, while she had always know who mothering her orphaned nieces and nephews was only temporary, until her brother remarried, and then she would have to leave the raising of the children to her next sister-in-law. She was grateful to her husband Charles, who had let her name their child after her late brother (and the young king) instead of choosing a name from his family, specially considering how much her husband still resented and hated her late brother. Marguerite had been surprised by her husband‘s proposal of the name as the best name for which she had hoped was Charles, after her father and both her husbands as she had been sure who her husband would not allow her to name the baby Francis. Probably his happiness in having an son and heir, and a very healthy one, had pushed him to reward his wife with that gift, for which Marguerite was really grateful.
Still Charles had been much less charitable with Louise, who had been allowed only to a short visit to her daughter and infant grandson as the Duke of Bourbon had little intention to tolerate his much hated mother-in-law for more than the strictly necessary for the sake of Marguerite and of the young King Francis II.
During the visit Louise had again started to involve Marguerite in her plots as she needed her daughter to talk to the younger sister of the late Claude, as she planned to marry the 15 years old Renée to the King of England, but she needed first to have Renée acknowledging who her elder sister Claude had been the rightful Duchess of Brittany and who Claude’s children were all ahead of her in the Breton succession, as their mother Anne of Brittany had tried to leave Brittany to her younger daughter instead of the elder, for preserving the Breton independence and Renee had been quite vocal in reclaiming her rights, so now she needed to sign the recognition of her nephew, the young King Francis II as rightful Duke of Britanny before being allowed to marry anyone and naturally the princess hated Louise so she needed Marguerite to persuade her sister-in-law to comply with Louise’s wishes for the good of France, as the English alliance would give them peace and security for their borders.

 

[isabella]

Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, had always put the loyalty to his Imperial brother in the first place, since their first meeting in Spain, when he was only 14 years old. At this point he was hating that loyalty as it forced him to stay in Speyer to preside the Diet (started the 25th of June) wanted by his absent brother, who was currently enjoying the company of his new wife in Spain, instead of being in Vienna to await the birth of his firstborn child or in Hungary with an army to help King Louis II to repeal the dangerous Ottoman invasion who had started another tentative to conquer Hungary: unluckily he had not enough troops of his own for sending a substantial help to his brother-in-law, the Spanish armies were still in Italy and were unlikely to be able to move before the winter blocked the passages in the Alps as they would need time for moving and would not start any preparative for departing from their actual positions unless Charles ordered it. He had written to his brother as soon he had received the news of the Ottoman advance asking him to support Mary’s husband (and he was sure who Eleanor, newly married in Milan and Isabella (who had birthed her sixth child, a daughter called Isabella, a month earlier) from the Netherlands had also asked the same to their brother) but the messenger would need time to reach Charles and so was unlikely who the troops would be ready to depart in time for being useful in Hungary. Twenty days had been more than enough for starting to be already tired of the discussions of the Diet, who was also preventing him from calling, as regent for his brother, all the German Princes to raise men for an imperial army for fighting the Ottomans. Unluckily the supporters of the heretic monk Martin Luther wanted the abolition of the Edict of Worms and that was something who neither Charles or him had any intention to concede, as they feared the diffusion who the dangerous ideas of the monk could have once they stopped to be illegal (as they had already spread far too much for their liking at this point). At least France was quiet and likely still shocked for the deaths of Francis I and Alençon, Louise of Savoy‘s regency and the return in France of Charles of Bourbon and his hasty remarriage to Marguerite, sister of Francis and widow of Alençon, who had both die as consequence of a battle lost again the Spanish Army lead by Bourbon.
Ferdinand‘s bitter reflections were interrupted by the arrival of a messenger from Vienna, who had a letter from his wife Anna, in which she announced who their child had born the 11th so four days earlier and who both she and the baby, a girl who she had named Elisabeth as they had agreed, were fine and in good health. He was sorry to have been unable to be near to his wife but luckily she was able to understand and knew who Ferdinand had not choice. Well, at least that news had removed a reason for worrying and hopefully he would continue to receive only good news and nothing of his fears would became true

 

[isabella]

Renée of France had always felt to be more Breton than French, and without doubt felt the ties with their maternal inheritance much more strongly than her elder sister as Claude had cared little to nothing for Brittany, consenting to their father first and after to her husband to tie the country to France far too strongly for her liking. Still Renée was not so stupid to not understand who she had zero chances to recover control of Brittany and in any case she would not try to take away Brittany from little Francis now, who he was a young and parentless King. Renouncing forever to the claim on Brittany given to her by her mother’s will would be hard, but she feared too much the consequences of trying to enforce it and the English crown was a valuable prize who would fully compensate her sacrifice: King Henry was much older than her, but he was in need of an heir and would surely respect her and left her free to continue to follow her interest once she would give him his long awaited heir. The only valid reason who she had for refuting to sign the agreement as she had menaced to do, was to spite Louise, who had enraged her with her pretensions, but Marguerite had been able to persuade her who renouncing to the Crown of England for that would be really stupid and she and their nephew, the young King, had promised to take care of Brittany, learn the history of the country and preserve its institutions, keeping it only in personal union with France without trying to incorporate it. Louise had not be happy for that promise and the fact who she and Francis II had to put it on paper and sign it (and also the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon had signed it), but had resigned after the Duchess of Bourbon had told her who that was the only way for getting what she wanted. Renee had often dreamed to become Duchess of Brittany and restoring its independence and she wondered the reason for which that dream had been so strong when she was denied the means for realizing it but she knew who she had made the right choice and only the future would tell her if anything was behind that dream: for now she was to become Queen of England in few months and she truly hoped to find happiness on the other side of the sea

 

[isabella]

Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and Regent of the Holy Roman Empire was long tired of the Diet, Speyer and all the discussions: he longed to return home to his wife Anna and to meet their newborn daughter, as thinking who she would was almost a month old and he had never seen his firstborn child made him really unhappy. Still Ferdinand doubted who he would be free to go soon as the discussions of the Diet had not yet produced any results and they were already in the second week of September. Charles had ordered him to not consent to abrogate the edict of Worms for any reason, and Ferdinand fully agreed with him on that point, but the Princes who supported Luther, and a couple of Electors were among them, pretended that abrogation before accepting any order from the Emperor or his regent, including the call of the Imperial Army for fighting against the Ottomans, who were attacking Hungary. Ferdinand had sent to Louis II, King of Hungary, all the men who he had been able and hoped who his brother-in-law would be able to repel or at least block the invasion. His fears for Louis, who was both Anna’s brother and the husband of his own sister Mary, and for Mary herself, were always in the back of his mind as Ferdinand knew who he had to pray and hope for the best outcome and who Hungary would be able to resist until the next spring, when the Spanish Army would be able to join the fight (as he had no doubt who Charles would sent his soldiers and who he would not do it only for Mary‘s sake but because he felt who as Holy Roman Emperor he had the duty to fight against the Turks for defending the Christian lands).
The meeting was still in course when a messenger for Vienna, arrived with a message for him from Anna, who had ordered him to consign the letter only to the Archduke and as soon was possible as was very urgent. The discussions of the Princes stopped, leaving the room in silence while Ferdinand opened the letter, finding only few words from Anna, who with a trembling hand asked him to return immediately to Vienna, plus other three letters, addressed to him: one from Mary, whose writing was trembling like Anna’s and two from unknown hands, who were still sealed, unlike Mary’s: Ferdinand choose to start to read from the more ruined of the two letters, discovering who was from Stephen Bathory, the Palatine of Hungary, who was reporting about the terrible defeat of the Hungarian Army in the battle of Mohacs, the 29th of August, battle in which King Louis and many other commanders, had lost their lives. The second letter was from John Zapolya, the Voivode of Transylvania, who had been unable to reach with his men the Royal Army in time for the battle, in which his younger brother George had died. Both Bathory and Zapolya were asking for reinforcements as they doubted to be able to do much with the men at their disposal for preventing the Turks from conquering the whole Hungary. The letter of Mary was the worst one as his sister was telling him who she was escaping from the now indefensible Buda, searching refuge in Bohemia and while distraught for the death of her most beloved husband and scared for her own life, she had still found the strength to remind him who the future of both Bohemia and Hungary was in his hands as he was the one who had right to be elected as next king of Hungary and Bohemia, as he was married to Louis‘ only sibling. John, Elector of Saxony, since the death of his elder brother ( the great protector of Luther), only few months earlier, made the mistake to ask to the Archduke, who was stunned and spechless, and with a strange expression on his face, what news had received, saying who if were important things they had the right to know them. Ferdinand, who was trying to keep under control both his pain and his rage in seeing who his worst fears had become true, at that point lost any desire to keep peace and answered harshly, without trying anymore to contain his rage, calling the Elector of Saxony and the other Princes who supported the heretic monk “Friends of the Turks” and “disgrace of the Christianity“ before revealing the tragedy who had happened eleven days earlier in Hungary and concluded his speech with the order to end the diet and go home and start to prepare their armies as they now would be unable to do much for help Hungary, but he expected to see all of them with their armies at the start of the spring for repel the Turks from Hungary. The Princes were frozen in hearing the usually affable brother of the Emperor talking in that way as Ferdinand usually was the diplomat of the family and the one to cool his Imperial brother’s temper, mediating between him and them, so nobody dared to say anything and all of them left as quickly was possible the room: the Diet was over and with her any hope of a compromise about religion and they would need all to go to fight as they knew who refuting to obey to that order would mean be branded as traitors of the Empire and the Christianity (and none of them had any intention to receive that treatment, now who the King of France was dead and so unable to protect them)

 

[isabella]

Charles and Isabel’s honeymoon in Alhambra had been really happy until bad news started to arrive one after the other: first the news who the Pope had annulled the wedding of their aunt Catherine to the King of England, followed by a letter in which the former Queen of England thanked them for their good wishes and her grateful acceptance of their offer to return in Spain (and that what the only good thing for Charles as having back the youngest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs would surely help to extinguish any remaining desire of rebellion of the Castilians after his wedding to Isabel had already removed the majority of it). That alone had not been enough for ending their honeymoon but had been followed by desperate letters of Eleanor from Milan, Isabella from the Low Countries, Ferdinand from Austria and Mary from Hungary, all of them informing him of the continental advance of the Ottomans towards Hungary and asking him to send reinforcements for help Mary’s husband to repel the invasion of his Kingdom. Mary in her terror had also remembered him who if Hungary fallen Vienna and the Austrian lands would be exposed and the next target of the Ottomans, like he needed to be reminded of that or would refute to help the defense of the Christian lands against the Ottomans anywhere they attacked. Eleanor and Isabella at least knew better than that and had simply informed him of the danger for Hungary, while Ferdinand had simply asked to send troops for repelling the invasion.

His beloved Isabel had been distraught from the news, but had encouraged him to not lose time before acting, so he had sent instructions to his commanders in Italy to prepare for the departure, but he knew very well who that would be useless as was really unlikely who the troops would be able to depart from Italy before crossing the Alps became impossible, still he had given the order to the Marquis of Pescara, of not lose time and move his men as quickly was possible, knowing well who if someone among his commanders would be able to do it, that was Ferrante d’Avalos. Charles de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona and Ferrante‘s cousin Alfonso d’Avalos, Marquis of Vasto also were ordered to go with him, while his other major commanders in Italy, Antonio de Leyva and the Frundsbergs, Georg, Kaspar and Melchior (father and sons) who had moved with some of the troops in direction of Rome, were ordered to return towards north with the order to attack Florence, for taking away the city from the control of the Medicis as Charles had decided who the better way for getting revenge over Clement for his betrayals was stripping the control and lordship of Florence from his young relative (and likely illegitimate son) Alessandro.

Charles knew who his men had not yet the time to execute his orders when they were reached by the terrible news of the disaster of Mohacs, but that changed little for his plans: he had ordered to the Avalos and Lannoy to put their men under the orders of Ferdinand, who now was likely to be elected as next ruler of Bohemia and Hungary as husband of the only sibling of the late King. Charles was thankful for the fact who Isabel had taken for herself the job to write the majority of the letter to Mary has he was unable to find any word for trying to bring any kind of comfort to his unlucky sister and so had added only a small postscript to Isabel’s long letter to Mary. Isabel had also written to Anna and sent a letter of welcome and orders for their aunt’s new establishment, leaving him to write only the letters for Ferdinand, Isabella and Eleanor, to which he needed to give also instructions as Isabella was together with their aunt and foster mother Margaret, his regent in the Low Countries while Eleanor, as Duchess of Milan was the only of his sibling in the zone from which the majority of troops were stationed and needed to depart.

 

[isabella]

Isabella of Austria, the exiled Queen of Denmark was asking to herself why the fate was so settled against them, or at least against her and her sisters, as Mary had lost her husband and Kingdom, Catalina’s marriage had a rocky start (who was the most likely thing to happen and while Catalina had not explained any reason neither she or Eleanor had any doubt about the reason and had both wrote long letters of confort to their sister and in her latest letter from Milan Eleanor had told her who Isabel also had written to Catalina together with a long letter of reproach to her own brother), Eleanor‘s new husband was little more than a puppet in Milan and her Christian also had died, killed by a bad illness, leaving her alone with four young children: Hans had just eight years, Dorothea was barely six years, Christina almost five and little Isabella only few months… Sure she had the support of her brothers and as her aunt Margaret had already reminded her, recovering Denmark and Norway would be much easier now who Hans and not Christian was the one for which recover the Crowns…
Isabella just hoped who Charles would not force her to remarry soon, as she has no illusion about her eventual fate as she was only 25 years old and had not the strength for opposing to Charles‘ will, specially if she had to marry someone who could help her son to recover his rightful kingdoms. Maybe she was wrong to think to more wars and revenges but what else she could do when the mood around her was that, as she was helping their aunt to obtain the funds for the army who was to reconquer Hungary and stop the Ottoman invasion and only Dorothea and Christina, whose interest was mostly in their new sister, were not interested in it?

 

[isabella]

Eleanor of Austria, Dowager Queen of Portugal and now Duchess of Milan, was glad to know who her brother’s army had been able to safely pass the Alps before became too dangerous as his commanders had promised to do before taking leave from her. She was also started to feel easily tired, but she knew from her previous pregnancies who that was quite normal. Her husband Francesco had been overjoyed to know who he would soon become father and her most beloved Maria, who she had been able to take with her in Milan, also was quite excited to become a big sister for the new baby. Francesco had married her for secure his lands, hoping who her brother would free him from the Swiss and give him back full control of the Duchy after the marriage and his hopes had been more or less satisfied: sure Imperial troops had been around Milan until their departure for Austria and soon would be replaced by part of the ones who were currently attacking Florence, but the rule of the lands belonged to Francesco and his advisors and if her new husband was a weak ruler he was not a bad man and only few years older than her as he was 31, still a couple of months away from his 32th birthday, while she had just celebrated her 28th birthday. Another good thing was who her children here would be Francesco’s heirs and most important she had no stepson obsessed with her as John III of Portugal had been (and she was worried for her youngest sister’s happiness as John’s unhealthy fixation with her not only had always made her uncomfortable around him but had pushed her to take her infant daughter (and part of her household) and run away in Castile when John‘s advances had become too explicit for being politely ignored). Eleanor had confided what happened only to her sister Isabella, when they had meet again in the Low Countries, as she would never put anything about that on paper and that was another reason for which she had accepted first the engagement with the Duke of Bourbon and now the wedding to the Duke of Milan: Manuel had been a good and affectionate husband, but her life in Portugal had left her with bad memories who she hoped to forget with an happier second marriage and at least for now things looked to go in that direction.
Milan was a beautiful city and once had been the capital of one of the richest states in Europe, a true rival to her native Burgundy, and she would do her best for returning the Duchy near to the splendour who it had enjoyed under the rule of Francesco’s parents. Her husband maybe would always fear the comparison with his father (and namesake grandfather) but she hoped to become a popular Duchess, like both Beatrice d’Este and Bianca Maria Visconti had been. In the end she had not got a bad deal as she liked Milan and marrying Francesco was the best option for her: she had disliked her engagement to Bourbon and knew well who after that Charles‘ main option for her was the Elector Palatine and that would not be better than her first marriage, considering who once she had believed to be in love with his younger’s brother Frederick… Not who she would have liked better marrying Frederick, after Manuel‘s death, as her first marriage had changed her far too much from the girl who she had been before leaving Burgundy, but surely that would be too awkward for her and what she wanted more was looking forward not to the past and Milan was a good place for it… Hopefully Palatinate would be good for the poor heartbroken Mary, as she had no doubt who Charles, having another widowed sister, would offer her to the Elector Louis, that unless Mary’s will would prevail on Charles, something who she could not discount as her younger sister had always been better to resiste to Charles‘ pressures than she or Isabella had been…

 

[isabella]

Pope Clement VII was pretty sure who his chief job on the Earth was destroying the power of the damned Emperor Charles V, and when Fate (or better the Divine Providence) had prevented Charles V from attacking Rome, forcing him to content himself with sending some troops towards Rome, in what they both knew was only an empty menace, the Pope had rejoited and felt reassured in his convictions. When he got the opportunity for another mischief against Charles V, with the request of the English King of getting an annulment of his wedding to the Emperor‘s aunt he had quickly taken the opportunity (true who the letter of Henry VII alone would be enough for the Pope to take his side, as the King had fully recognized the great sin who he had done in marrying Catherine), thinking who the Emperor would have no way to get any revenge for it and who England would be firmly in the camp of the Emperor’s enemies. He had been right in the latter as King Henry was now engaged to Princess Renée of France, but sadly mistaken on the first as Imperial troops had attacked Florence and his family and the city had quickly fallen to them: the seven years old Caterina, the only legitimate heiress of the family‘s main line had been taken prisoner and together with her also the fifteen years old Ippolito, Giuliano’s illegitimate son, but what scared him most was who in the letter who he had received, full of bad news, there was no mention of the fate of his most beloved Alessandro, sixteen years old, who he had appointed as ruler of Florence (the boy officially was the illegitimate son of Caterina’s father, but in truth was his own son) and that could mean anything: the boy had been captured, like Ippolito and Caterina, had been able to escape or hide somewhere safe, or had been killed, either in the fighting or after it? He had been so wrong in believing who the Emperor was powerless against him and now he was full of fears and his heart felt so weak, and breathing was so hard and harder and then he felt nothing more…

 

[isabella]

Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Württemberg, was in Bratislava, together with his wife Anna and sister Mary, who had both insisted for being present, awaiting the end of the vote from the rump Diet of Hungarian high aristocracy and clergy, who would make him King of Hungary. He knew perfectly, as the Palatine Stephen Bathory had reminded that to him more than once, who another Diet of the untitled nobility had elected a month earlier Janos Zápolya as their King in Alba Regia, and who he would need to confront him, a necessity who Ferdinand disliked, as only a victory on the battlefield against his rival would truly give him Hungary. Ferdinand had prayed for that to not be necessary as he hated the idea of fighting among Catholics when the Ottomans were the real enemy, but he would not renounce to his rights, derivate from his wedding to Anna, sister and daughter of the two last Kings, and from the mutual succession pact signed between his father-in-law and his grandfather, without fighting.

The Bohemian election, the most important one as it had changed drastically his status among the German princes (the Kingdom of Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire and one of the seven Electorates), had been much easier, as his candidacy there had been uncontested. He had feared who the King of Poland, maybe pushed by his over ambitious italian wife, would put forward his candidature to the Crown once held by his elder brother, but luckily Anna’s uncle right now was more interested in secure a match between his only son and Ferdinand‘s daughter Elisabeth, than to challenge him. Ferdinand had agreed in principle to the match but pointed on the fact who his daughter was just few months old so was way too early for signing any betrothal for her (true who at the time of their engagement Mary had been only slighter older than his daughter and Louis not yet born, as the betrothal agreement had been signed three months before his birth, but that was not something who he was keen to repeat).

Ferdinand had done his best for trying to console both his wife and his sister, but he suspected who the two young women had ben able to confort each other better than he had been with either of them, and the truth was who he also suffered for Louis‘ death as he had liked him and the knowledge of having been unable to help him was painful for him. Both Anna and Mary, and he was really thankful for having them both, had reprimanded him for that, reminding him who he had done everything he could and his inability to do more was not his fault.

Now the election was over, Ferdinand was officially King of Hungary (well at least one of the two, but thanking to Mary’s providence he would be the one to be crowned with the Crown Jewels of the Kingdom (as his distraught sister had taken them with her from Buda, in part for saving them from Ottomans but mostly for giving them to him) and now he needed only to wait the arrival of all the forces at his disposal for counter attacking the enemies and free Hungary from the Turks (and hopefully Zapolya would accept to join the fight first and then settle the dispute for the Crown between them, possibly without fighting.

Ferdinand’s bitter reflections were interrupted by a messenger who arrived with an urgent letter from “Stephen Bathory” and Ferdinand wondered for what reason the Palatine, who was in the same city, had sent him a messenger with a letter instead of coming personally. Ferdinand had taken the letter and after reading it had ordered to call the Palatine immediately before falling on his knees for thanking God for the unexpected answer to his prayers, maybe that was not the answer who he would have liked more but still was an answer and he would not be so ungrateful to contest the ways in which the Divine Providence operated. Once the Palatine, Stephen Bathory of Ecsed, arrived, wondering what had happened, the King gave him the letter, who had been written by Stephen Bathory of Somlyo, Deputy Voivode of Transylvania, and while the Palatine read it, the King ordered to ring all the bells of the city, in mourning for the death of Janos Zapolya, as the valorous Voivode of Transylvania had been killed in a battle against the Ottomans invaders while defending his country. Once the still stunned Palatine recovered from his shock he volunteered to take command of the men sent as reinforcements to his namesake (as the request of support was the main reason for the letter), something who Ferdinand gladly conceded as that would consent to him to unite all the Hungarians under his command while remain in safety (as he has promised to both Mary and Anne) until the whole army at his disposal arrived and then he would lead them to reconquest of the Hungary.

 

[isabella]

How strange was having again around an infanta Catalina after his youngest sister had left Castile for marrying the King of Portugal, specially as this one was his poor Aunt, who had been so horribly treated by her husband. Still Charles knew who the youngest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs would be a formidable asset for him and a valuable help in keeping Castile under control: he had no doubt who Isabel would be able to handle the regency, if he had to leave Spain for Burgundy or Germany, but his beloved wife was currently pregnant with their first child and he had no intention to force her to work seriously until she fully recovered from the birth. Luckily aunt Catalina fully agreed to him and had contributed to lessen Isabel’s duties, consenting to the Empress to rest as much was possible. What Charles do not knew was who while Catalina had encouraged Isabel to agree to Charles‘ plan she had also promised to his wife to keep her informed of everything and work together on the things who Charles had asked to Catalina to do in place of Isabel, teaching to the Empress an invaluable lesson in how handling an overbearing husband. Neither woman had any doubt on the fact who Charles would be extremely displeased to discover the truth but Isabel was glad to not be condemned to the boredom of not having anything to do but sewing and embroidering at least for some more months and most important she had found in her aunt another maternal figure, something who she greatly missed since the death of her mother as while she was close to Eleanor, her cousin and stepmother had been more a friend and an older sister than a maternal figure being only few years older than her.

Charles naturally had already discovered what his wife and their aunt were doing behind his back but had been more amused than angry for it and he had no intention to
disclose who he knew the truth. If anything the fact who Catalina and Isabel had become so close in such short term was a relief to him as not only he knew who both women needed that but now he had someone who could fully trust to take good care of his wife in his absence. He hoped to be present at the birth of his firstborn but had no guarantee to be able to do it. Still for now his plans were working better than he hoped as not only he had control of Florence (in which had been restored a Republic) and the young legitimate heiress of the Medici, Caterina, and her cousin Ippolito were currently wards of his sister in Milan, receiving a good education in how being loyal to the Habsburg. His men had captured also the young ruler of Florence, Alessandro, formally an illegitimate elder half-brother of Caterina, sending him in Spain as he hoped to use him as hostage for guaranteeing Pope Clement’s loyalty, but that was not anymore necessary as the Pope had died after receiving the news of the fall of Florence.
Hopefully the Conclave would elect a better Pope, possibly someone really interested to work for the good of the Church and to do something about Luther and his heresies who had become a big problem in Germany (but maybe the biggest trouble from that side was already on the way of resolving itself as the German princes had stopped to create troubles for Ferdinand after being labeled as friends of the Ottomans for having consented the defeat of Mohacs) but being free from Clement was already a big victory (and he and aunt Catalina had cheered at the news, wishing a good journey to the Hell to that disgrace of Pope).
Another good news was the fact who their aunt Margaret had already persuaded his sister Isabella to accept the match with the Elector Palatine who he had planned for her (and Christian II‘s death had been a very good thing for him as had freed him from an useless brother-in-law consenting to him to offer the more dutiful Isabella to the Elector instead of forcing him to a bad fight for persuading Mary, who was already saying who she would never remarry, to accept that match). The Elector Louis, who was a childless widower (his first wife, a first cousin of Charles’ own father, had died seven years earlier) had gladly accepted the match with Isabella so they would marry in the spring, securing another valuable ally to him and Ferdinand (who had been already confirmed as successor to Mary’s late husband in both Bohemia and Hungary, without excessive troubles).

 

[isabella]

The year had not started well in Rome as the death of the Pope just before the end of the year meant who the Holy See was sede vacante again for the third time in six years as Leo X had died only in the December of 1521 and now both his successors were already dead without increasing the number of Cardinals as Adrian VI had named just one new Cardinal and Clement VII none while many deaths had decreased their number so the actual College of Cardinals had 35 members instead of the 48 at Leo‘s death.
Many wondered if this time either Cardinal Alessandro Farnese or Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, both among the favorites of the precedent conclave, would be elected or another Cardinal would emerge from the Conclave as Pope, maybe someone unexpected as Adrian VI had been. Cardinal Colonna at only 45 years old was likely still too young for being elected (Leo X had been under 40 years old at his election but also suffered from a bad health and had benefitted also by the shock of the Cardinals who had almost elected Cardinal Serra while trying to not declare openly support of their true candidate and so had felt the need to choose the Pope before the second vote) while Farnese was almost 59 years old but had lost the two precedent elections as the Emperor was not favorable to him (still Charles V had supported Clement VII against Farnese at the previous Conclave and then had suffered for the extremely pro-French policies of said Pope).
The precedent Conclaves had been another battle ground for the Emperor and the King of France, but this time Spain was uninterested and France unable to influence the results of the Papal elections so any Cardinal who aspired to the Papacy needed to deal only with his peers and would be able to make full use of his own influence in the Conclave and that would demonstrate to be a big advantage for the older and more experienced Cardinal Farnese, who would be elected at the first vote.
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese was the Dean of the College of Cardinals and as such had much influence on the other Cardinals (more than that of the Vice Chancellor Colonna, who had also more enemies than him in both the college and the city) and had long left behind himself the beginnings of his career and the hated nickname of ”Cardinal Fregnese” received by his peers because his sister Giulia was the mistress of Pope Alexander VI, who had elevated him to the Cardinalate and so he was accused to have made career thanks to her influence (Alessandro knew well who that accusation were true, but only for the beginnings and he was far from being the only one to owing his careers to the influence of some relative or patron) when he had arrived alone, for his own talents and merits, at the place he occupied and now also at the Papacy.
Alessandro Farnese, who would take the name of Paul III as Pope, was not different from many of the churchmen of the period and that mean who he had a family with recognized children and grandchildren as he had two sons and a daughter (plus a third son already dead) all from the same woman: Costanza, 26 years old, was married to Bosio II Sforza of Santa Fiora in 1517 and they had already many children, Pier Luigi, 23 and a condottiero at the service of Emperor Charles V, also was married, to Gerolama Orsini, since 1519, and they had three children: Alessandro, Vittoria and Ottavio, while the youngest child, Ranuccio, only 17 was still unmarried and in the employ of Venice as condottiero.