What if Matilda and the Holy Roman Emperor had a son?

[Stan Brown]

Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, married Henry V, Holy Roman
Emperor, when she was about 11. He died when she was about 22, and
they had no children. She later married Geoffrey, Count of Anjou.
When her father Henry I died, she had to fight a civil way with
Stephen of Blois that ended in a draw, and her son Henry II might
have had to fight again except that Stephen's son died.

Henry II of England was already Count of Anjou with lands in France,
to which he added by marrying King Louis' ex, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
This embroiled England and France in a few hundred years of
territorial struggle.

What if Henry V and Matilda had had a son to inherit England as well
as the Empire? Backed by the resources of the Empire, she or their
son would probably have been able to ascend the throne of England
more easily without fighting a civil war, or at least without such an
evenly matched one, and France would then have facing the Empire on
east and west. And with the power of England, the Holy Roman
Emperors would have been in a stronger position relative to the
German dukes, much more than the first among equals that they were in
our world.

I've seen alternative histories involving the Angevin Empire
consolidating instead of the English being gradually expelled from
France, but I don't recall any that followed on a union of the HRE
and England. Does anyone know of one, or does anyone care to
speculate?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Royalty FAQs:
1. http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/britfaq.html
2. http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/atrfaq.htm
Yvonne's HRH page:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040722191706/http://users.uniserve.com/
~canyon/prince.html
more FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/tech/faqget.htm

[Louis Epstein]

In alt.talk.royalty Stan Brown <the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
> Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, married Henry V, Holy Roman
> Emperor, when she was about 11. He died when she was about 22, and
> they had no children. She later married Geoffrey, Count of Anjou.
> When her father Henry I died, she had to fight a civil way with
> Stephen of Blois that ended in a draw, and her son Henry II might
> have had to fight again except that Stephen's son died.
>
> Henry II of England was already Count of Anjou with lands in France,
> to which he added by marrying King Louis' ex, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
> This embroiled England and France in a few hundred years of
> territorial struggle.
>
> What if Henry V and Matilda had had a son to inherit England as well
> as the Empire?

Remember that the Empire was elective...would there have been
a clear path for this son to the Imperial dignity even if he
was a minor?

> Backed by the resources of the Empire, she or their
> son would probably have been able to ascend the throne of England
> more easily without fighting a civil war,

Or been King of England angling for election as Emperor
after whoever succeeded his father?

> or at least without such an evenly matched one, and France would then
> have facing the Empire on east and west. And with the power of
> England, the Holy Roman Emperors would have been in a stronger
> position relative to the German dukes, much more than the first among
> equals that they were in our world.

Would there have been an impact on the Imperial role in Italy
and influence vis a vis that of the Popes,or would spending time
on this make the grip on England too tenuous?

Would he have followed his OTL brother Henry II's example and
have invaded Ireland?

> I've seen alternative histories involving the Angevin Empire
> consolidating instead of the English being gradually expelled from
> France, but I don't recall any that followed on a union of the HRE
> and England. Does anyone know of one, or does anyone care to
> speculate?

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.