IDK about the first part, but it's possible that Egypt might fall back into Christian hands with more successful crusades. Seems like common sense to me BUT I could be wrong.
WI Frederick Barbarossa doesn’t drown (2023 ed)
- Thread starter John Fredrick Parker
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John Fredrick Parker
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I mean, if Outremer could hypothetically include pretty much all of the Levant (as far east as Amman, Damascus, and Aleppo), cutting off Egypt from Mesopotamia; that much is clear, I think. The question is, in addition to this, can Egypt not only be conquered, but held, which depends, in part at least, on just how "muslim" their wider population is at this point.
CONSOLIDATE: Actually, looking back on the Egypt question -- is it true that Christians were more concentrated in Lower Egypt? If so, it might be conceivable that Crusaders eventually conquer only the northern part of the country, leaving the muslim government to regroup in the south.
That would still leave us largely Islam as a whole about where I mentioned before; how seriously could said religion be curbed here longer term?
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Crusaders would have trouble subduing the Islamic pastoral and nomadic peoples in Upper Egypt, but the areas around the Nile would be hard to separate from Lower Egypt and its cities.
John Fredrick Parker
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Actually, wouldn’t Makuria be in a good position to keep this rump Muslim-Egyptian state contained?
It depends on countless factors ( both internal to the German kingdom and to the question of the Italian municipalities ) but I am of the idea that the figure of the Emperor would be "slightly" in a better position than Otl, above all because the survival of Frederick I avoids the yet another rebellion by Henry the Lion, who in Otl took advantage of his death and the complicated situation in which Henry found himself ( torn between having to run to Germany or go down to Sicily, to stop the beginning of the rebellion of the nobles in favor of Tancred and then of his son William III of Altavilla, who lasted until 1197 ) to return to his hereditary possessions and weaken the Hohenstaufen, however with Frederick alive, I can easily see Henry concentrating on recovering royal authority in Sicily and addressing the first skirmishes with the Italian municipalities ( not exactly the easiest adversaries to subdue, given their complex network of alliance and coordination ( through the use of the podestà, usually coming from an allied city, so as to further strengthen the ties between the various municipal entities ( 1 ) and the ease with which they can gather 3000 knights ( with Milan which could also deploy 15 thousand milites ) this is why I am of the opinion that sooner or later the emperors, if they want to try to centralize the Empire, must necessarily come to terms with key figures in the political panorama of the constituent kingdoms of the Reich ( a kind of Golden Bull, but also includes Italy and Arelate, compared only to the German princes of Otl ) also trying to play the card of the free imperial city with the Italian municipalities ( such as Parma, Cremona, Pavia, Pisa etc ) loyal to them could be a solution interesting to use
1 ) a mechanism that only with Frederick II did the imperials manage to partially exploit to their advantage, but which convinced the Lombards league to put up more ferocious resistance
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Didn't Frederick marry with the Blois to make his claims to Burgundy be legitimate.
John Fredrick Parker
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Beatrice was an Anscarid, but yeah; though she predeceased her husband, and Burgundy was given to her third oldest son at the time of her death.
The Blois were the claimants to Arles/Burgundy but Otto of Burgundy's wife is junior to the Boulogne and Champenois girls for the Arles claims.
technically, Frederick's marriage to Beatrice had only the purpose of further strengthening his personal government in Burgundy, given that he was still the legitimate sovereign, in his role as King of Arles and then Emperor
The Blesvins are the descendants of Bertha of Burgundy, making them descendants of the rulers of the Kingdom of Burgundy, wonder if that was the reason why Otto married Margaret of Blois.
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but this no longer counts for at least 150 years or so, i.e. since Conrad II incorporated Burgundy into the empire, making the Emperor de facto also King of Burgundy, Frederick married Beatrice only to strengthen his power base over the local nobility and increase his prestige as a sovereign ( since it had been decades since an Caesar had the coronation ceremony as King of Arles or held a diet/court there )
I think the best bride for Otto would be Ida of Boulogne rather than Margaret of Blois, that is if Barbarossa is still interested to make Arles a separate Kingdom.
impossible for it to happen, given that Henry V's son would have his dynastic power base in Burgundy / Franconia, so giving away a fundamental part of his personal property to a possible rival ( even one who is not even part of the Empire ) would be an easy way to be dethroned by the imperial princes in favor of another German dynasty or even the Canossa family ( in case Matilde had descendants )
I think an intermarriage/marriage alliance would be the best to settle that scenario instead.