The Secret To The Habsburg Empire

An author writing under the name "Raw Blood Enjoyer" has published a series of articles on X describing how the Habsburg family spread its tentacles of control over the nations of Europe in the 15th and 16th Centuries using marriages, assassinations conveniently timed deaths, and control of the Catholic Church. I don't remember how I first came across these--probably through Western Rifle Shooters Association--but I found them interesting. 

    The articles are:

• The Habsburg Coup In Henry VIII's England
• Henry VIII is the Prince in Machiavelli's 'The Prince'
  
• A list of unfortunate Royal Deaths which Happen to have benefited the Habsburg Family
  

    In the first of the articles, the author argues that the reason that Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon and formed an independent Church of England was to preserve his and his family's power and keep England from becoming another Habsburg controlled state. The author relates:

The Habsburg method for expanding their territory was fairly simple: 

1. Find a failing kingdom in need of aid or protection. 
2. Offer to use your influence in the Catholic Church to aid the Kingdom in exchange for an advantageous marriage, protection money, or both.
3. Betray the Kingdom and use your influence instead to install your newly wed Habsburg as the sole sovereign.

In his argument, England was the failing kingdom; the Catholic Church (through Thomas Beckett and other Catholic officials) was able to exert domestic influence; and Catherine of Aragon was the Habsburg connected wife of King Henry VIII who, if Henry VIII had suffered an unfortunate death, would have stood to inherit the throne.

    The first article ends with noting that Henry VIII escaped his fate by adhering to lessons in Machiavelli's "The Prince". The second article picks up and expands on that topic by arguing that "The Prince" was meant as a message to Henry VIII and provided a road map for escaping Habsburg/Catholic dominance. 

    The third article goes into more detail of how the Habsburg family was able to extend its control over various European nations by marrying a member of the family to a king or prince, and then that king or prince suffering an untimely and unfortunate death.

    These are interesting reads. Those of you with greater knowledge of the time periods involved would probably be in a better position than I to judge the merits of the arguments.