Balance among the Prince-electors?

[Aolbain]

Lets say that Gustavus Adolphus don't get himself shoot at Lützen and goes on to end the Thirty-Years War (or whatever they will call it ITL) within a year or two in favor of the Protestants, how would the situation look like in the Imperial Electoral Collage?

I imagine that the heirs of Freidrich V manages to reclaim both the Bohemian Crown and the Palatine, giving them two electoral titles. Is there any predecent for this, or would Karl Ludwig have to abdicate one of them to, properly, his brother Rupert? And this would leave the Emperor stands without any seat on the Collage, is a new title created for Ferdinand II (the Elector of Austria?)?

Would Bavaria have to give up the title they took from Freidrich V or could it be split like in OTL? Or might this be a way to Prevent Karl Ludwig from having two, by letting Maximilian I keep the Palatine Electorate.

Lastly, could the victorious Swedes give themselves an Electorate by forcing the emperor to recognize Gustavus as duke of Pomerania and elevating the Duchy to Electoral status?

Any thoughts?

 

[JonasResende]

The basic rule of the Electoral College is that a) no elector may hold more than one electorate; and b) two or more electorates may not be held by the same family.

a) was violated when they elected Friedrich/Bedrich to the Bohemian throne. The emperor declared him an outlaw, and bestowed the electoral vote of the Palatinate on his distant (and Catholic) cousin, the duke of Bavaria.

b) the reason why in 1648 another electorate was created for Karl I (despite the fact that it raised a bit of an odour) was two-fold. One, to restore the balance of Protestant versus Catholic electors. And two, because the Bavarian and Palatine branches of the House of Wittelsbach seldom had the same interests due to having differing religions.

The 1648 creation, was the raison d'etre behind the elevation of Hannover to an electorate fifty years later. Once again the balance had shifted when the Palatinate passed to the Catholic Neuburg branch, requiring a new Protestant electorate.

In 1618:

Kingdom of Bohemia (Protestant)
Duchy of Saxony (Protestant)
Margraviate of Brandenburg (Protestant)
County Palatine of the Rhine (Protestant)
Archbishopric of Mainz (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Trier (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Cologne (Catholic)

In 1621:

Kingdom of Bohemia (Catholic)
Duchy of Saxony (Protestant)
Margraviate of Brandenburg (Protestant)
Duchy of Bavaria (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Mainz (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Trier (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Cologne (Catholic)

In 1648:

Kingdom of Bohemia (Catholic)
Duchy of Saxony (Protestant)
Margraviate of Brandenburg (Protestant)
County Palatine of the Rhine (Protestant)
Duchy of Bavaria (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Mainz (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Trier (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Cologne (Catholic)

In 1692:

Kingdom of Bohemia (Catholic)
Duchy of Saxony (Protestant)
Margraviate of Brandenburg (Protestant)
Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg (Protestant)
Duchy of Bavaria (Catholic)
County Palatine of the Rhine (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Mainz (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Trier (Catholic)
Archbishopric of Cologne (Catholic)