Help with Demesne Concept

[wevodaur]

Hi -

I'm just starting with this great game and after a few baby steps up the learning curve, I'm already out of breath!

I'm not quite getting the concept of demesne and holdings. I know the definition of demesne is the total of all personal holdings (castles, cities and churches), and that holdings appear at the county (province?) level. Here is my question:

I'm playing Rudolf I Duchy of Swabia with a 1066 start. The demesne size in the toolbar is 2/6, which I understand. But I'm having a hard time figuring out what two holdings they are. If I look at the Realm screen, it looks like his two holdings are County of Ulm and County of Furstenberg. This is confusing because I thought holdings were one level lower than counties (provinces). Each of those counties has two holdings, so I would think that demesne size would be four for Rudolf, not two. What am I missing?

Secondary question - are County and Province synonymous?

Pretty fundamental concepts, I know, but I would really appreciate some help.

Thanks,
Robert

[death&d3cay]

You can see what holdings are yours on your character screen. The list of count or barony titles you have are the holdings you directly control.

You can also click on a province/county (yes they are synonymous) and look at the specific holding. The CoA on the left side is who controls the holding.

[AllThat4Nothing]

Demesne includes counties, If you personally own 1 county (actually own it, as in you're the count) AND you own the city and barony inside it, then your demesne is 3. If someone else is count, but you still own the city and barony, then your demesne is 2.

conversely, if you own that 1 county, but vassals own the city and barony, then your demesne is 1.

[stilgarpl]

Each county has primary holding (top of the window) and up to six "secondary" holdings. Your holdings are those with your shield on the left side. Number of your holdings (including primary) = demesne size. If a holding doesn't belong to you, but to your vassal or someone else, it doesn't count.

[wevodaur]

Wow - a few hours later and this is already three pages in! Lots of traffic here. Anyway, thanks to all of you for the responses. Very grateful for the quick assistance.

Robert