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Tengri

01_EMBASSY_PROPOSE
22 Badges
Jun 20, 2005
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..or, how my one bad king shattered my domain, ended my ascension to hegemony, and destroyed the catholic church. Sorry, no screen shots. But I think CK veterans will enjoy this story because by now I think we've all "been there".

So playing as Castile, and things are going great. Had unified all the crowns of Spain, taken Sicily and thrown the Muslims out of Iberia. Thinking to myself, that it was almost time to strike at France, if they would ever have a mediocre king (they had an amazing run of good luck). Had had myself a loyal anti-Pope for a few generations, so I was rolling in money. Had done enough improvement to my dominion that it was becoming strong economically.

But it was not meant to be. Because my Caligula, my Commodus rose to the throne. Marco III Marquez Jimena, better known to history as King Marco "the cruel" rose to the throne, despite any ability to govern. King of Castile, Leon, Asturias, Aragon, Portugal, and other places too numerous to mention.
He took pleasure in torturing and executing noble prisoners. He was fighting against rebellions nearly constantly, draining the coffers and preventing him from having the ability to wage a long war for fear of having rebellions take place in Spain as he marched. he was slothful, he was hated. He was a tyrant.

All of these things could have been forgiven however, if he hadn't run so afoul of the church.

You see, the Papal schism had been going on for some time, and the authority of the church had been drained. The whole of Germany had gone heretic, and the Emperor now brought his power to the defense of heresy. The Cathar heresy had spread throughout Italy, and even into Iberia itself.
Marco III decided to end the schism with a massive all-or-nothing invasion of the Papal states to place his man on St. Peter's throne. This, he hoped, would give him a grateful ally in Rome, restore the church to a position of power, and enable him to finally get the authorization he needed to invade France.
The invasion was expensive in men and in gold, but the old Pope was toppled. Marco III celebrated his triumph by torturing some prisoners.

But the expensive triumph was short-lived; within a couple of months it would all unravel. The puppet Pope on whom Marco III had counted on died unexpected at the young age of 30, and a new unloyal holy father came to power. Marco the cruel's reputation had been so tarnished during the invasion and due to the very public assassination of the deposed Pope, that it didn't take long for the King's vassals to petition the new Pope for excommunication. This was granted when the King's own MOTHER, the Duchess of Aragon, requested it.

Iberia erupted into rebellion after rebellion. Every vassal who had nursed a grudge gleefully took up arms against the King, and one by one the more loyal ones were swayed to their side. Marco was defeated time and again, and his coffers were now drained. The only ones willing to fight in his name were the mercenaries, and they wouldn't do so for much longer since the money was drying up.

Marco was eventually compelled to give up the crown of Castile to his child son, Alfonso IX. The crown laws for each of his kingdoms has been set to "autonomous vassals", and he clings to weak power in Sicily and western Iberia. For the sake of the dynasty, his young son must now seek to assassinate his own father, or pray that he meets with an untimely end.
Will try playing as the boy-King Alfonso IX now, to help deliver the only salvation that the entire kingdom agrees must come, the death of King Marco the Cruel.

Thought I'd share this tale with you all. I know you can probably relate, and if not, your Caligula is coming.
 
Was your Caligula your only heir back then? I mean if he had some more-king-material brothers, why didnt you retire this would-be caligula to a bishopric in the first place, or even finish him off with an assassin? Because I know I definitely would.

Or did you have an unexpected inheritance when his dad died too young?
 
You can't make them into bishops if they are first in line IIRC. second and third works fine.

Ahh I learn something new from the forum everyday :). Thanks!

Hmm that leaves the bishoprics for the lousy 2nd and 3rd, the blade for the 1st so that my 4th can inherit then.. Haiz.. if only my elder sons could put more effort in their stats...
 
You can't make them into bishops if they are first in line IIRC. second and third works fine.

that can't be right, I literally just appointed my heir to be the succesor to the bishop of Bogense (Fyn) and assasinated the reigning bishop, and woop-de-doo I had a new heir. I did this with number 2 and 3 too - going down to my 4th oldest son, who was a kind, patient, ambitious, honest, brave genius
 
All, I play it a little bit more historically. I dontt strike at my kids unless they strike at me first. A bit 'gamey'
to alter your heir based on stats IMHO.
Gotta take the good with the bad; it makes the game that much more enjoyable.

Will have to write an update soon. Marco the Cruel has made a remarkable turnaround!
 
Sounds like a great game, good luck in restoring the honor of your house!
 
How did you manage yo use up all your monies? I always seem to have loads of unused cash in my games, and you had an antipope as well.

I think he explained it with constantly having to put down rebellions with mercenaries. Add to that some bribes and a couple unlucky events and it's pretty easy to burn through the war chest.
 
How did you manage yo use up all your monies? I always seem to have loads of unused cash in my games, and you had an antipope as well.
Are you using Gifts to increase reputation, hiring mercenaries to augment your personal levies, and upgrading your holdings? I can blow through my treasury just in Gifts with a large kingdom.
 
This game will definitely kick you in the jewels now and again. The fun is in salvaging the rubble when it all goes amok, and the challenge is overcoming the urge to quit. :p

Reclaim your destiny!
 
Hiring mercenaries is something I do at the game start, and then never again. I use gifts only when my king has died, and then only on peeps that wont revolt against me with that +20 relations increase. Since I have so much money, all my holdings are fairly fast upgraded. I usually focus on building the buidings that give tax income first, and then build the rest of the stuff. As a result, I can call upon 10 000 man of my personal levies at any time, but I never use them as my vassals levies are more then enough.

Here's my current game (my king recently died, it's usually 125-130 per month)

JWHbX.jpg
 
Great story!

Ck2 is all about overcoming struggles...

:huh:

I though it was about killing anyone in between you and whatever color you want to paint whatever lines on the map you're aiming for.
 
Then, how to make heirs to bishops?

Religion Screen, if you go to that, you see a list of Bishops there.. if you have the Law "Free Investiture" than you will be able to appoint the successor.

Great Story btw... I too take the good with the bad, if I'm not able to train my Heir properly, than I'll just simply deal with it, than again if my 2nd in line (who possible has the better stats) takes this initiative on his own, I could find myself occupied ;)