Okay so it took me a bit of time but I figured out the mechanism for intentionally creating ArchBishops (not sure if that's the term) and Merchant Republics. The Merchants are my concern with this post.
In order to create a Merchant Republic, I need to do the following steps: Either find a Mayor or create a Mayor by giving an unlanded Court Member (or relative) a city. Then give that person an appropriate County. Then give that person an appropriate Duchy. BAM! Merchant Republic created.
Now... as the Byzantine Emperor, I'm going with the "no Kings whatsoever" route and just managing Dukes. It's a BIT more of a hassle, but not a lot more, and they're a lot easier to control when rebellions come along.
Anywayz... let's take Sicily as an example. Let's say I create a one-county Doge. I normally just give entire duchies (i.e. all counties and baron-level holdings in a duchy) to new vassals and let them sort it out themselves. But if I do this for Bishoprics or Merchant Republics, then it counts against my total allowable. For example... if I give all 5 counties to my new Doge Vassal, then that's 5 counties that count against my total allowed.
So... do I manually handle all of the counties myself so that only one of them belongs to the Doge (i.e. the other four belong to Baron Counts) or is there an advantage to a Doge controlling 5 counties?
Egads I hope you guys are able to translate what I am saying, apologies if I misused terms. And, as always, thank you!
In order to create a Merchant Republic, I need to do the following steps: Either find a Mayor or create a Mayor by giving an unlanded Court Member (or relative) a city. Then give that person an appropriate County. Then give that person an appropriate Duchy. BAM! Merchant Republic created.
Now... as the Byzantine Emperor, I'm going with the "no Kings whatsoever" route and just managing Dukes. It's a BIT more of a hassle, but not a lot more, and they're a lot easier to control when rebellions come along.
Anywayz... let's take Sicily as an example. Let's say I create a one-county Doge. I normally just give entire duchies (i.e. all counties and baron-level holdings in a duchy) to new vassals and let them sort it out themselves. But if I do this for Bishoprics or Merchant Republics, then it counts against my total allowable. For example... if I give all 5 counties to my new Doge Vassal, then that's 5 counties that count against my total allowed.
So... do I manually handle all of the counties myself so that only one of them belongs to the Doge (i.e. the other four belong to Baron Counts) or is there an advantage to a Doge controlling 5 counties?
Egads I hope you guys are able to translate what I am saying, apologies if I misused terms. And, as always, thank you!
