Free investiture: Benefits?

[Pinstar]

On its surface, I can't see a specific benefit to using free investiture and taking the relationship hit to the pope, but I've seen others around here say that it is the way to go. For you CK2 vets, how do you make use of free investiture to make it worth the -30 hit? Or is it a sort of situational thing where papal is sometimes better?

 

[Interesting_fox]

If you have gavelkind, you can use elect one of your sons as the next bishop, this eliminates them from succession.

 

[barny]

Bishops are more likely to like you, you can land good men, without actually having to conquer something or revoke a title and so on.

The relation to the pope is also manageable most of the time, just get yourself and your heirs the crusader feat, when ever possible.

 

[yezhanquan]

When the Pope asks you for Papal Investiture, just buy him off. For Free Investiture, you do want to try and keep your Piety high, in case someone has any ideas of bad mouthing you in front of the Pope. Fighting non-Catholics should rank high in your to-do list.

 

[TheLionHeart]

Being able to make a dynasty member ineligible for succession. If you have a child with terrible stats and you don't want him to inherit make him a bishop, now he can't inherit or be a pretender. It's very gamey but is far more useful than the intended use.

 

[yezhanquan]

Being able to make a dynasty member ineligible for succession. If you have a child with terrible stats and you don't want him to inherit make him a bishop, now he can't inherit or be a pretender. It's very gamey but is far more useful than the intended use.

Not at all gamey. Historically, sons had been asked to go into the church so that they don't cause succession problems.

 

[Mjs961]

It also gives a relation bonus to all of your vassals.

 

[heliostellar]

Don't you also get to collect more taxes from the Churches with free investiture? I think the biggest deal is what the others said above with getting rid of an heir.

 

[yezhanquan]

Don't you also get to collect more taxes from the Churches with free investiture? I think the biggest deal is what the others said above with getting rid of an heir.

You have a higher chance of collecting tax, since the bishops have a higher opinion of you. Church tax is a "all or nothing" thing. It's either you, or the geezer in Rome.

 

[Lessing]

Free investiture all the way.

You get the ability to select only content bishops and higher-level rulers (free +50), and you get +20 or so with every bishop and +25 for every ruler under you who benefits from your free investiture. Compare that to a measly -20 from the pope, and the choice should be obvious.

 

[Prince Michael]

The possibility to go for Free Investiture is the most important thing for which I want to declare independence or usurp a kingdom or whatever, because AI for some reason has never Free Investiture.

All the reasons mentioned here are valid, but I think the most essential one is that the bishops love you almost always more than the Pope when you have +25 relations with them. And that means troops and tax, although I usually have no church tax at all. That means +100 relations with bishops, max number of troops all the time and the bishops have more money to upgrade their churches by themselves. It's like the game is in Easy mode. Plus use Prince-(arch)bishops: super tame vassals, they always vote in your favour and never expand beyond their de jure borders or form factions or anything like that.

I don't think there is one reason not to have Free Investiture. The Pope sometimes complains about it but I pay him some cash or "deny on theological grounds". I never get an invasion CB or anybody excommunicated even when I have Papal Investiture so it is not any real minus in my book.

 

[yezhanquan]

Getting other people excommunicated also depends on the Pope's opinion with the target, so yeah, it's a bit unreliable.