Newbie Question: Feudal System and Dukes

[andrewgpisme]

Hey so I'm starting to get the hang of the game playing as William of England 1066 scenario. I've done quite well at establishing a prosperous realm and have been working on uniting the British Isles under my rule. I have some questions however, I have gotten the hang of handling stability by not letting my personal demense get too large. So I have granted titles of Count to several courtiers. I have the option to create titles of several Duchies and this is what I am not clear on. If I understand the feudal system right a Count is a vassal of a Duke and a Duke the vassal of a King. But then I'm left asking well what is the point of a Duke for me as King? Wouldn't a Duke be an unnecessary middle-man? Wouldn't I be better off with several weaker Counts who address themselves directly to me the King?

Also are Duchies tied to a geographical area? I ask this because I made a couple of my Counts Dukes of Duchies that were not in the same region as their County I.E. Made my Count of one of my Welsh Counties Duke of Meath, but it now says this province in Wales (Glyccester or something like that, the big one) is the Duchy of Meath. And does this mean the Counts of what should be the real Duchy of Meath address to him rather than to me the King?

I hope this all make sense.

 

[TempestDK]

Hey so I'm starting to get the hang of the game playing as William of England 1066 scenario. I've done quite well at establishing a prosperous realm and have been working on uniting the British Isles under my rule. I have some questions however, I have gotten the hang of handling stability by not letting my personal demense get too large. So I have granted titles of Count to several courtiers. I have the option to create titles of several Duchies and this is what I am not clear on. If I understand the feudal system right a Count is a vassal of a Duke and a Duke the vassal of a King. But then I'm left asking well what is the point of a Duke for me as King? Wouldn't a Duke be an unnecessary middle-man? Wouldn't I be better off with several weaker Counts who address themselves directly to me the King?

Also are Duchies tied to a geographical area? I ask this because I made a couple of my Counts Dukes of Duchies that were not in the same region as their County I.E. Made my Count of one of my Welsh Counties Duke of Meath, but it now says this province in Wales (Glyccester or something like that, the big one) is the Duchy of Meath. And does this mean the Counts of what should be the real Duchy of Meath address to him rather than to me the King?

I hope this all make sense.

Dukes are very helpful ... first off, they give you a monthly prestige bonus, which counts doesn't (as a King). So the more Dukes you have, the more prestige you'll gain.

Secondly, eventually you could have 50 counts you would have to juggle around, which can be tricky, and can easily get your realm in trouble. If you have 10 dukes of 5 counts each, then you just cut down your direct vassals from 50 to 10. It is very hard to keep everyone from liking you, so trying to balance 10 is much easier than balancing 50. Let the dukes worry about counts' loyalties

As long as you don't give 2 dukes half or more of your country, they are rarely a threat to you individually, and since one disgruntled direct vassal can "spead the seeds of disloyalty" to others, they are easier to manage and thus keep happy.

Duchies are somewhat tied to a region ... meaning that you need certain historical counties to form a Duchy. But once it is formed, you can grant it to anyone you please (as long as he is a direct vassal). So if you get the Duchy of Leinster in Ireland, you could just grant it to your brother, who is sitting on a lone county in southern Spain.

 

[andrewgpisme]

Thank you so much for your reply, that cleared up a lot!

 

[Brettmo]

As for your last question: Yes, the counts of what is the "actual" duchy of meath should transfer their loyalty to the new duke. This is assuming that they are your direct vassals, if they are independent or vassals of another duke then they stay that way. This only takes into account the situation when you grant the duchy though. If you vassalise new parts of the duchy (or old parts that revolted) then they will not be part of the duchy but be direct vassals under you.

From what I hear there will be an option to transfer vassals to your dukes in CK2 but in this game there is no such option. If you want these new counties to be part of the duchy they belong to you have to revoke the titles from the count and give them to the duke.

 

[andrewgpisme]

thanks, this is making sense now