Options when one vassal attacks another

[Peregrine]

I am having an issue when a vassal duke attacked another vassal count to gain title of his county. As far as I can see, I, as king, have no options here. Shouldn't I be able to step in and declare war on this idiot duke, or at least imprison him for charge? Every option I have is seen as tyrannical. I understand the duke has a claim on the county, but I think I should at least be notified of this and have some option to deal with it.

 

[Walas]

If you have high crown authority vassals cant fight among themselves. Other than that use poison or ninjas.

 

[Zaku]

I am having an issue when a vassal duke attacked another vassal count to gain title of his county. As far as I can see, I, as king, have no options here. Shouldn't I be able to step in and declare war on this idiot duke, or at least imprison him for charge? Every option I have is seen as tyrannical. I understand the duke has a claim on the county, but I think I should at least be notified of this and have some option to deal with it.

You need to understand that back then dukes and counts had absolute power in their lands. If a king interfered that caused great turnmoil in the country. The centralized kingdoms became more common later in history which is modelled by the slow raising of the crown authority.

 

[Cymsdale]

As a king, these matters are beneath you.

 

[Harle]

Seriously, if my vassals stopped acting like living breathing people and started acting like dogs waiting for me to give them commands, this game would lose so much of its character and novelty. =(

Let them fight amongst themselves! Survival of the fittest!

Just be careful a duke doesn't end up with power to rival your own.

 

[Peregrine]

Unfortunately, my hands are tied, crown authority wise, since I own one de-jure county that belongs to the HRE, and they are limiting my authority to none or low. At least I believe that's why it's happening.

To add to the fun, the count that is being attacked is the heir to a dukedom as well, and his father has one and a half feet in the grave, if he dies this goes from a minor struggle to 2 of my 3 dukes fighting it out. Fun fun.

 

[Bertouch]

Unfortunately, my hands are tied, crown authority wise, since I own one de-jure county that belongs to the HRE, and they are limiting my authority to none or low. At least I believe that's why it's happening.

Build yourself some cash, and anger one vassal--if you can, without angering the rest. When he declares war, hire some mercs, join them with your personal levy, and besiege his provinces until he offers to lose prestige and go to prison. Agree, then immediately revoke his most powerful title. You can get away with it because of his treason, but for some reason, the game won't let you do it another time to other titles without invoking the standard penalties. -Or at least, so the diplomatic interface says. (I haven't checked to see if it's wrong.)

Over time, you'll amass more territories, get gold quicker, and gain prestige. You'll be able to raise the level of your crown authority, which in turn might anger still other vassals who will rebel, leading you to grab more territories when you beat them, etc.

 

[Harle]

If you happen to be playing a vassal Duke or a Count then you will begin to appreciate the fact that you can actually, y'know, fight for prestige and claims rather than sitting around waiting for table scraps. Also it's a good excuse to use that 'plot to lower crown authority' so that you can actually do this (assuming it is too high).

 

[Peregrine]

Well I ended up revoking the duke's title, he declared war, I crushed him, and all was well - except that now his title appears as a Republic and its leader the Doge, instead of a Duchy.