My Nuremberg game I just finished up (the last screenshot I got of it, anyway. the map didn't change much after this):
That's my client state, Benevento. I also have France, Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden under PUs. I guess this map would be a better representation of my empire then:
I started as just a small HRE state, and grew to consume most of the central states. Austria was a valuable ally for a while, but after the reformation, they just didn't want to stay friendly. So I ate them. Sweden had Denmark down to a OPM, so I diplo-vassalized them and fed them back their cores.
Then Sweden fell under a PU with Russia, and gave me the option to fight for it. I got the Valois dynasty soon after that, as did Poland. Eventually I claimed Poland's throne, soon after that France didn't have an heir, so I claimed their's. In the meantime, I was eating up the remainder of the HRE and taking lands from the Ottomans.
In the last decade, Lithuania got the Valois fever from me, and had no heir, so I claimed their throne too. It's a shame all these PUs happened in the last century, so I just didn't get the time between all the conquering to get my opinion up and integrate.
In another note, I saw the AI Utrecht form the Netherlands on its own, the first I've ever seen that. I allied them for a while until they got mad at me for PUing France. Then I ate them too.
AE was crazy this game. I had constant coalitions within the HRE, and I only kept afloat by allying France/Poland/Lithuania as well as Austria, Aragon, Venice, and the Netherlands for a time.
The final map of things: