Problem with HRE succession and PU

[Fexcad]

After becoming emperor as Spain and holding it for 2 generations (got the achievement ftw), I lost it to Austria due to a female heir getting on the throne. Austria immediately went through with Proclaim Erbkaisertum, as IA was at 100 because I wanted to wait to finish the HRE until I did a playthrough as Austria or Prussia.

Anyways, my problem showed up a few years later when... my royal marriage with Austria resulted in a PU under Spain. With the queen still leading it. Now, under the HRE page, Austria is listed as the Emperor, with my Spanish monarch's name on the tooltip. But I have 0 control over any faucet of the empire, and Austria keeps getting embroiled in wars I cant join when they try to protect members from France or the Ottomans. This persisted even after a male came to the throne in Spain - his name is listed as the Emperor, but Austria still holds the title.

It's not a major inconvenience, but it is slightly annoying that I cant rely on their massive army, nor can i help when France is wiping the floor with them. Is this working as intended or did I find a weird bug?

 

[unmerged(804580)]

I think it's WAD. You are ruling over the two nations, but separately. It's like a guy running two independent companies. That is, your Queen Maria (I'm just puttig in some random name) is the Holy Roman Emperor as Archduchess of Austria, but not as Queen of Spain. It's still kind of the same in the British Commonwealth, say, Canadians swear (nominal) loyalty to Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada, not to the same Elizabeth II as Queen of England.

Actually, I'd say it's a good thing that Austria proclaimed Erbkaisertum. If Austria fell into PU before Erbkaisertum, they would have lost the emperor status as the Electors would have voted for a different country: not Austria since it's now a subject nation, nor Spain because you have a Queen.

Though I don't really know if you'll inherit the Empire if you integrate Austria. Does anyone know what happens then? Will the Imperial Throne get transferred to Spain or will they vote for a new Emperor?

 

[Xara]

Okay, I tested this out using the console, and it is definitely bugged / unexpected results.

Day 1 : advanced to admin 10, vassalized Aragon, formed Spain diplomatically. Hired a statesman, filled out both diplo/expansion idea sets fully, married Austria. Tag switched Austria, added authority 100 x 6, proclaimed Erbkaisertum. Tag switched Spain, killed Habsburg ruler, formed PU with Austria. "Joan de Trastamara" is the Emperor, but the national icon is Austria's. Cannot pass reforms; has no access to Emperor actions.

This leaves 2 possibilities:

1. If you integrate Austria, the HRE is permanently stuck at Erbkaisertum. 'Austria' is still the nation of the Emperor, but you have no control over reforms, and every member of the HRE has something like -400 to -500 to passing votes due to the Emperor's nation having no army whatsoever. If you ally with all the remaining Electors, you may dismantle the HRE. There's nothing else you can do with it.

2. If Austria gains enough authority, they can revoke privilege. Since you lead the PU, any war you start will then drag Austria + every vassal into your wars. If Austria gains further authority, they can form the Empire. The Empire will continue to be in a PU under you. You can then integrate as long as you are larger. If you started integration and they formed the HRE during it, your progress will be adjusted according to their new size (mine got set back 40% or so, as well as ending up with a monthly progress of 0% with a -20% modifier due to new size)

 

[Fexcad]

Cool, thanks for the info/testing. A couple of things though real quick.

I get the logic behind PUs, with the monarch holding two separate realms, however this seems like a specific example that probably should be changed. And there can't be a vote for a new Emperor, the title becomes hereditary with Erbkaisertum. ><

At the moment, the only threat to the empire is France, as the east fell apart, Italy is 90% owned by Spain, and a french Balkans is preventing the Ottomans from reaching Austria. Since Austria can't call me to war against french aggression, I've tried dow on France immediately after so I can at least contribute somewhat. Both times so far though France has white peaced out, IA barely increases, and I'm stuck fighting a war minus Austria.

Also Xara, neither of those options sound particularly pleasing for what I had planned for the last century of this playthrough. I'm curious about something though. Austria is getting called into defensive wars as the Emperor. If I integrate them, what happens at the next defensive war? My King is emperor but he obviously can't join, and with Austria gone, does just nothing happen and the prince is forced to rely solely on allies? I'm honestly more interested in the mechanics than anything now.