In my game Hungary has its de jure vassals. Seems to be doing fine.
Let me tell you a tale of the House of Poth.
The House of Poth ruled the county of Skezefehervar, chosen explicitly for its ridiculous name, and its history. You see, Skezefehervar was historically a royal residence, and one of the most important cities in all Hungary. And Count Otto (I think) of Poth saw the greatness that was Skezefehervar, and set himself the goal of returning the capital of Hungary to the city.
Under Otto's rule, Skezefehervar expanded greatly, gaining the counties of Feher and Vas, changing the succession in Pecs to Elective and becoming the elected heir to the Duchess before stabbing her. He then quickly died, and was replaced by his son, under which the Duchy of Pecs grew to become the largest duchy in all Hungary. It covered the duchies of Temes and Pest, as well as the county of Budapest. Sadly, during this golden age of Pecs, the King of Bohemia somehow gained a claim on Hungary.
Hungary, its levies depleted from fighting off simultaneous attacks from Croatia, the Pecheneg raiding tribes, and the rebellious Duke of Ungvar, was quickly subjugated by Bohemia, becoming a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Oh noes! The King of Bohemia quickly died under suspicious circumstances and due to succession law discrepancy, the Kingdom of Bohemia passed to his eldest while the crown of Hungary passed to... House of Poth! Yay!
Now in his 70's (this guy just did not die, also I can't remember his name), the new King of Hungary immediately joined the Independence faction, and surprisingly was granted independence (along with Ancona, Tuscany, Lombardy, Provence, etc.) He quickly died and was replaced with his nephew, I think, the Count of Feher! Yay! Under his reign, Hungary focused itself on remaining in its dejure borders and spreading the Poth dynasty, which comprised of more than half of Hungary's dukes, as well as a few dukes in Poland, the Duke in Karvuna and the Duke in Bavaria. He was a pious man, and crusaded against the Pechenegs with the Pope, gaining the kingdom. He then died in his middle age.
His son, the Quick and Ambitious Somedude, looked to be the perfect heir. He granted the Kingdom of Bulgaria to his brother (as long as it was in Poth hands I wasn't concerned), which quickly was attacked by Cumania seeking to reinstate a few Tengri Pecheneg dukes. Hungary naturally came to Bulgaria's aid, hiring mercenaries and holy orders, and got crushed by a 20~30k stack. Ouch. The Duke of Ungvar, the rebellious bastard, then petitioned the Duchess in Temes replace the King. Alright, she was in my dynasty, I had no levies, I accepted. Oh dear. Then ANOTHER duke pressed his claim, because everybody was in the same dynasty. Then Poland, allied with Croatia, pressed a claim. Then the goddamn Holy Roman Empire (!!!) pressed a claim that it got because all of my vassals voted for myself in the last election while he and his vassal voted for him, making him second in succession and granting him a claim!
AARGH.
Now for some reason the Emperor of the HRE is Hungarian, rules in Holland, and Hungary cannot break out of the HRE because literally everybody loves this bloody emperor and the kingdom is just a heap of dukes I can't attack because of the alliance conditions as they are of my dynasty...
Just this...
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