Rules for pressing claims?

[Bob_the_Insane]

I will freely admit to not being up to speed on this mechanic so I was looking for some advice...

In my game I am Emperor of Britain and hold Normandy, Brittany, Anjou and Aquitaine...

I am manoeuvring to add the Kingdom of France to my Empire and to short cut things I found a willing Prince of France with a claim on the Kingdom brought him to my court and even set him up as Duke of Aquitaine.

But pressing his claim is not an option in the list for declaring on the King of France? I can press other peoples claims. I even had a misfire when I pressed someone's claim for the Duchy of Champagne, won and they became the independent Duchy of Champagne which promptly swore fealty to the King of France!

I am sure I have missed something obvious but what?

 

[dorukdorucu]

He probably has a weak claim, if you are playing one of the newer versions. Check if his claim has a green outline. If not, simply hold your cursor over it and a tip will pop up, containing most of the information you need.

 

[Bob_the_Insane]

Thanks, will do...

 

[Comradebot]

Aye, probably a weak claim. Either just hold on to him and wait for a chance to press it, or start offing French kings until there's a regency.

 

[dorukdorucu]

You can also try marrying him to your son/daughter whatever and make sure that their heir is your heir as well, that is however if the claim can be inherited by successor(should say it when you hover over it) so you can actually invade the kingdom instead of simply declaring war for the title. Then you can give away the lands as you wish, probably to more loyal vassals.

 

[icon41gimp]

In this case, pressing the prince's claim is likely to lose you Aquitaine. This person is likely not of your dynasty, the Kingdom of France is not a de jure vassal of your empire, and his new title is of higher rank than his current title so he will remain independent.

You need to manufacture a claim onto a dynasty member to do what you are trying to do.

 

[Bob_the_Insane]

Thanks for all the pointers...

Especially @icon41gimp for that bit about losing Aquitaine...

 

[_krampe_]

In this case, pressing the prince's claim is likely to lose you Aquitaine. This person is likely not of your dynasty, the Kingdom of France is not a de jure vassal of your empire, and his new title is of higher rank than his current title so he will remain independent.

You need to manufacture a claim onto a dynasty member to do what you are trying to do.

No, you don't!

General rule by pressing claims: Look for a claimant willing to join your court. Grand him any landed title, so he becomes your direct vassal. Press his Claim!
As long as the title you're pressing the claim for is lower than YOUR title, he will remain your vassal. As Emperor you can easily press King titles!

 

[Bob_the_Insane]

Cool, thanks for the update...

Actually reading the tool tips gave me a bit of an education as well...

He had a Weak Claim, which meant I could only press it if the ruler of France was Female, there was a Regency or if there was a succession crisis of some kind...

The last one I learned about the hard way when the King of France grabbed back Valois and Brittany (though he had never had Brittany) while I was involved in an Independence War with the King of Jerusalem and an Irish Duke (whom I crushed for the +25 opinion bonus). As so often happens in this game, just as things stabilized enough with the new Emperor for me to turn my sights back on France he dies in battle just as we are turning the tide against them (had a miss-fire start to the war when the French 12500 man retinue decimated my English 15000 man retinue) and it is a succession crisis all over again. A quick white peace with France followed to sort things out at home, so they are off the hook for the next ten years...

 

[ziamatt]

In this case, pressing the prince's claim is likely to lose you Aquitaine. This person is likely not of your dynasty, the Kingdom of France is not a de jure vassal of your empire, and his new title is of higher rank than his current title so he will remain independent.

You need to manufacture a claim onto a dynasty member to do what you are trying to do.

If you press a claim for a dynasty member or for a vassal they will remain as your vassal.