How does the hierarchy change in gavelkind succession

crusader-kings-2

I currently hold two duchies. If I give one of my sons a county in one of the duchies, then he becomes my vassal, right? And if that duchy is then inherited by my other son, then one of my sons will be vassal to the other, right? Except that both of my sons will be dukes – each inherits one duchy – and one duke can't be vassal to another!

Taking it further, what if I give each son a county inside the duchy that the other son will inherit? When I die, each should become the other's vassal!

Best Answer

It's really not that complicated. They won't be each other's vassals at all because de jure (in law) is not de facto (in fact).

Let's assume you're playing in Ireland and you're the Duke of Leinster and Meath, with Leinster being your primary title. Let's examine 3 scenarios:

  • The default, assuming no sons get landed.
    • First son gets Leinster, second son gets Meath.
  • Your first scenario. Let's assume you give your first son the county of Dublin in Meath.
    • First son still gets Leinster, but also the county of Dublin. Since he has 50% of the counties in Meath, he can usurp the duchy from his brother.
    • Second son still gets Meath, but only the county of Kildare he's pissed off because his brother has one of his de jure counties. In addition to his normally strong claim to his brother's territory due to the succession law, he also has a de jure claim and cassus belli for Dublin.
  • Your second scenario. In addition to the first scenario, let's assume you gave Ossory in Leinster to your second son.
    • First son still gets Leinster, but only gets the counties of Leinster and Dublin.
    • Second son still gets Meath, but gets the counties of Kildare and Ossory.
    • Each could actually usurp the other's duchy in this case, and is generally in the same position as the second son in the first scenario.

Ok, maybe I lied - it is a little complicated.

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