Titles, nobiliary titles (their origin in Nobility) or more correctly feudal titles (in the medieval times) are special suffixes or prefixes that are added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a designated obligation.

Titles in the middle ages were traditionally given to the nobility (hence their names), a social class which developed throughout history and was then designated by facts or events to be able to possesses more privileges than members of most other classes in a society. Because of this, membership is typically hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles (e.g. Duke of Normandy), or may be largely honorary (e.g. Master of the Horse), and vary from country to country and era to era. Traditionally, membership in the nobility has been regulated or acknowledged by the state.

Contents 1 Ranks and Organization: Hierarchy 1.1 The Baron 1.2 The Count 1.3 The Duke 1.4 The King 1.5 The Emperor 2 Title Dynamics 2.1 Honorary Titles 3 Comments

Ranks and Organization: HierarchyEdit

There is often a variety of ranks within the noble class, something that is clearly modeled and forms an integral part of Crusader Kings II. In fact, most of the game's mechanics and user actions are centered on the balance of nobility's opinion of their liege (hopefully you) and the dynamics that result from feudal relationships that happen in the whole of the known Western World between the 11th and the 14th century.

The four playable nobiliary titles in Crusader Kings II are depicted in the picture to the right. From left, the crowns represent the Count, the Duke, the King and the Emperor, all of which are playable in the game. There is another rank below the Count, that is the Baron (that shares its ranks with other two titles), but it is not playable.

The BaronEdit

Barons are the chiefs of a Barony, that is to say a castle, always found under the authority of a Count. He shares his rank with the Bishop, chief of the Bishopric (a church or abbey) and the Mayor, chief of a city. As said before, they are not playable, and their authority is limited, but their functions are fundamental: they provide taxes and with the appropiate constructions and advancements, levies too.

The CountEdit

Go to main article: Count

The count.

The DukeEdit

Go to main article: Duke

The Duke.

The KingEdit

Go to main article: King

Example ; ' King Philippe I Of France '

The EmperorEdit

Go to main article: Emperor

The Emperor is usually considered one step above King and as such is often called the King of Kings. There are currently two empires at 1066 in the game: The Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Kaiser, and the Byzantine Empire, ruled by the Basileus. These two titles correspond to each other. Traditionally the Byzantine Empire didn't have de facto kings inside its jurisdiction, but on the other hand, the HRE Included several Kings, and one Archduke (of Austria). Sadly, there is no such duke inside the game.

Title DynamicsEdit

Titles are fundamentally divided in two categories, both of similar importance. There are Landed Titles, which correspond to the titles that ensure -ensurance granted by the state- that the gifted noble will be the liege of the designated place, and the Honorary Titles, that mainly serve strategic purposes in the sense that they increase some courtier's opinion of you. Titles can be granted, revoked, received, usurped and inherited

Honorary TitlesEdit

A number of Honorary Titles exist which can be bestowed on a direct vassal, they will remain with that vassal as long as they remain part of your realm, if they leave, even for a temporary time such as during a civil war, the will be lost. The titles cannot be revoked. They increase the opinion of the vassal of you by a limited extent, increase their monthly prestige and income growth. The exception is Court Jester, which decreases opinion and prestige while increasing wealth, a good tool to annoy specific vassals into potential revolt. The Byzantine Empire, as well as the reformed Roman Empire, possess several unique Honorary titles. Anthypatos, of which you can have four and vassals can hold in addition to other titles, Caesar which boosts the opinion of vassals by a great amount, Sebatcor which boosts their opinion by any even larger amount but can only be granted to close family members. Lastly Despot, which not only grants quite a bit of opinion, prestige and wealth but also has an effect on the unique Byzantine succession system. Bearers of this title count as being Born in the Purple, thus it is a way to designate your heir from any of your sons before ascending the throne. Note that although the Imperial Title and any de jure titles will go to this heir, Kingly titles and other Imperial titles that are de jure and pass on via Primogeniture will pass to your oldest legitimate heir, thus it is a poor idea to create a kingdom where your capital exists unless it is elective.