So far, I've claimed two duchies this way: once by giving away a county to the claimant, and once by giving away a bishopric. I'm guessing that this will also work with kingdoms if you're an emperor. Once you win the war, that claimant will be your duke. Go to war with the ruler of your choice, using the 'Claim on duchy X' as your casus belli. Merchant republics are generally considered awesome to have as vassals due to their revenue and tax bonuses, but this might disrupt an existing merchant republic that is already earning you revenue. Note that if you land the claimant a city, gaining him a Duchy will found a vassal merchant republic instead of gaining you a new feudal vassal if you are playing version 1.9 of the game or later. Any landed title will do, even a city, church, or castle.

Note that if one of your courtiers marries a female claimant that you can't legally give a title to, that female claimant is not your vassal and the newly-conquered duchy will not become part of your kingdom, even if you give your male courtier a title.) (If nobody will come over, or there are no male heirs, you'll have to find another way to get that duchy. Invite one of the male claimants over to your court. To claim a duchy from somebody else through war (when you don't have a casus belli that lets you claim it directly):įind out who* has a claim on it by opening the duchy information screen and clicking on 'Claimants' to see who has a claim on that kingdom. It doesn't matter if they're your king, duke, earl, or even mayor, bishop, or count. Here's how it works: If you are their liege, the gains from the war are part of your kingdom. My question is, How does this work for duchies? If I give the courtier a county (so he becomes my count), then will he be my duke once the war ends? Or will he decide that he's going to take his duchy and become independent? Do I need to give him a duchy if I want him to be my duke after the war? How can I press a courtier's claim for a duchy and make sure that duchy becomes part of my kingdom? I've found a good way to bring counties into your kingdom: give that courtier a county (so he becomes your vassal), and then, once the war ends, the courtier-you-promoted-to-count will still be your vassal, and that new county will become part of your kingdom. Of course, going to war just to hand a title to somebody else is no fun, unless they end up as one of your vassals once the war is over. You can press such a claim by inviting one of these people to court, which will allow you to declare war on the current holder of the title if you win the war, then the guy with the claim gets the title (and loves you dearly). In Crusader Kings II, there tends to be a motley collection of people with a claim on some particular duchy or county.

Crusader kings 2 fabricate claim