Greetings and welcome!
Today we will be talking about a couple of different things in relation to our Silk & Silver DLC; namely the Guelphs & Ghibellines situation, showing off the new Italian traditions and also outline the Republican Trade Leagues.
What is a trade DLC without Venice? What is Venice without Italians? What are Italians without sniping patricians and bickering nobles? What are, indeed, sniping patricians without the Guelphs and the Ghibellines? And what are even Guelphs and Ghibellines?
\[1066 Guelphs & Ghibellines situation map mode]
In short, the Guelphs & the Ghibellines is a historical situation that arose from conflicts between Kaiser Heinrich of the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy, wherein both parties wanted more control and influence over religious officials and vassals. The papacy wanted the secular rulers to keep their influence out of the religious elections and the secular ruler's religious officials/vassals. The Kaiser and other secular rulers wanted to be involved in the elections (to varying degrees) and also to expect a certain level of sworn loyalty from their religious vassals.
The names Guelph and Ghibelline supposedly have their origins in the Siege of Weinsberg. The combatants who were supporting the papacy at the time were using 'Welf', from the House of Welf, as their rallying cry during the battle. On the opposing side, the combatants supporting the imperial party used the word 'Wibellingen' as their battle cry - derived from the name of the city of Waiblingen in southwestern Germany.
Welf then later on would be bastardized into Guelph when repeated by the Italians, and Wibellingen would be likewise adapted into Ghibelline.
Now, instead of fading away, this conflict persisted for more than 250 years, from 1125 to 1392. Over the decades the situation entered moments of peace and respite, and in others straight up conflict and wars.
As the sharp-witted may have noticed, the years don't completely match the prime time of gameplay in Crusader Kings III, circa 1100, which is why some creative liberties had to be taken with implementing the Situation.
Arguably, the rumblings that ignited and inflamed the conflict started as early as 1058 with the In nomine Domini incident where both Pope Benedictus X and Pope Nicholas II were elected, Benedictus with the alleged influence of the Count of Tusculum and Nicholas with the support from dissenting cardinals.
This led to a brief war which was won by Pope Nicholas II and in turn led to the papal bull In nomine Domini (leaders of the nobility would have no part in the election of popes).
After this, the situation would only escalate as Kaiser Heinrich came out from under his diarch's shadow and into power. Having been excommunicated by the pope not once, but twice, with two reaffirmations, this was a source of some real medieval drama (read up on it if you haven't, it's good fun).
Given how many deliciously popcorn-worthy historical events technically exist within the Guelph & Ghibelline conflict, and given how dynamic and flexible our game is in terms of who can be where and do what, we have limited the actual historical events to just a couple (except the ones covered in the 1178 Situation Log).
If you play through 1075 as the leader of either side you do get the Investiture Controversy; if you play through 1123 you get Concordat of Worms. Should you be one of the future Italian city-state titles in 1167, you get the option to break free, become a republic and join the Lombard League.
Between being excommunicated a bunch of times and electing an antipope, other less antagonistic emperors succeeded Kaiser Heinrich, eventually leading to the Concordat of Worms, and a brief Repose, which is where the 1178 Guelphs & Ghibellines situation starts.
So, to recap: the Guelphs support the Pope and the independence of the Italian city states. The Ghibellines support the Holy Roman Empire and imperialism.
But now that we have the backstory down, let's dive into some specifics.
\[1178 Guelph Supporter starting screen]
In order to demonstrate the ebb and flow —war and peace— of the Guelph & Ghibelline conflict, we have the Repose phase and the Agitation phase with its two variants: Guelph Advantage and Ghibelline Advantage. The idea here is that the situation should be able to move between the war and peace phases over time, or by decree — since we have the Ignite Conflict and Offer Peace Privilege situation decisions a bit further ahead in this diary.
Additionally, to accommodate the build-up period in 1066 we also added the Papal Resurgence and Dictatus Papae prelude phases, leaving us with 6 phases in total:
Papal Resurgence (the 1066 starting phase): A mainly dormant phase, which if left alone from outside forces will naturally progress into Dictatus Papae around 1075 (or, in other words, around the Investiture Controversy).
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Dictatus Papae: The second prelude phase; things are starting to heat up but are still at a fairly down-low level. If left to its own means, the phase will progress into the Concordat of Worms event in 1123 where the current HRE Kaiser and the Pope will get to choose whether to accept the agreement or not.
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If they don't, it will have dire consequences.
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Repose (the 1178 starting phase): The peaceful phase, Repose is the phase that allows all participants in the situation to sit back and breathe a bit. Build up their strength before going at it again, either by the leader manually retriggering antagonism via decision or the members of each side triggering catalysts by performing antagonistic actions against the opposing party.
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Agitation: In Agitation, it is cheaper and easier to declare wars. Involvement gain is increased. This is the tumultuous phase where you get to expand your territories and the backstabbing may flow freely… until next time peace hits.
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Guelph Advantage: The Guelph Advantage phase is entered if the Guelph side has at least 70% power, checked monthly. The Guelphs need to have this phase active if they are to be able to end the Situation as a Guelph Victory.
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They also receive some juicy modifiers for keeping this phase, allowing them to take full advantage of the situation to further themselves – until the Ghibellines decide to strike back, that is.
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Ghibelline Advantage: Vice versa, the Ghibellines want the phase to be Ghibelline Advantage since that is necessary for them to be able to end the Situation as a Ghibelline Victory. Similarly, they receive a beneficial set of modifiers for as long as they can keep the phase active.
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There is a monthly cooling down of hostilities, should no new antagonistic actions be had, and benevolent actions, such as entering alliances or marriages generally cool down the situation.
\[1066 Situation Catalysts]
To visualize the power struggle, i.e. support, each side has in the situation, we added the power bar. Guelph support is represented by the blue color while Ghibelline support is represented in yellow.
Increasing your side's power score is as easy as recruiting characters to your side — the higher tier primary title they have, the better.
\[1066 Guelphs & Ghibellines Power score]
… a handful of other occurrences may also affect the power score of your party.
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When the support for your side reaches 70%, the situation will soon enter Advantage for that party. However, if support drops below 60%, it will soon exit the Advantage of the dwindling side and go back to Agitation.
Should you decide to get involved with this conflict you'll tally up involvement, meaning you're someone who reputably fought for your cause and stood firm in your beliefs. Involvement is necessary if you want to take certain actions within the situation, like becoming the new leader or keeping the leadership position. And, aside from involvement, you may even get the odd appreciation from the leader of your party if you recruit enough members to your side.
But more importantly, the more involved you are, the more you'll get out of the situation while it's running and when it's ending.
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There are three different endings available in the Guelphs & Ghibellines situation - Guelph Victory, Ghibelline Victory and Compromise.
Guelph Victory / Ghibelline Victory: As is alluded to in the name, this decision is available once the corresponding side are in phase advantage and will settle the situation in their favor.
To boil it down, a Guelph victory will mean that
Every Holy Roman vassal in northern Italy becomes independent
The Empire may not declare wars in northern Italy for the next three decades
The Empire may not declare wars on their ecclesiastical vassals
The church gains Church Authority
Whereas a Ghibelline victory will once and for all cement the Holy Roman Empire's de jure ownership:
All of the Kingdom of Italy and Kingdom of Romagna becomes de jure under the Holy Roman Empire
The papacy gets a boot with the church losing Church Authority
Ghibelline-papal relations overall go a bit frosty (something to keep in mind if you were looking to get that brother-in-law excommunicated, for instance…)
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Compromise: A character interaction the leader of one side may use on the other side's leader — for when you have enough involvement you want to exchange or need the situation to end for other reasons
In practice, the compromise means no side is really satisfied, but has made concessions:
The Holy Roman Empire may not declare wars in the North Italian region for a couple of decades
The Empire gains increased control of their North Italian vassals
Either leader takes a popular opinion hit since they conceded on their claims
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Now, what political situation is complete without a bunch of schemes and decisions to replace-, usurp leadership from-, convert- and banish people!
In order to further your agenda, we have added schemes like:
Replace Ruler: Replace the target ruler with someone from your side. Splendid!
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(Be wary though… they might return, one way or the other…)
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Claim Leadership: Sneakily take charge of the situation by assuming leadership of your party when the old leader just doesn't want to let go.
Align Undecided: Make sure those who are yet to proclaim their allegiances pick the correct side.
Coax Defection: Make those who picked the incorrect side see sense…
We also have situation decisions:
Determine Alignment: If you are an undecided soul, much like the Doge of Venice, you may weigh your options carefully and pick a side here. Whichever side you pick will weigh heavily, considering your King tier title.
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Ignite Conflict/Offer Peace Privilege: This one changes depending on if the current phase is Agitation or Repose. If it is Repose, the leader of either side can choose to move it into Agitation by using Ignite Conflict. If the current phase is Agitation, the Ghibelline leader can choose to move the phase into Repose by offering the Peace Privilege. The Guelph leader may also move it into Repose, if the current phase is Guelph Advantage.
(This was something the Holy Roman Emperor historically did in periods, for various reasons, during the conflict.)
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Join the Guelphs/Ghibellines: For those who… simply have places to be, people to see. Away from you or me, unfortunately.
Seize Guelph/Ghibelline Leadership & Withdraw Guelph/Ghibelline Leadership: For those who want to move up, or down, in the ranks. Withdrawing your leadership is necessary if you are a leader who is on the tactical route to switch sides completely though. You turncoat.
Invite Guelph/Ghibelline Exiles: This allows you to get a Casus Belli on a particular title by wanting to reinstate the rightful ruler. These poor exiles have either been the target of the Displace Ruler Casus Belli or, indeed, the Replace Ruler scheme.
On the more fringe side, we also have options to join or leave the Lombard League, for those who simply missed the chance or who woefully regret their decision to join the league and turn down shiny imperialism.
… and the odd Casus Belli:
Displace Ruler: Were you looking for a reason to do away with that annoying neighbor of yours? Well, look no further. If you want to increase the power of your party by making your neighbors into like-minded rulers, make sure your Assembly allows wars and then have a crack at it. Assuming your phase is not Repose, that is.
Reinstate Guelph/Ghibelline Ruler: Hold up, someone had the nerve of displacing or exiling your Guelph or Ghibelline homeboy? We will not stand for this. Let us exact revenge and reinstate a friendly face on the throne.
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\[1066 Guelphs & Ghibelline Situation screen]
If we compare the Guelphs & Ghibellines situation in 1066 to the 1178 one, 1066 is more lowkey, restricted and streamlined, denoted by the Prelude suffix — though the impatient may fast-forward the situation by triggering targeted catalysts against the opposing party.
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Most actions are locked behind the Repose and Agitation phases, as the first two (Papal Resurgence, Dictatus Papae) are more restrictive in order to help the pacing (since not a lot of open conflict went on at the time, by comparison).
In Papal Resurgence you're also not awarded any Involvement for taking actions against other characters inside the Situation. In Dictatus Papae, it is halved.
The Guelph ruler needs to be the Pope and the Ghibelline ruler needs to be the Holy Roman Emperor up until after the Concordat of Worms, where the character-driven vendetta of the leaders take a backseat to the overarching shenanigans in the Italian city states.
With the creation of the Lombard League in 1167, it is less about religious elections and more about the city states seeking independence from the ruler-on-the-other-side-of-the-Alps. They want to run their own show, so on a little wing, a prayer and hopefully some help from the papacy (who presumably were still more aligned with the Guelphs since the sour relationship with the Holy Roman Empire) they take the decision to break free.
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\[1178 Guelphs & Ghibelline Situation screen]
In 1178, the situation starts as far ahead as the Lombard League having been formed (still nowhere near the 13-hundreds, mind you, but instead with a lot of ground to snipe and climb your way towards settling the situation and emerging victorious).
The initial upheaval and outrage has faded after the Battle of Legnano in 1176, where Kaiser Barbarossa finally lost and the stage is set with the Treaty of Venice, a peace treaty that is to span for 6 years, up until 1183.
At this point in time, who leads each side is a lot less rigid as well as it started becoming less about the pope and the emperor, and more about who the nobles in the North Italian city states identified with for their long-term or short-term gains.
Weddings were had, alliances were entered —and broken—, murders were had… all in the name of the other party being on the wrong side of the conflict.
Now all actions should be available and at your disposal, and as the situation is starting to enter its prime, you may go ahead and bolster your side of the situation; gain involvement to increase your ending reward (assuming your side wins) and befriend, maybe even convert, that pesky Guelph family who keep insisting on voting on the wrong side of the Assembly…
Or you know, simply banish them and take the tyrannical hit.
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So have fun and uh, watch your back, probably…
On another note; what are sniping Guelph patricians without Italian traditions?
We have added a handful of new traditions, and tweaked most of the existing ones (given the rework holdings and buildings, amongst other things).
To capture the essence of our beloved Italians, we have these puppies:
Contado: This relates the urbanization of Central Italy and the growth of both settlements around the walled cities there as well as the growth of the typical fortified hilltop settlements in the area.
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Civic Religion: This tradition relates to the development where confraternities, guilds and city governments instigated many of the functions that the church would in other parts of Europe. It strengthens the guild district and gives you more things to build there - while limiting the use of a devoted church district. It also relates to the Republican Great Plaza project.
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Roman Law: This tradition relates more broadly to the role and study of law in northern italy, including the renewed interest in roman law. Apart from affecting the way you build your cities it also makes merchants gain benefits from going to university (while also making it cheaper).
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Now then, let us move on to Trade Leagues. Inspired by the Hanseatic League of northern Germany, they are a conglomeration of republics coming together to form a new type of confederation. As a republic is, in many ways, a coming together of several merchants to become a stronger, more competitive unit, the trade league does the same for republics.
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For Trade Leagues, there are 5 Cohesion levels:
Casual Barter: 0-20 (No effects)
Shared Markets: 20-45
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Joint Ventures: 45-70
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Commercial Consortium: 70-95
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Mercantile Union: 95-100
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So as you start getting larger, you see that you will get some noticeable bonuses and access to some new types of Casus Belli, as well as some Trade Post Buildings. Republics are by default not as warlike, compared to many of the other types of governments in the game, but trade leagues can definitely dip into a more warlike type of playstyle. Think the Hanseatic League bullying the Scandinavian countries.
Here are some pictures of the two new Trade Post buildings you can unlock from the Trade Leagues, one of them is focused on military might, whereas the other one is focused on expanding your economy:
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And here are the three new Casus Belli:
Trade War - Start a war against a rival Trade League to have them give up trade posts and monopolies in markets you share.
Proclaim Commune - Start a war against a non-republic ruler to free a piece of land under their control and turn it into an independent republic that joins the trade league.
Enforce a Monopoly - War with a ruler to get a complete monopoly in a market.
In other words, Trade Leagues have both the military and the targets to be a bit more ruthless than regular merchants and republics.
The leader of the trade league can set a focused trade good category for the whole league, among all the good categories they are currently trading in, improving sell price, production, and expertise gain.
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League members also have access to some interactions that otherwise require you to have friendly house relations by default. These are:
Share Market Insights - Give each other Competitiveness in specific markets, so you can compete better in those markets.
Share Goods Expertise - Share expertise in trade categories.
And of course, we have a specific little thing for the Hanseatic League itself. In real life, the Hanseatic League was a league of cities along the coastline of the Holy Roman Empire that came together to form a strong trade front.
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They also have a unique Trade Post building by default, as members of the Hanseatic League.
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We have also added map changes, some of which will be useful for those who wants to have more opportunities for republics in the northern parts of the HRE, but also some map changes in general, best of luck finding all of them.
And finally, for those of you with special interests, I guess I can add this picture:
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Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this look at the new situation, Trade Leagues, and some other small tidbits related to republics, one way or another. We will be back next week to talk about Trade & Economy, so look forward to that! As always, leave your questions below, and we will try to get to them and answer them as best we can.
