Invading papal lands

[ZombieFriedNuts]

If a Muslim faction invades Rome will the pope cease to be or will they just move to another location

[r johnson]

He'll go into "exile" and might reamerge if loyality of the papal states goes under 130%

[Furious Mental]

Interesting. Where did you get that info from?

[cutepuppy]

Interesting. Where did you get that info from?

It was like that in mtw1. But that doesn't mean it will be the same in mtw2.

[Ulstan]

If you're playing a catholic faction, you should immediately lose the game. :D If you're playing a muslim faction, capturing rome should be instant victory :p

The realist in me though says they'd probably just move and survive and come back later. The papacy survived rome being sacked in the wars of the reformation, after all. (Not by protestants, by mercenaries iirc :p)

[Manstein]

In Medieval 1, the Pope always comes back with a massive force after around 10 years. Even if the Papel lands you've occupied a peaceful and non-rebelling.

[Tiberius maximus]

If you're playing a catholic faction, you should immediately lose the game. :D If you're playing a muslim faction, capturing rome should be instant victory :p

The realist in me though says they'd probably just move and survive and come back later. The papacy survived rome being sacked in the wars of the reformation, after all. (Not by protestants, by mercenaries iirc :p)

that would be dumb, because im no defender of my allies in total war cause niether are they and i dont wont to lose the game cause the pope is weak.

but they should relocate the pope to the nearest italian region with a stack of men

[Wilhelm The Mediocre]

I think Muslims should have the ability to kill or ransom the pope, though, to the detriment of Catholic morale.

[DisruptorX]

I think Muslims should have the ability to kill or ransom the pope, though, to the detriment of Catholic morale.

Don't see why they wouldn't be able to, considering that CATHOLIC factions can >:3

Though having the catholic factions all declare war on you for doing so would indeed be interesting.

[Empirate]

I think CA's approach to the role of the Pope in M2 will be a lot more historically realistic than in M1, judging from all the interviews I read. Historically, the Holy See wasn't even always in possession of Rome when it was good Christian. Often, fights among the different factions of the great families of Rome itself resulted in the Pope (often recruited from one of these families) to be driven out. Many Popes spent most of their pontificate in exile in some other Italian town, even powerful figures of history like Gregory VII. or Innocent III.
In the 14th century the Holy See completely relocated to Avignon and stayed there for several generations (of Popes) before returning after the Council of Constance 1414-1418. I'm eager to see if they incorporated this into the game! It would give an edge to the French in that time - as hosts, they had a lot of de facto influence on all matters ecclesiastical.

So I expect the Papacy to be quite resilient. Rome is taken by Muslims? Order a Crusade from some other place! The Pope will never die, try as you might. This will be much as in M1. And a good thing - it will make the game less easily influenced by chance, as well as being easier to design in the first place.

BTW, in the ninth century (well before the starting date of the game, of course), Rome was in fact sacked by Muslim Corsairs from Sicily. The Pope retreated into a castle and later drove them back, finally destroying their fleet in a great sea battle a few years after.

[King Noob the Stupid]

Do you think the pope will still give you orders even if there's nothing of the papacy territory left? And is the starting point of a crusade accidental; will it always be in Rome or will the pope sort of grant a "crusade mark" to his favourite faction?