Multiple Settlements Per Province?

[Martok]

Does that mean that one could control every city in France except for Paris, and it would still not be "their" province and appear as such on the campaign map?

That's my understanding so far, yes, although I would love to see something more like Methuselah's concept of being able to partially own a province. What (admittedly little) we've seen thus far, however, leads me to believe that it's more of an all-or-nothing affair, with occupation of the provincial capital being the crucial detail.

That said, I imagine that controlling a province's "secondary" cities will still be important. After all, they'll still be a major source of troops and money.

I imagine the smaller settlements will merely be a group of buildings on the battle map, obstacles in a good field battle.

I wouldn't be so certain of that. Going by the screenshots of that Leipzig battle from a few months ago, it appears that even the minor settlements will still entail a battle in and of themselves (although undoubtedly some battle/maneuvering amongst & around the land surrounding cities will still factor in).