How to up piety stats.

[lugh]

Ok, Im just finishing up an English campaighn. This time round I managed to set a really good bloodline up, my princes were rolling out at min 6 stars normally, so I had some kick ass generals on hand all the time and when the king reached c55 y/o Id have my assasin enclave (another thing I concentrated on that I normally dont bother with) cull the weaker ones so that the best of the best reached the throne.
Thing is, about 50 years ago, I noticed Id had not trouble with the Papacy in centuries, and sure enough my current king and heir were really pious, as were an awful lot of my generals.
This is great as Im just coming into conflict with the Catholics now and popey isnt hastling me too much about killing them.

My problem is, I have no idea how I managed to trawl out all these pious devils, and since the benifits are pretty damn good, (popey not annoying me and I might be imagining it but my catholic holdings havent rebelled in decades, and I stripped their garrisons completley when I was running into the Byz)

Is it just linked to influence generally or am I doning something else to get theses stats?

Thanks

[Serpent]

Crusades, Inquisitors and very good lineage. For exempel if you have king whit good stats and very good influence and your kings piety is 3.This may give your heir piety stat 4 and so on so on. I don't know how does buildings rise piety. If they do it at all. Since I had King that builded from nothing 8 churches and 12 monasterys. Also other religious buildings. Nothing.

What comes to Papacy. Are you sure that it is your piety that is holding him back. Or is it because you are just a nice little King whit mighty sword.

[lugh]

While I know its a long shot but I like to think that at least some parts of the diplomacy aspect actually make sense. Youre probably right that its my rather large armies holding the top half of the Italian peninsula though . . . .
I think I'll pay even more attention to my lineage next time out (Im thinking French or Aragonese, havent played em yet), maybe spread sheet all me heirs when theyre born or something.

[OlafTheBrave]

A completed crusade is worth two piety.

[Hold Steady]

A completed crusade is worth two piety.

where's my chapter house? where, ^&%$, I'm at war with the pope!

[lugh]

Really . . .
And if piety is genetic, I should be able to sacrifise maybe my first couple of kings to the excommunications that are neccecary to build a nice core empire then uber crusade and ignore the pope for hopefully the rest of the game. Starting a French campaighn tonight so fingers crossed.
Hah, yeah, Ive had the pope do that before, all the thousands lined up to take Constaninople by sea and then bam, no crusade and the pope is blockading me.

[OlafTheBrave]

I am starting to suspect that Piety DOES effect the Pope and his relationship with you. In my current French GA campaign since I took the 3 costal crusade provinces and had maxed out stats he has been real chummy. Italy and teh HRE have started wars with me and he has stayed allied to me. Also when the HRE attacked I retalliated and took Lorraine and Burgundy. I didn't even get a warning. I did not count up provinces but since I also hold England in addition to the outreamer provinces I suspect I was at the 2 to 1 point.

[Ash]

Does the Piety bonus apply to a King who is not participating in the crusade himself?

[OlafTheBrave]

The King does not have to be in the crusade. I would highly advise against putting your King in a crusade as that can count towards being cut off plus I have heard that hiers that come of age do not appear until the crusade is resolved. Also note that the 2 piety increase was for the GA crusade goal provinces. I will be using some latter against other provinces and will have to see if there is a difference in the effect.

[lugh]

Ok another question then. If you put the King in the crusade, can it dissolve. This would effectively kill your King wouldnt it?
Ive had heirs in the crusades before to no ill effect.

What do you mean when a king in a crusade can "count towards being cut off" Olaf?

[Ludens]

What do you mean when a king in a crusade can "count towards being cut off" Olaf?

If provinces do not have direct contact with the King they tend to have low loyalty, because they do not benefit from the King's influence. Sending your King on crusade can result in him being cut of from his entire kingdom, making all those provinces are likely to rebel. This can cause a chain revolt, ruining your kingdom, not to mention your game.

Piety can be gained by having your heirs stay in high zeal provinces. Inquisitors can be used increase zeal, though do take care that they do not spin out of control. Also, trying your generals for heresy with an inquisitor usually gains a piety-virtue. There is, however, a risk that they become atheists as a result of the trail, which dramatically lowers piety. Crusades are off course the best way to increase your King's piety, though they do need to be completed before the heirs come of age for it to have effect on the heir's stats.

[mfberg]

Take your king on the crusade! Take all your troops on your crusade to Volga-Bulgaria and leave no garrisons. Let the rest of your provinces rot. The challenge is to start with your troops in the backwoods of Russia and make a new kingdom for yourself. After all your rebellions you will have no income until you take a few decent lands, low influence, decent piety, and the Mongols (if you choose the Volga-Bulgaria Region as your new homeland) will make things a little harder when they come with armies much larger than yours.

mfberg

[IrishMike]

Another thing that I have found to help is just spam churches or mosque into all your provinces. Then go on a world wide conversion quest. I did this with the eggy's once. Had Kings with 5-7 piety regulary. Crusades do help to, but i'm not to big of a crusade fan unless I put the troops in the Crusades.

[Hold Steady]

Take your king on the crusade! Take all your troops on your crusade to Volga-Bulgaria and leave no garrisons. Let the rest of your provinces rot. The challenge is to start with your troops in the backwoods of Russia and make a new kingdom for yourself. After all your rebellions you will have no income until you take a few decent lands, low influence, decent piety, and the Mongols (if you choose the Volga-Bulgaria Region as your new homeland) will make things a little harder when they come with armies much larger than yours.

mfberg

Yeah, plan to get there, say, 1228!