Quote Originally Posted by manbaps
Doesnt influence affect loyalty of generals though? And influence is pretty much determined by how many provinces are taken whilst the ruler is ruling. And poor loyalty lead to civil war. So a ruler does need high influence, other than that it doesnt really matter.
Yes, but influence also depends on the strength of your army (you can have high influence even with little in the way of territory if you have a huge and powerful army) and battle results can change it short-term - losing a battle can cost you influence, I´ve had it happen that a simple skirmish against some rebels that went awry set off a civil war. That´s a border case, of course, but it can happen.
Crusades also determine influence, a sucessfull one can catapult you up in the world, while a failed one can break your neck.