A message is posted in the Diet for all to see:

"Due to the capital of the Reich being moved to Rome, deliberations will no longer take place in Frankfurt. Kindly make your way to the old Senate building in the Eternal City if you wish to partake in discussions."

Kaiser Heinrich:

Welcome, Good Electors, to Rome! I figured that since this is the Holy Roman Empire we should have our esteemed deliberations in this great city! History is all around us here... wow, I can still see a few red marks on the floor from when those two clerks were killed. But there are more important matters to be discussed than the glory of civilizations long past.

I am pleased to announce that Antipope Gregory's reign of terror is over, at long last!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


With it came the reconciliation of Sicily and Milan...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


...and thus the cancellation of the crusade to Tunis.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


It seems that due to all the excitement and pressure of being a Preferati, the Milanese cardinal and favorite to ascend to the Papacy, Evio the Warmonger, has succumbed to a sudden heart attack. Oddly enough, the garrison of Milan was around when it happened and reported it to me directly, instead of waiting for Chancellor Mandorf. Oh well. At least now Otterbach is only one away from being a Preferati.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


However, we have not yet been reconciled, and I am aware that this may concern some Electors that fear for my soul, as well as the Reich's. Therefore, I am hereby calling an emergency session of the Diet to address this concern.

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I do have a strategy in mind to combat this. I have decided to allow the College of Cardinals to retain the rights to elect a Pope, at least for now. I accept that I will have to deal with the concept of the preferati. However, my influence in selecting the new Pope will remain great.

I am putting all of my backing behind the esteemed Cardinal from Portugal in the upcoming election. He is quite old, as you know, older than Antipope Gregory was or I am. His Papacy will be a short one, and when he dies, Otterbach will ascend to the Preferati, where... erm... he will promptly be elected to Pope.

However, this may not be enough to sway some Electors. Since the crusade on Tunis has been cancelled, we will now undergo the specific waiting period until a new one may be called. Since Otterbach will surely be Pope when this period expires, we shall be able to use our good standing with... him to call a new one towards a specific target, any target we have in mind. Once this crusade is called, we will join up, and you Electors can all save your souls that I have put in danger.

If successfully taken, I propose that this new target (probably Jerusalem) be the new, permanent home of the Papacy. Meanwhile, we will conquer another territory in the Holy Land and establish a permanent base there.

This session of the Diet is only for discussing this proposal as well as ones related to the prospect of a new Crusade. Edicts that do not pertain will be ignored and left off the list. The normal Session in 1160 will have ample time to do so. This session will last for two days with a voting period of one day. Discussion begins now.

*bangs gavel*