Overview
The Papacy is the Pope's title in Rome. In the game files it is a kingdom-tier title, k_papal_state, held under a theocratic government. Its holder is the Christian head of faith. Nicholas I holds it on 1 January 867. Alexander II holds it on 15 September 1066. Alexander III holds it on 1 October 1178.
Until By God Alone the Pope was a ruler you dealt with, not one you played. The expansion came out on 30 Sep 2026. Its store page and release announcement name playable theocracies, led by an archbishop or by the Pope himself, and say the Papacy has its own resources of power and wealth. The Pope appoints cardinals across Christendom, and the College of Cardinals elects the next Pope. Patch 1.20.1.2 seats 55 cardinal titles in Rome and caps a faith at 70 cardinals.
The Pope who holds the title at the bookmark starts with the Papal Tiara when Royal Court is active. Excommunication is the Pope's sharpest tool against a Christian ruler, and patch 1.20.0 reworked it. An excommunicated character cannot be made a cardinal.
Starts
867
Nicholas I holds the Papacy on 1 January 867. The history file renames him Nicolaus at his election in 858 and ends his reign on 13 November 867, when it passes the title to Hadrian II. Nicholas spent the 860s opposing Lothair II's attempt to set aside Queen Teutberga. In 866 he answered the questions Boris of Bulgaria sent to Rome.
With By God Alone the 867 church is still one church. The store page puts the Great Schism between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy inside this start as something that can happen, not as a fixed split. The Fathers of the Faithful bookmark seats Boris, Rostislav of Great Moravia, and three prince-archbishops.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 867 |
| Bookmark | The Carolingians |
| Title | Lotharingia |
| Realm size | 50 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Difficulty | Medium, the bookmark rating in patch 1.20.1.2 |
| Culture | French |
| Faith | Chalcedonianism |
| Dynasty | Karling |
| Age | 31 |
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 867 |
| Bookmark | Fathers of the Faithful |
| Title | Bulgaria |
| Realm size | 68 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Difficulty | Medium, the bookmark rating in patch 1.20.1.2 |
| Culture | Bulgarian |
| Faith | Chalcedonianism |
| Age | 42 |
1066
Alexander II, born Anselmo, holds the Papacy. The file runs his reign from 1061 to 21 April 1073. The archdeacon Hildebrand followed him as Gregory VII. Robert Guiscard, the independent duke of Apulia on this bookmark, had been invested by Pope Nicholas II at Melfi in 1059.
Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire is still young. Canossa, the winter meeting of 1077 at Matilda of Tuscany's castle, is eleven years ahead. The quarrel between Henry and Gregory over church appointments is the Investiture Controversy.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1066 |
| Title | Holy Roman Empire |
| Realm size | 232 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Culture | Franconian |
| Faith | Catholicism |
| Dynasty | Salian |
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1066 |
| Bookmark | Rags to Riches |
| Title | Tuscany |
| Realm size | 15 counties |
| Status | Vassal of the Holy Roman Empire |
| Difficulty | Medium, the bookmark rating in patch 1.20.1.2 |
| Culture | Italian |
| Faith | Catholicism |
| Government | Feudal |
| Dynasty | Lucca, house Canossa |
| Age | 20 |
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1066 |
| Bookmark | Rags to Riches |
| Title | Apulia |
| Realm size | 10 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Difficulty | Medium, the bookmark rating in patch 1.20.1.2 |
| Culture | Norman |
| Faith | Catholicism |
| Dynasty | Hauteville |
| Age | 51 |
1178
Alexander III, born Orlando Bandinelli, holds the Papacy. He was elected in 1159 and spent most of the reign against antipopes backed by Frederick Barbarossa. The Lombard League beat the emperor at Legnano in 1176. At Venice in 1177 Barbarossa recognized Alexander. The Third Lateran Council meets in 1179. The file ends the reign on 30 August 1181.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1178 |
| Title | Holy Roman Empire |
| Realm size | 197 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Faith | Catholicism |
| Dynasty | Hohenstaufen |
Later impact
Nicholas I's claims over bishops and kings were the high point of the ninth-century papacy. The century after him was a low point. The By God Alone Christian Church situation calls one of its crisis chapters Saeculum Obscurum, the name later writers gave to the tenth-century papacy.
Alexander II's reign leads into the Gregorian reform and the fight with Henry IV. Silk & Silver, due 17 Nov 2026, adds a Guelphs and Ghibellines situation. Its first phase, Papal Resurgence, is the 1066 start, and Dictatus Papae comes around 1075. Guelphs back the Pope and the Italian cities. Ghibellines back the Holy Roman Empire.
Alexander III's peace with Barbarossa at Venice did not end the contest. Innocent III, elected on 8 January 1198, is the strongest pope of the next generation. The Silk & Silver bookmark for 1178, Guelphs & Ghibellines, opens on northern Italy after the Treaty of Venice.
Historical links
- Lothaire II · 867 · Lotharingia
- Boris of Bulgaria · 867 · Bulgaria
- Henry IV · 1066 · Holy Roman Empire
- Matilda of Tuscany · 1066 · Tuscany
- Robert Guiscard · 1066 · Apulia
- Frederick Barbarossa · 1178 · Holy Roman Empire
- By God Alone
- Faith and conversion
- Papal Tiara
- Excommunicated trait
- Cleric trait
- Theologian trait
- Holy Roman Empire
- Republic of Venice
All realms · theocracy · 867 · 1066 · 1178