The Lordship of Montferrat was historically held by the House of Aleramici, and a March until all but very recently. In the early 1300's the last of them passed away and the Roman imperial house of Palaiologos inherited the land, title, and city. An early alliance with the naval and economic power of Genoa would ensure that the Palaiologos, nominally foreigners, would hold their new land, and following a string of battles, and conversion to Roman Catholicism find themselves as uncontested.

While the Palaiologos of Byzantium have faded away in the face of Ottoman ascendence, the Palaiologos-Montferrat branch house has earned itself a place as respected within the heart of Italy. Respect and imperial heritage made the branch house attractive for marriages which included an Heir to Byzantium, and the favour of a Pope, it also brought several marriages to the House of Savoy. A closeness between the large territories of North-West Italy had been formed by the mid 1400's. In the late 1400's on account of proximity to trade, the March entered a period of pro-French economic policies; thus when the Italian Wars broke out the March quickly turned to support French rulership.

William IX came to be the Marquis in 1494 at the age of nine, now in 1509 at twenty-four he sits as a reduced Lord Montferrat following the sale of vast swaths of his land to the King of France. This came as the result of a disastrous attempted reclamation of his ancestral rights on Genoa and the collapse of the League of Piedmont. Though the League was impressive, the treacheroury of the regent of Savoy to withdraw her men, the interception of the forces of Sienna, and collapse of the French war effort in Lombardy all managed to mean the attack on Genoa was a total failure; and of course no fault of Williams.

While Montferrat is technically now a vassal of the French, there is opportunity for a young Lord with dreams of seeing his family rise to the hights of their ancestors. William is married to a French princess, and holds special place as a strong friend of the King of France, or so he believes. With a little push, and a lot of money, there may yet be a chance to capture Genoa and rebuild the legacy of his illustrious family.

I've been playing this game, rather poorly, since early 2015. This run here is easily the closest I have come to a WC, and if I didn't have other goals in mind I probably could've managed it. Without further ado, I present to you all Demitrios II Palaiologos, Basileus of East, West, and North Rome, Autokrator of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, and protector of the one Orthodox faith. I didn't think I'd be doing an AAR or anything of the sort, so my dates below will all be rough.

The gimmick to this run is I actually started as the Ottomans and, after conquering the Byzantines, released them as well as a few other vassals. Definitely made the beginning of the game easier than it aught to have been, but I feel no shame.

You can tell here where I integrated vassals, as I kept their cultures. The Lydian Greeks were actually the very last to be converted, as that genocide was purely for RP. The real shame is how useless the Greek Cultural Union is, even if Trebizond did its own Armenian genocide (tbh not sure why, they only had like two cultures to accept).

Pentarchy restored ~ 1540, though without perfectly contiguous borders. This was just in time to flip most of Europe to Orthodox before the Protestant Revolution could get massively under way; however the larger Orthodox princes joined the Protestant League nonetheless and so I ended up joining the Catholics to ensure a Westphalia. East Rome reassumed the Emperorship of West Rome circa 1610 and gameplay soon became closer to a typical Austria game.

Becoming Emperor without joining the HRE might make elections more difficult, but it makes it easier to splinter the empire into tiny princes

The larger states in the Empire were the classic "get their de jure capital into the Empire, return it to them, and then take their new capital so they revert" maneuver. Using vassal princes makes this slightly trickier, but it only took three wars to get a full Great Britain locked into the Empire in the mid-late 1600's. The smaller states, like what's left of France and Spain, were the simpler "Vassal feed, annex, and then release provinces one at a time." Prestige was very low for a while there. I had to No-CB Great Britain further down the line to rel

^(July-August 1503)

From Palaiologos to Grimaldi, Monferrato to Monaco

The Palazzo Ducale was a storm of written corrospondence with William in residence, and boys of the wealthy merchant families ran errands back and forth from the Viceroy's office day and night until the smallest of hours. The Viceroy earned a reputation for consuming so much ink, one jest through the Palazzo was that could he, he would have drunk it.

This day a letter went out baring both the crest of Genoa herself, and that of House Palaiologos, and it stormed westward on horseback.

>To the Lord of Monaco Jean II Grimaldi.
>
>It has been brought to my attention that you have a daughter who is yet unbetrothed and is of wedding age. My brother Jean-George is fifteen and unwed; currently he acts as Papal Ward to Pope Alexander himself. He is educated in the faith and administration from the finest scholars in Rome, and in warfare by the Count of Valentinois, the Sword of God himself.
>
>I should like to propose a betrothal between your Marie and my Jean, for wedding as soon as this disagreement between France and the Empire is concluded.
>
>Please let me know soonest your reply, and terms for dowry can be established.
>
>William IX Palaiologos, the Marquis of Montferrat and Governor of Genoa La Superba

I would like to claim the young Marquis William IX of the Palaiologos dynasty (coming from the Piedmontese branch in northern Italy) and thus, by extension, the March of Montferrat. Though nominally neutral in the ongoing Italian Wars, the Marquis is closely aligned with the French King Louis XII to offset potential Milanese influence and aggression.

France funny enough allied me, not the other way around. We recently just beat the shit out of Tuscany, most of the HRE, and Spain. I had built up more than 90 favors. Their king had no heir, so I used 90 favors to put my heir on their throne, and now a new Royal Marriage has placed a second person of the Palaiologos dynasty as their heir in addition to their king being my dynasty.

How do I go from here to a Personal Union? Or is it already one at this point? This is one mechanic I do not yet fully understand and the guides online are not helping.

May-June 1502, Montferrat

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The March of Montferrat was historically held by the House of Aleramici but in the early 1300's the last of them passed away and the Roman imperial house of Palaiologos inherited the land, title, and city. An early alliance with the naval and economic power of Genoa would ensure that the Palaiologos, nominally foreigners, would hold their new land, and following a string of battles, and conversion to Roman Catholicism find themselves as uncontested.

While the Palaiologos of Byzantium have faded away in the face of Ottoman ascendence, the Palaiologos-Montferrat branch house has earned itself a place as respected within the heart of Italy. Respect and imperial heritage made the branch house attractive for marriages which included an Heir to Byzantium, and the favour of a Pope, it also brought several marriages to the House of Savoy. A closeness between the large territories of North-West Italy had been formed by the mid 1400's. In the late 1400's on account of proximity to trade, the March entered a period of pro-French economic policies; thus when the Italian Wars broke out the March quickly turned to support French rulership.

William IX came to be the Marquis in 1494 at the age of nine, now in 1502 at sixteen he sits as Marquis without regent. Marriage is in the works for the young Marquis and with marriage comes a mind to sons and heirs. William will need to act fast, and think faster if he is to secure a marriage that can bring an alliance to secure Montferrat in the wars to come. The immediate threat is Saluzzo, and to a degree the House of Savoy with their several claims and military strength. Culturally William will need to decide if he is going to continue the Latinization of his father, or turn more to a restoration of Roman culture. On the back of Ottomman victory in Maximillian's Crusade, this question looms larger than ever before.

While Montferrat is technically neutral in the Italian wars, there is opportunity for a young Marquis with dreams of seeing his family rise to the hights of their ancestors. Where many young men turn to Alexander the Great, Hercules, or Caesar for inspiration, William finds himself drawn to Alexios Komnenos, the brilliant administrator and stabiliser of an Empire on decline. If William is to match his hero, he will need to find a way to raise the Palaiologos from their small Italian holdings and onto land far grander, and far more lucrative.