A title is essentially a certificate of land ownership, decreeing which characters own a certain place. Each title has a rank and a unique coat of arms. Certain titles can change name based on the culture of the character holding it. All titles can be renamed by their holder.
Primary title
The Primary title is the highest title of a character and determines the Realm's Color and coat of arms. If a character owns multiple titles of the same highest rank, they can freely choose which one is the Primary title.
De jure
De Jure, meaning "by law", means that a title historically covered certain lower Rank titles. A character who owns a title always has a Casus Belli to seize the De Jure titles covered by it.
If a Count's Liege does not hold the Duchy title that covers the Vassal's Primary title or a Duke's Liege does not hold either the Kingdom or the Empire title that covers the Vassal's Primary title, the Vassal will give less 
Taxes and 
Levies and have -5 
Opinion of the Liege.
If a ruler completely controls a Duchy and owns a Kingdom title other than the one the Duchy De Jure belongs to, or if a ruler completely controls a Kingdom and owns an Empire title other than the one the Kingdom De Jure belongs to, then the said Duchy or Kingdom will slowly become De Jure part of the character's Primary title. The process can be sped up by using the Chancellor task Integrate title.
Any ducal or kingdom title can be created by a character who controls at least 51% of its De Jure Counties as long as they hold either two titles of lower Rank or one title of equal or higher Rank; empire titles require at least 81% of their De Jure Counties. In the Region of Europe, AI characters will only create Kingdom titles if they have certain cultures.
The Duchy, Kingdom and Empire map modes will show all De Jure titles.
Usurpation
If a character is holding more than 50% of the De Jure Counties of a title held by a Ruler of the same Faith or a Faith which is not considered Hostile or Evil, then the character can Usurp the title. If the holder's Faith is considered Hostile or Evil, then Usurpation requires the character to hold all De Jure territory of a title.
If a character is a Vassal, they cannot Usurp a title belonging to the Liege, nor can they Usurp one that has the same Rank or higher than the Liege's Primary title.
Title rank
Each title has a Rank, which determines what bonuses it grants. Barons can never be independent or playable.
| Rank |  Prestige per title
|
 Domain Limit
|
 Knights
|
Regiments
|
 Vassal Limit
|
 Scheme resistance
|
Opinion if granted
|
Creation / Usurpation cost (for feudal/ clan)
|
Destroy cost
|
Create reward
|
title succession law removal cost
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Barony
|
0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 | Always present | Cannot be destroyed | Always present | Cannot have title Succession Laws |
 County
|
+0.1 | +2 | +5 | +2 | 0 | +4 | +40 | Always present | Cannot be destroyed | Always present | Cannot have title Succession Laws |
 Duchy
|
+0.2 | +2 | +6 | +3 | +20 | +8 | +60 | 250 | 400 | 300 | 375 |
 Kingdom
|
+0.8 | +3 | +7 | +4 | +40 | +16 | +80 | 500 | 800 | 400 | 1000 |
 Empire
|
+1.6 | +4 | +8 | +5 | +60 | +32 | +100 | 1000 | 1200 | 500 | 1500 |
Claims
A Claim represents a character's legal right to obtain a title which is not theirs and allows the creation of a Claimant Faction. If the title belongs to a Vassal, the Claim allows the Liege to revoke the claimed title without incurring Tyranny. Otherwise, a Claim provide a Casus Belli to gain the claimed title through war. Alternatively, if the title belongs to the Liege and the government is Tribal, the claimant Vassal can use the Challenge the Ruler decision. Claims can be Pressed or Unpressed.
Pressed Claims are inherited by the character's Primary Heir as Unpressed
Unpressed Claims are not inherited by the character's Primary Heir but can become Pressed if they are used for a Casus Belli and the war ends in White Peace
Implicit Claims are given to all children of a character on its titles and will become Pressed if the character dies and the child does not inherit the title
Claims on landed titles can be obtained the following ways:
- Using the Fabricate Claim on County councilor interaction will provide an Unpressed Claim on the targeted County and if the Court Chaplain has high
Learning there is a 20% chance of gaining a Claim on the County's de jure Duchy instead. - A Dynasty Head can use the Claim title interaction on Dynasty members to gain an Unpressed Claim on their Primary title.
- A character with the Sanction Loopholes perk can use the Buy Claim interaction to gain an Unpressed Claim on another character's Primary title at the following cost:
| title rank | Piety cost |
|---|---|
 County |
250 |
 Duchy |
500 |
 Kingdom |
1000 |
 Empire |
2000 |
Holding too many titles
If a character is a Count or Duke, they can hold a maximum of 30 County titles without penalties. Any County above the limit reduces the character's Gold income by -10%. However, characters are further limited by their Domain Limit, which is usually much lower.
If a character is a King or Emperor, they can hold a maximum of 2 Duchy titles without penalties. Any Duchy above the limit reduces the Opinion of all Vassals by -15.
Titular titles
Titular titles can only be obtained in special circumstances and are not part of the de jure hierarchy.
| title | Rank | Capital | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Papacy | Kingdom
|
Rome |  Catholicism Head of Faith
|
| The Ecumenical Patriarchate | Kingdom
|
Constantinople |  Orthodoxy Head of Faith
|
| Archduchy of Austria | Kingdom
|
Vienna |  Form Archduchy of Austria decision
|
| Switzerland | Kingdom
|
Bern | Form the Swiss Confederation decision
|
| Kingdom of the Danelaw | Kingdom
|
Eoforwic | Restore the Danelaw decision
|
| Empire of Greater Armenia | Empire
|
Ani | Revive Greater Armenia decision
|
| Empire of Outremer | Empire
|
Jerusalem | Form the Outremer Empire decision
|
| Empire of Slavia | Empire
|
Kiev | Unite the Slavs decision
|
| The Roman Empire | Empire
|
Roma | Restore the Roman Empire decision
|
| The Mongol Empire | Empire
|
Karakorum | Become Greatest of Khans decision
|
| The Chagatai | Empire
|
Samarqand | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Ilkhanate | Empire
|
Tabriz | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Black Horde | Empire
|
Delhi | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Golden Horde | Empire
|
Karakorum | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The White Horde | Empire
|
Prague | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Aarlud Khanate | Empire
|
Roskilde | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Baruun Khanate | Empire
|
Alexandria | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
| The Tögsköl Khanate | Empire
|
Rome | Mongol Empire has at least 50 Realm Size and Great Khan's Primary Heir died
|
Every other Head of Faith also has its own Titular title, each one of Duchy tier.