Count Aldgisl of Ostfriesland is a member of House Folcwalding, who were the kings of Frisia until the Frankish kings took over the region around 734. By 769, the Frisians only maintain control of one county, but the dynasty is still prestigious in its own right.



Aldgisl is actually descended from the Radbod, King of the Frisians, who (according to legend) refused to be baptised after he learned that he would not see his ancestors in Heaven, saying that he would rather be with them in Hell.


Unfortunately, this will not be a Germanic reformation run in honor of Radbod, partially because that is too difficult seeing as Aldgisl is already feudal and Catholic, and partially because that's not cheesy enough for me. If that's the guide you're looking for, sorry to disappoint, but I hope you'll read on because I put a lot of work into this for some reason and I'm sure you'll learn something.

We're starting out as Count Aldgisl of Ostfriesland. He's the only Frisian character in the 769 start, surrounded by pagan Saxony on one side and the imposing Karl Karling on the other.



His stats and education are randomised, so we're going to have to reload until Charlemagne likes us. It's helpful to have high state diplomacy, as well as the traits zealous and diligent since Charlie always has those two. He has to have an opinion of at least 7 or 8 to be willing to form an alliance.



Now that we have that out of the way, first thing's first: Let's get this guy a better beard and haircut.



Choose business focus since it's overpowered in the early game, and choose "build a war chest" for your ambition since we'll be able to fulfill it in a couple years.



Give your kinsman thrift focus since it's the best childhood focus. It has the least amount of negative outcomes and can branch out into almost any education. If you really want to go martial, choose struggle, but otherwise choose thrift. For more info on conclave education, go to the CK2 wiki: https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Education_(Conclave)



Do the usual assigning of positions such as regent and court physician.



You probably want to start collecting taxes in your capital, as well as converting Ostfriesland to Catholicism.



Now for the important part. Request a betrothal to Princess Gisela of Francia. She's Charlie and Karloman's sister, and she's the ticket to our alliance with the Karlings.



At this point, set the game speed to somewhere in the middle and unpause the game.

Now that we've sent off the betrothal request, it should only take a few days for Charlie to respond. As soon as he does, ask him for an alliance.



Since she's also Karloman's sister, you can also ask him for a non-aggression pact and then an alliance. Don't worry if he doesn't accept, 99% of the time that mother♥♥♥♥er is dead after 2 years anyway.



As soon as Charlie responds, it's time to start demanding tribute. Start with the nearby Count Geir of Rygjafykli.



Jade Dragon added the ability for rulers to immediately surrender in tribute wars. Since you are feudal and have decent levies as well as powerful allies to the south, these pathetic tribal rulers will almost always give up without a fight.

Edit: WIth the most recent update, 2.8.1, Paradox has made it less likely for rulers to imediately surrender, but you should still be able to easily snowball with your superior feudal leviesand allies to the South. Just be wary of unexpected Saxon attacks.



Your reach for tribute wars is two sea zones, which includes rivers (this will be relevant later). For now, go north picking up all the weak rulers on the Norwegian coast.



Once that's done, start working your way to the larger tribal rulers. If they put up a fight, call to arms all your tributaries and let them do all the work. One thing: DO NOT MAKE SAXONY A TRIBUTARY. We will deal with them later.



If you get called to arms by Charlie or one of your tributaries, you should accept or you will lose the ally/tributary. You don't have to actually help them win, you just have to join superficially. However, once Saxony is defeated you won't want to be in any wars, so choose your wars carefully.



If you get attacked by a zealous Saxon vassal, raising your levies and standing in your capital should buy enough time for Karl and your tributaries to come and crush the pagans. Remember, you only have one county; if it falls, you lose automatically. Take out a loan from the jews and hire mercenaries if you need to, but don't dismiss them because we're going to need them later.



If you get the opportunity to go on a business venture or debase coins, make sure to do so. Just don't waste all you money investing in ♥♥♥♥ty businesses.



Once you have enough gold and tributaries, it's time to go to war with Saxony.

Declare a Holy War for Brunswick on Saxony.



Call everyone to arms, including Charlie (and Karloman, if he's still alive).



At this point, you want to take out a loan from the Jews if you haven't already. This will fulfill your "build a war chest" ambition. Choose "groom an heir" next. Your son is probably getting up in age, and you're probably never going to be King of Frisia. At least not with this character.



Hire one of the 150g mercenary groups, and try to attack the Saxon tribes before they can join up fully while also trying to join with your allies. Using your mercenary stack + your demesne troops, you can guide your allies to where they need to go and also siege down counties faster. Be careful not to let the Saxons siege down your sole county. Remember, tribal levies are mainly light infantry, so you will win in an even fight. One by one, the Saxons disband or die where they stand.



Once you've got the warscore to 100%, enforce your demands and take over the county. Dismiss your levies, but leave the mercenaries up for now. Once you're done getting tributaries, you can dismiss them if they're costing too much money,



Create new temple vassals in Braunschweig and Osnabrück. These will grant you 30 piety each.



At this point, there's a couple more potential tributaries you can access further down the Elbe River. If you don't have enough tributaries/piety at this point, or if you are stuck in a long war, you can try holy warring for Brennaburg to the east. Be careful though: Slavic rulers will all come to the aid of Brennaburg, and if its owner is too powerful then the Slavic Pagans will crush all your allies before you can take it.



Once all your wars are wrapped up, it's time to look to the south.

At this point, you might be thinking, "Why did I just take over all that land? It's tribal, it's useless to me. I can't raise any levies, I can't get any taxes, it's useless." Actually, it does have a major use. Giving it all to the Pope. You get 50 piety for every county you give to him, and his opinion of you goes up by 50 each time. Create the Duchy of Brunswick if you want, then start forking the land over.



By the end, you should have over 500 piety and the Pope should love you. If you don't have enough piety, you can also buy an indulgence in the decisions menu.



For some reason, in the latest patch the Pope is pretty excommunication happy, and he always hates the King of Lombardy since the guy owns the county of Orvieto. However, even if old Desiderius isn't excommunicated, you should probably be fine.



Request an invasion on the poor sap.



The Pope will gladly give it to you (if he doesn't, guess your run is over. Oh whoops, my game crashed).



Declare war on Lombardy, pressing the claim the Pope gave you. Call in all you allies and watch as they tear the Kingdom to shreds. At the end, you will personally usurp all occupied territory, so let the war go on for as long as you dare and then enforce demands.



Congratulations, you are the new King of Lombardy.

You will inherit some Lombard vassals who are a little upset because 1) You just usurped the Kingdom, 2) You have not been ruling it for long, and 3) You are a foreigner.



If you want to be boring, you can move your capital into Italy and switch culture to Lombard or Italian, but I prefer to stay Frisian. You can fill the Kingdom with some Frisian vassals by summoning them through the "Invite Noble" or "Invite Holy Man" decisions. These men can be used to fill up the counties you occupied in the war.



Just be careful not to occupy too much territory, because these counties will have a modifier that makes them lose all levies and taxes.



One protip for vassal management: Create an Antipope and excommunicate unruly vassals. First, change the law to Free Investiture.



Next, find a bishop who likes you more than the Pope and make them an Antipope.



Now, you can have your Antipope excommunicate anyone in your realm at your behest.



Once they are excommunicated, you can throw them in jail as many times as you want until they rebel. Beat them in the war, revoke their titles, and give them to someone more worthy (or more Frisian).



Unless you changed culture to Lombard, the kingdom will flip to Italy, marking the start of a new era.

Now that you've taken over Italy and reformed it into a kingdom filled with loyal vassals and fellow Frisians, you can look outward to further conquests. Maybe you will help Charlemagne form Francia, and then press your wife's claim on his empire. Maybe you will swear fealty to the Byzantines and take them over from within. Maybe you will look towards Hispania, trying out the new Great Conquest casus belli on Andalusia. Maybe you will go south, building boats and fighting for control of Africa. Maybe you will look east, winning glory for Christendom against the Slavic Pagans. Or perhaps all of this, and more. The possibilities are nearly endless.

If you wish to get rid of your antipope, while simultaneously getting a real Pope who loves you, you can press your antipope's claim and siege down Rome easily and quickly. After all, you are the King of Italy. If you're an Emperor when you press the claim, you get a vassal Pope, which functions just like an antipope... except it's the real deal.

Who knows what you can accomplish in the next 100 years.



Any errors? Typos? Questions? Things I should add, or make more clear? Testimony from actually attempting this guide? Please let me know in the comments.