Gods, Kings, and Historians: History and the Dual Diegesis of Crusader Kings in the Assemblage of Play

Abstract

Digital historical games, in their dual role as game and as history, serve as a source for shaping the historical understanding and consciousness of millions. This paper analyzes the diegetic complexity found within the historical title Crusader Kings III and situates it within a wider assemblage of historical play, bridging the gap between close readings of comparable titles and the increasing focus on the complex interactions between games, platforms, and the communities involved. It explores how the genre lineage of Crusader Kings supplies a pair of overlapping diegetic perspectives, each rooted in their own ideological framing, that provide a complex and multifaceted playground for historically-aware engagement, revision, and refutation of medieval historicity itself. The analytical approach applied here has implications not just for public history, but for the wider study of history, digital cultures, and the multimodal gameplay enabled by complex affordances.