mzf

I think it's not the case for "so much female protagonism", but the queen skills should have some wheight when the king is absent (in crusades, long wars, trading etc.). If she have enough authority she could be the regent if the heirs are still babies when the king dies and so on. Royal weddings are already a great diplomatic tool in KOH, there is no doubt that female characters could be better used as diplomatic emissaries (specially if they are originated from other royal families) or spies.

This is a very good issue. The Royal Court would normally "come with the land", and the king should choose his advisors between many noblemen, merchants, generals etc. If we could have a list with their talents (like the royal family) and characteristics (like the foreign kings descriptions on the Poltical View), it would be more realistic and much more interesting. They should also come to age and eventually die or retire, and we could have the option to dismiss or arrest them, not just exiling - exile should be kept as punishment, but a exiled cleric or marshall could very well become a rebel or a bandit (this distinction should be noteworthy too), taking their troops with them. To hire lesser-knights (off the Royal Court limits) as town-marshalls (with smaller armies), emissaries (below Dimplomats), scouts (below Spies, but able to look out other territories), province traders (below kingdom Merchants) would be very good too. Another big issue is the role of female characters. Regent and Mother Queens were always very important , and their skills should be considered in the absence of the kings, not to mention when the queen is the real ruler (this should be an option too!), and, of course, legendary warriors like Jeanne d'Arc and Matilda di Canossa (both queen and warrior).

This would be very good. Even better if you could hire lesser-knights (not on the royal court and of course with minor wages) as town-marshalls or garrison chiefs with smaller armies (the six army-units of town garrisons), so they can help to protect the province from plundering and stop rebellions (or steal the castle and open the town gates when bribed or hired as spies). These smaller armies could be limited to the province area, so they don't chase an enemy army in other provinces or go looting somewere else, and a good town-marshall could be promoted to the royal court as an officer.

You could do that with Gibraltar, Azores and Iceland. If the province components are dynamic, would be nice to be able to build settlements, coast villages and small fortress in some islands and other places - Madeira island and the coast of Greenland, for exemple. River navigation (at least in the major rivers) is a historical missing point in the game. Building boat units would be very good too - warships, trade cogs, fishing and whaling ships. This could be a very expensive trade good between kingdoms, and if you don't have a ship builder (or if you are running away of an enemy army to the nearest coastal village) you colud buy or hire one.