Single Men - The Holy See MMU

[dharper]

gabor,

I've taken a number of the criticisms you made about the mod and fixed several things. It's too late for most of them to affect your game - the Reformation seems to be over, you've already had a schism, etc. - but you might still want to have the changes.

They seem to work fine with Magna Mundi Ultimate; I have tested them (but not extensively) and everything seems to work. They don't take advantage of Heir to the Throne's new capabilities, but they do add some more flavour to the game.

Here is the fix - just download and unzip into your MMU directory. Should be save-game compatible, but it's always a good idea to backup your files just in case - I certainly don't want to be the one who ends this AAR!

Change log:

New Systems (Major gameplay changes or event chains)​

​

- N/A

New Content (New events, countries and decisions)​

​

- A human Papal States now receives an event telling them about donations to the church via the "Dead Hand" event.
- The sponsor of a schism and/or the donor of land to a landless pope will now ask for it back once the Papal States is secure.

Tweaks (Changes to how events and decisions work)​

​

- If the Papal Sponsor is a country that was previously allied with the Papal States, its alliance with the pope will not necessarily end with that pope's death.
- Reformed Christianity is slightly more likely to spread, and slightly more likely to end up in historical spots
- Removed the limited protection the Imperial Demesne had from converting to Reformed since it was stopping the Netherlands from converting in most games
- Countries that convert to Catholicism are more likely to accept Jesuits in their realm (mostly to encourage force-converted countries to stay Catholic)
- Provincial decisions to send missionaries to convert a minority are now more likely to succeed

Bug fixes (Solving problems and complaints)​

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- Fixed the "seize control of curia" decision that resulted in two Papal Sponsors at the same time when the first was not allied to the Papal States at the time.
- Several religious decisions that are removed for very low religious fervor now also require moderate fervor to enact
- Prevented the Sikh event chain from spamming incessantly (thanks to several people during my absence, including Ese Khan, CJL78, Varning and Ampersand)
- The mod now understands when an event changes the religion of a province away from your state religion (although it is not perfect and will miss this happening in badly divided provinces).
- The "Christian Missionaries" event chain will now work properly (and differently) outside Europe.

Notes for modders (A list of modified events and decisions for modders to use when incorporating Dei Gratia's changes easily. * = new)​

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- Decisions: DG_Catholic (seize_control_of_curia)
- Decisions: DG_Religion (conventicle_act, superintendents)
- Decisions: DG_missionaries (convert_very_large_minority, convert_large_minority, convert_small_minority, convert_very_small_minority)
- Events: DG_Papacy (551635, 551646*, 551647*, 551648*, 551649*)
- Events: DG_Catholic (551012, 551022, 551031, 551032, 551061, 551062)
- Events: DG_Setup (591001, 591024) - note mentions province 202/Avignon
- Events: DG_Papal_Sponsor (551501, 551504, 551505)
- Events: DG_Reformation (2009, 2010)

 

[dharper]

Okay, I've finally caught up with you! One last post full of comments.

First of all...you didn't reform the church in the slightest until the 1620s?!?

Ahem. Moving on...

All the "Bonfire of the Vanities" events you're having? You're getting way more than normal because of two things: you have a very high religious fervor (from being the papacy and from your national ideas) and you had a state-sponsored inquisition. Those two combined make the event much more frequent - although they were never intended to convert a province by themselves. I'll have to fix that!

Giles I converted to Catholicism: the ‘apostasy event’, but the provs remain Protestant, I’m not sure I understand the purpose of this event

It's when a monarch comes to the throne who belongs to the previous state religion. It's based on many examples, but notably "Bloody" Mary I, who was raised as a Catholic, then became ruler of Protestant England. In effect, the ruler tries to re-establish the former state religion in the country and faces stiff resistance. If I remember properly, this can only happen to the first ruler who inherits after a country has converted - you're seeing it so much because countries are being force-converted in war.

it’s sad to see how little impact forced conversions have: first Austria, now France again sidetracks off the path of the righteous

This is one of the frequent criticisms of the mod. I've made some small changes that might help in this respect, but the further you get from the Reformation, the harder it's going to be to see any real changes.

I was taken aback by the arrival of a cardinal from the anti-Papacy (shouldn’t it be impossible?)

Yes, it should, but when I wrote Dei Gratia, In Nomine was the latest expansion, and I had to work with their rules. Heir to the Throne introduced papal influence, and I'm looking forward to fooling around with that - among other things, I'd like to simulate Italian influence in the Papacy, and northern Europe's exclusion.

And: Will the Teutonic Order remain as it is? It looks a bit inappropriate in the 17th century.

There are a variety of ways for the Order to secularize...the easiest one converting to Protestantism or Reformed. That's supposed to happen fairly often, but for some reason, it doesn't. Short of making it mandatory, it's hard to model.

I believe this is the kind of event you take no notice of unless you actualy play the Papacy. I've had a few of these jubilees so far and, funnily enough, they come with different effects.

A lot of my events come with differing effects depending on circumstance - for example, depending on whether you have a pious, secular or corrupt pope, or depending on the number of provinces you own, or depending on your monarch's stats. This helps to make the game more adaptable and adds replayability. The Jubilee mostly looks at your infamy to decide how seriously Christians celebrate the Jubilee.

 

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JacktheJumper:

I am very happy for Poland taking back what's theirs, and they are leading a union with Denmark? :huh: I must've missed this happening, or I just can't remember, my grip on the previous events is a bit shaky.

Sometimes, really sometimes AI acts smartly and not suicidally. This was the case. POL-DEN is a relatively fresh thing; at first I thought, 'WHAT?!' but than I realised POL-SWE was pretty close to becoming a historical fact, so maybe this union is not so strange.

I'm a bit surprised to see you still keep your desert lands in Levant, aren't they a rather big burden on your coffers and military?

Everything, save Cairo, is cored there, and converted: not such a big burden; so I'll pbly hold on to these lands.

Milites: Hangover? That must have been quite a party!

Athalcor: Chaos fun?! Shocked you were able to read AFTER the party!

aldriq: The Pope sucked, but I'm powerful enough so as not to be afraid of being torn apart even with such an inept ruler. Vassal events, and actually losing two of them, were the biggest losses during his reign. And yes, subsidies seem unbalanced/broken. (OE pose no real threat and yet half of Europe was willing to send me piles of money!)

loki100 This is not only this particular game. In many MMU runs I observe AI's, especially Austria's, mordid fascination with both Ragusa and Montenego. If one's powerful enough it can be quite exploit-ish. Play OE and put Ragusa in your SoI...

Chris Taylor:

Good riddance to vassal Ak Konyunlu; they have no way of getting big piles of troops to your European territories, and you aren't (I think) likely to continue expanding in Arabia or Asia; no point in keeping them around.

My only worry is they might be a door for the Muslims to re-invade Anatolia.

Speaking of which, I think Austria is fairly well contained

Believe me, Austria never is contained well enough.

morningSIDEr:

I had to smile at this but in all honesty the two didn't do too badly, certainly not as badly as I had feared! Whilst 'the Bumpkin' is a fitting title for Clemens he did nonetheless gain Cairo for the Papal States and also get the economy back on track alongside the more personal matter of promoting seemingly near every member of his family to a position of power!

Indeed, I actually think his was quite a successful reign. Let's say as long as he had a steady income and enough cushy posts for his vast family, he didn't interfere too much and let the things go with the flow. Perhaps, I should have role-played him a bit more, but you know, as a player, you want to do well and salvage your faction even in the worst circumstances. (Like a string of valorous Faruquis ruling one's land, especially if one of them suffers from parental-duties phobia )

Memento Mori:

I. Byzantophilia or not, moving the capital as soon as you have 5,000 ducats woukd be an increadibly smart move story-wise, if not gamewise.

Believe, I've been considering it for some time, quite seriously. But with the recent popes and a few ones to come there's been shift back to Europe in Papal policies, so dunne, for sure not yet. And the savings Clemens IX made will be spent very quickly.

II. Are the orphans dead (not the original ones of course...) and the pharos policy abandoned perpetually or untill the trouble in Europe stops?

Not quite, the Orphans sort of dissolved, there was another Greek Pope after all so their voices have been heard and they have reformed the Church, I see them as part of the mainstream now. Part of their legacy might be the growing Eastern party (those who, like you, suggest shifting the center/focus to the Esat. Yet there is another part of their legacy, the new Pharos policy; that is bringing the Truer Catholicism, purified through eastern/Greek experiences, back to Western Europe. I didn't go too deep into this, but I'd say this new 'Pharos policy' might be more 'conservative' in some aspects (social duties/structure, role of women, the importance of hierarchy) and yet more 'liberal' in others (slowly abandoning celibacy, accepting national languages and thus differencies of rite). I might get back to these issues with a shorter-ruling Pope.

III. Why so much hate for the converted Austria? After all, didn't the bible say "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent"? And on a more temporal level, wouldn't a strong power which keeps Bohemia in check be an asset, not a liability?

I have an - undeserved - opinion of a Habsburg hater on the forum. But Austria is asking for being spanked, through its unruly behaviour: attacks on the Catholic Ragusa It is the biggest trouble-maker in the region. Plus, it gets tons and tons of hidden help from the mod. Bohemia is much more valuable as an ally: distant enough -> few conflicting interests and it nicely sandwiches and checks Austria.

IV. I believe the only way to do forced conversions on larger countries is to repeat it as soon as they turn back to their evil ways. There is hope that each time a few provinces will be converted to the one true faith, and they won't have time to re-convert before they geting knocked out again. This is basically what happened in Austria with a good effect, after all.

And even if it may seem irritating and tedious, now I tend to think that's the way it should be. Force state-conversion shouldn't be easy. Let me ask you; are there any historical examples of such peace terms?

V. Nepotism FTW! Building strong local dynasties of cardinals will make it much harder for outside powers to controll you

You might see some nepotees play an important role in the future.

VI. You actually cheated to ensure a protestant emperor ?! :blink:

I did. The link to my discussion with CJL78 explains the rationale. But in short. Voting for a new Emperor takes place after the old one is dead. So Karl II Ludwig can cast two votes on himself (as the Margrave of the Palatinate and the King of Bohemia); Saxony is Protestant: third vote; the Bishop of Wurtzburg (newly created elector, Pope's nephew) owes his lands to Karl II Ludwig and his late brother (the late Emperor): fourth vote. So story-wise I saw it plausible.
Gampeplay-wise I wanted to shake up Europe a bit.

blsteen:

Still the turmoil continues in the Empire but nice to see that the Papacy still prospered.

Divine Providence.

CJL78:

Modena - finally going to expand a little bit in Italy, eh?

if you're going to do that, then Urbino must be destroyed

Poor Urbino... Funnily enough, it was annexed by the Pope at about that time, the pope which ruled more or less at the same time and as long as my incompetent Clemens IX.

all:
1) Thanks for commenting. Glad you haven't forgotten my aar. Belate sorry for the delay. I will try to update, but due to having so much on recently, updates may be sort of irregular.
2) I'll double post pbly, as I deem dharper, Dei Gratia creator, deserves a separate answer from me. (Let me have my family evening coffee first though )

 

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dharper:
Thank you profusely for your detailed replies. And a chance for a peek into the insides of the DG mod. A lot of stuff got clarified now. On a few I'll comment, pbly once again raising some questions.

No, that's intentional - it's how the Papal States got Avignon when you start in 1453. I could do something about it, but I had a hard time finding any information about Avignon - I'm not sure how France felt about it, or what steps they took to get it back, or how things might have been different had France not been going through the Hundred Years War at the time. Would they have asked for it back? Demanded it? Bought it back? Declared war to get it back? Would they have risked excommunication? Was it simply a lease that they could stop renewing at any time? I can't find out. I guess I could make it up...I do have some info:

Wiki implies France tired a few times to regain it but the problem was the Pope had the right (legal claim/core) and France did not. Still for gameplay reasons I think as long as it's Avignon, it should remain Papal after the schism gets healed; any other province should be returned to the anti-pope sponsor (or at least negotiated somehow).

I'm really enjoying this AAR. I love the pictures! I don't think I've seen an AAR which had such helpful in-game images highlighted and superimposed the way you do, and then combining them with period art - I'm blown away. I was thinking of writing another AAR myself, but I don't know if I can live up to that kind of example!

Thanks for the praise. Well, you're in for some disappointment: I grew lazy and less and less of period art in later updates. Please do write and aar! It would be great to read one written by someone with the inside knowledge and awarness how the mod elements in the game are working. Besides, another Honor of Lancaster, yes please!

That's a good point; I didn't foresee the possibility that a country allied to the Papal States naturally could become Papal Sponsor. I should be able to fix that, although it's unfortunately not as simple a fix as I'd like, but I ought to be able to do it in an hour or two.

Would be great if you could fix this.

As for councils, I figuered out how they work and where they take place as I played along.

As regards the Crusade, it really changed the fate of the war; but for the Emperor's engagement all I could've counted on would pbly be longwaiting Cyprus.

Still, how exactly the crusade works is cryptic; after all Austria white peaced with the OE. Odd. Didn't they (or did they?) obtain their goal? If it was Moravian Serbia why did Austria let OE go with white peace when it was clearly winning?

Why do you think the decision is imbalanced? I'm curious.

The revolter's forces depend on the population revolting. In Egypt's case, there must not have been many Orthodox Christians, but when the same event fires for France's Reformed Christians, it simulates a War of Religion pretty well. Actually, I'm curious to know whether it was an Oriental Orthodox uprising or an Eastern Orthodox uprising - if the former, it should have been bigger. Oh, well.

I don't remember, sorry. The thing is a number of 1k, 2k rebel groups can hardly wreak havoc. At times I saw 1k army besieging 2k garrison. How about supplementing these with instant takeover of a province (similar to ubik's noble opposition)? The way it is it seems to me not even rare but simply impossible for religious revolters to win (or even hurt badly, be sth more than a distractor; see Bohemia later on). Anyway, what was the intention behind these, just some provide with some extra trouble or to really threten with conversion / or forcing some concessions?

I just finished reading your account of the Reformation, and well, I just have to comment on some of the things that came up. Sorry if this takes away from the flow of the AAR in any way - I am absolutely stunned at its breadth and scope.

It did feel massive, but it imo ended up pretty much like in real life. Pbly both of these largely thanks to my involvement. France becoming Protestant was the biggest shock; but Catholic Denmark and Scotland may balance it out somehow.

* Countries near heathens are far more likely to remain Catholic. Ironically, by keeping the Ottoman Empire weak and far from Europe's heartland, you may have encouraged countries like Hungary or Austria to convert!

Felt it, my doing...

* One thing I did notice was a number of major excommunications in your game - both England and France, and more I can't recall. While simply excommunicating a ruler does not guarantee that country will convert, it can have an impact if it happens at a critical time. It's possible that this happened in your game.

Sweden was excommunicated too, for quite a long period of time at that. So yes again I might have affected the scope of the Reformation.

...But honestly, seeing the scope of the Reformation in your game, I think you ought to keep your expectations lower. Like, a lot lower. The big thing I notice (as of 1527) is that the Holy Roman Empire is in very real danger of becoming dominated by Protestantism. Although it's almost certainly too late for this advice to do you any good, I would focus on keeping the Electors Catholic - many are smaller states where being Force-converted (plus, perhaps, a lucky Jesuit event) could keep them Catholic, and having a majority of the electors Catholic will guarantee you a Catholic Emperor. Helius has put together some events that allow for a historical War of Religion in the empire, but even so - you'll want the emperor on your side if you have any hopes of containing Protestant France, or fighting northern Italy's Reformed states (ouch, by the way - pure bad luck).[/i]

Interestingly, in the end only two electors are Protestant: the Palatinate and Saxony. There was Helius's war of religion and the Protestants clearly won (I edited/cheated the peace terms though; plausibility: they did win on the battlefield but the way the game works Austria could've peaced out one after another and emerged triumphant), and forced the Emperor to convert and accept toleration. So both firts Protestant and later Catholic Austria are my doing; although I admit Austria was leaning towards Protestantism.

The thing with Jesuits is, would be great if with the policy of toleration in the HRE the Emperor did NOT send them to his demesne provinces.

You have to forgive me Mustafa I's conversion story. :wacko: But with Chrisitian soldierd holding a tight grip on Anatolia for a so many years, he might have considered it God's doing.

Large states are unlikely to convert their state religion right away - they recognize the costs involved with having many heretic provinces and choose to wait more often. The spread of Reformation always starts slow - the system is set up like a virus, where is spreads outwards from the source. It can take a while before you start to see countries joining in, but then - as you've seen - it begins to snowball. Very historical in that respect.

My worry is, like for a player, AI sees that it's safer to remain Catholic. You avoid internal turmoil, you don't lose your allies. This aared game is actually one of few whith such strong Reformation. E.g. I hardly ever see England turn Protestant - maybe due to the fact they tend to be Papal Sponsor. Also if/when the Netherlands gets released it remains Catholic, even if a few of their provs are Protestant. And if these (or Denmark) remain Catholic, there's never any other bigger power to balance it out.

Curiouslu, you'll see that in this Papal States game, the whole of Portugal was Protestant and yet the AI did not convert; pbly partly thanks to the fact that the colonies (and Portugal has quite a few of those) were Catholic.

Your save game editing is perfectly understandable. The game doesn't always make sensible decisions, and it's entirely possible to end up losing your taste for a game when this happens too often. And, I have to admit, I'm guilty of it myself sometimes - I like the story more than I like the game.

Thanks for saying this. It's not that I edit to make my playthrough easier. After all, I did enforce Protestant princes terms in the HRE and minimalised the fragmentation of France.

Had the Jesuits been founded when England became Catholic? I'm curious, for the sake of balancing events, to know.

No idea. Oh I wish you'd asked me back then.

Yes, a vanilla one. I like it, but it's unmoddable. It makes sense - you wouldn't want the Ottoman Empire to control the papacy, for example, yet there are games in which they occupy dozens of Catholic provinces. And, in cases like that, those bishops would be less inclined to play political games and more interested in the church. In theory, at least.

It does make sense indeed. Also, the Catholic Church had so many titulary patriarchs/archbishops of places long lost to either heathens or heretics.

It unlocks a number of events and decisions which can help the Catholics fight back against Protestantism. Among other things - I _really_ need to advertise this - you now have access to province decisions to send missionaries to neighbouring countries.

I've noticed these; but their effects seem negligible. A bit of revolt risk and proselitism modifier in the given province, right?

Not exactly intentional, but I don't mind this happening. It can only happen in cases of extremely pious nations with a variety of national ideas and decisions or advisors, and it's hardly unrealistic to assume that you have donations made by faithful worshippers interested in converting heretics and heathens.

Understood and accepted. I had tons of stuff to boost conversion (NIs, advisors, sliders, inquisition, etc).

Not a lot I can do about that, I don't think - but it might be possible to code something into it. I missed where the bastions were - London for one, and where for the other?

Again, I don't remember. But as long as the bastion of true faith is in an inaccessible prov, there's no way the heretics can win. And anyway their chances are slim against the regular troops.

First of all...you didn't reform the church in the slightest until the 1620s?!?

Ahem. Moving on...

Is that so bad...? :huh: Oh, you know I had either headstrong or lazy popes... and it costs stability...

All the "Bonfire of the Vanities" events you're having? You're getting way more than normal because of two things: you have a very high religious fervor (from being the papacy and from your national ideas) and you had a state-sponsored inquisition. Those two combined make the event much more frequent - although they were never intended to convert a province by themselves. I'll have to fix that!

Tone them down a bit only. I think picking the NIs and inquisition sort of entitle me to them. And I like them. And you know, they prevent me from... earning money from conversion.

It's when a monarch comes to the throne who belongs to the previous state religion. It's based on many examples, but notably "Bloody" Mary I, who was raised as a Catholic, then became ruler of Protestant England. In effect, the ruler tries to re-establish the former state religion in the country and faces stiff resistance. If I remember properly, this can only happen to the first ruler who inherits after a country has converted - you're seeing it so much because countries are being force-converted in war.

I get it now. What exactly the effect is. Shouldn't the Pope have at least something to say here?

This is one of the frequent criticisms of the mod. I've made some small changes that might help in this respect, but the further you get from the Reformation, the harder it's going to be to see any real changes.

I go back on my words. I had second thoughts really. Now I believe it should be damn hard to force-convert a country for good, actually I can't even think of a historical example. Later in the period it was more like protecting our creed ruled by a different-religion country; but even if the war was fought the scope was local (provinces or ruler) rather than affecting the whole country.

There are a variety of ways for the Order to secularize...the easiest one converting to Protestantism or Reformed. That's supposed to happen fairly often, but for some reason, it doesn't. Short of making it mandatory, it's hard to model.

I have one more gripe here. When Poland annexes the whole coast. There's an event like 'Pope and TO or sth' that fires. Poland either says we are the TO and keeps the land or... relents and frees the TO but gives it the whole coast, together with Danzig and Warmia, even though it has cores on these two provs. Dunno if it's part of Dei Gratia, but imo TO should only be given Ducal Prussia.

gabor,

I've taken a number of the criticisms you made about the mod and fixed several things. It's too late for most of them to affect your game - the Reformation seems to be over, you've already had a schism, etc. - but you might still want to have the changes.

Wow! I'm glad I could be of use. Thanks for the fixes. I was thinking of continuing this on CJL78's submod (if it's compatibile) and I believe he's intending to include your fixes. Well, even if not with this game I'm sure to play some others with your fixes. And I do like the changes!

Btw, there was also a discussion going on the MM forum about lowering the missionary chances so that OE, Venice and Lith don't convert their territiories in the first 50-70 years of the game. CJL78 came up with a prov modifier reducing the chances. How about severely reducing missionary chance/number for countries with HT, Ecumenism (let Bohemia keep its Hussites instead of expelling them) and maybe BoR and - to compensate - giving some other small bonus to these ideas? How about trade NIs having a small decrease in the missionary chance/number?

Once again BIG THANKS for your attention!

 

[Merrick Chance']

Maybe trade ideas should lower fervor, and subsequently Papal influence--it would balance out the usual strength of trading nations in the Papacy, and show the difference between the tolerance of, say, the Dutch, where it came out of wanting to trade with everyone, as opposed to other countries which had explicit tolerance policies.

Also it would make it less likely for the Papal States/Catholic city states to blitz the trading ideas, at least without having some other religious idea (specifically Patron of the Arts) to balance it out--it would give the player a historical motivation to take PotA, as I doubt most of the early Renaissance patrons became patrons in order to become more prestigious (a more modern motivation)--it came out of the guilt of having a ton of money that arose out of perjury

 

[dharper]

Wiki implies France tired a few times to regain it but the problem was the Pope had the right (legal claim/core) and France did not. Still for gameplay reasons I think as long as it's Avignon, it should remain Papal after the schism gets healed; any other province should be returned to the anti-pope sponsor (or at least negotiated somehow).

I've now coded a small event chain which allows the donor to ask for it back, although the odds of getting it back are low if you're not Papal Sponsor, and the event only fires once. It will only work with new donations, though, unless you want to edit your save game.

Still, how exactly the crusade works is cryptic; after all Austria white peaced with the OE. Odd. Didn't they (or did they?) obtain their goal? If it was Moravian Serbia why did Austria let OE go with white peace when it was clearly winning?

I wrote the crusades before In Nomine, I think, and even In Nomine doesn't let you do much with war, peace conditions or casus belli. Unfortunately, it's up to the whims of the AI - and I can't tell them to emphasize the province the way I can tell a human player. So it's really just a war against the aggressor and some free money and manpower for the defending country...I wish I could do more. Might be able to, with HttT's new CB/PO system, but I haven't figured it all out yet.

I don't remember, sorry. The thing is a number of 1k, 2k rebel groups can hardly wreak havoc. At times I saw 1k army besieging 2k garrison. How about supplementing these with instant takeover of a province (similar to ubik's noble opposition)? The way it is it seems to me not even rare but simply impossible for religious revolters to win (or even hurt badly, be sth more than a distractor; see Bohemia later on). Anyway, what was the intention behind these, just some provide with some extra trouble or to really threten with conversion / or forcing some concessions?

Depends on the minority. I meant it to be a major problem only when the player was doing something stupid, e.g. France's War of Religion. The rest of the time it should be a relatively small problem, but one that is notable (e.g. England's Pilgrimage of Grace) - nothing serious unless there's other problems going on at the time (civil war, foreign invasion, etc.).

It did feel massive, but it imo ended up pretty much like in real life. Pbly both of these largely thanks to my involvement. France becoming Protestant was the biggest shock; but Catholic Denmark and Scotland may balance it out somehow.

You misunderstood: the "breadth and scope" I mentioned were your AAAR. The Reformation in your game is large, but not unheard of.

The thing with Jesuits is, would be great if with the policy of toleration in the HRE the Emperor did NOT send them to his demesne provinces.

Doable - I tend to leave Helius to his own devices and me to mine, but there are times when the two interact. This is one.

My worry is, like for a player, AI sees that it's safer to remain Catholic. You avoid internal turmoil, you don't lose your allies. This aared game is actually one of few whith such strong Reformation. E.g. I hardly ever see England turn Protestant - maybe due to the fact they tend to be Papal Sponsor. Also if/when the Netherlands gets released it remains Catholic, even if a few of their provs are Protestant. And if these (or Denmark) remain Catholic, there's never any other bigger power to balance it out.

It's hard to script things so they're not deterministic yet still create historical results...that's always been an issue for me with the Reformation scripting, and I constantly tinker with it. As for countries converting - I have to script the AI's logic, and that's hard to do. I can only tell them "do it IF this is true" or "don't do it IF this is true" - I can't say "this aspect makes it more profitable to convert." So I have to script it such that the AI will convert when it's a good idea.

I've noticed these; but their effects seem negligible. A bit of revolt risk and proselitism modifier in the given province, right?

Yes, but behind the scenes, the proselytism modifier gives that province a small chance of converting every year.

Again, I don't remember. But as long as the bastion of true faith is in an inaccessible prov, there's no way the heretics can win. And anyway their chances are slim against the regular troops.

That's why I asked...again, I'm limited by the code. I can't tell the game to pick an ideal province, I have to tell it what to look for. I'm pretty certain the province can't be overseas and can't be a one-province island - I was hoping you could tell me what else I should be looking for.

I get it now. What exactly the effect is. Shouldn't the Pope have at least something to say here?

He didn't much, historically...

I have one more gripe here. When Poland annexes the whole coast. There's an event like 'Pope and TO or sth' that fires. Poland either says we are the TO and keeps the land or... relents and frees the TO but gives it the whole coast, together with Danzig and Warmia, even though it has cores on these two provs. Dunno if it's part of Dei Gratia, but imo TO should only be given Ducal Prussia.

Despite the fact that it mentions the pope and is part of Magna Mundi, it's not one of mine - I think it's Ubik's, designed to prevent the TO from disappearing in games. I find it a bit heavy-handed, myself, but keep in mind it's one of the older parts of the mod - and even in my own work, the older stuff is less adaptable and less sophisticated.

Wow! I'm glad I could be of use. Thanks for the fixes. I was thinking of continuing this on CJL78's submod (if it's compatibile) and I believe he's intending to include your fixes. Well, even if not with this game I'm sure to play some others with your fixes. And I do like the changes!

I've got more coming - the aforementioned donation grab-back, as well as a new system where the pope gets to approve new saints, both working and tested. I'm trying to finish up a new system for schisms - your account of it in the AAR made me realize how crude mine was.

Now, back to the AAR! Hint, hint.

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Merrick Chance':

Maybe trade ideas should lower fervor, and subsequently Papal influence (...) Also it would make it less likely for the Papal States/Catholic city states to blitz the trading ideas, at least without having some other religious idea (specifically Patron of the Arts) to balance it out--it would give the player a historical motivation to take PotA

Interesting ideas. But now I think they should be forwarded to the makers of the MMtheGame. ;-)

dharper:

I've now coded a small event chain which allows the donor to ask for it back, although the odds of getting it back are low if you're not Papal Sponsor, and the event only fires once. It will only work with new donations, though, unless you want to edit your save game.

Great. I pbly won't test it in this aar though.

Depends on the minority. I meant it to be a major problem only when the player was doing something stupid, e.g. France's War of Religion. The rest of the time it should be a relatively small problem, but one that is notable (e.g. England's Pilgrimage of Grace) - nothing serious unless there's other problems going on at the time (civil war, foreign invasion, etc.).

I get it. And I understant the reasons. Still, I'd make sure the rebel army is bigger than the garrison just to give them a chance.

Doable - I tend to leave Helius to his own devices and me to mine, but there are times when the two interact. This is one.

Well, your two systems will interact inevitably. I think in some areas the two of you should cooperate. There's little logic in the Emperor that tolerates all faiths (even if forced to) and yet outwardly imposes conversion. I do hope your joint efforts will shine in MMtheGame. You are on board with this project, aren't you?

Yes, but behind the scenes, the proselytism modifier gives that province a small chance of converting every year.

Didn't know that! Will have to use it more often then.

That's why I asked...again, I'm limited by the code. I can't tell the game to pick an ideal province, I have to tell it what to look for. I'm pretty certain the province can't be overseas and can't be a one-province island - I was hoping you could tell me what else I should be looking for.

I no longer have the saves. I just love your concept of War of Religion, it only seems to me the distribution of bastions might be a bit more 'logical'. I know it must be hard to determine the right provs will get the modifier. How about making sure one of them is the capital? And if it falls, an even might pop out opening a possibility of negotiations? If there's a tie between the sides, a long-term modifier hindering/preventing conversion?

a new system where the pope gets to approve new saints, both working and tested. I'm trying to finish up a new system for schisms - your account of it in the AAR made me realize how crude mine was.

All this sounds promising!

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Martinus VI​

15 August 1646 – 4 January 1648​

TRIUM VIRI​

Nephews​

Out of the numerous relations and protégés orphaned by Clemens IX his three Barberini nephews were the most influential; and they were determined to preserve their two-decade long wealth and power. The late Pope ensured his three nephews high profile positions: Frederico was a cardinal, Commander of the Papal Army and Bishop of Wurtzburg, Antionio 'the younger': a cardinal, Camerlengo and Archbishop of Mainz, and Tomasso: the Prince of Palestrina, married to the heiress of Ferrara. Yet they feared their power and fortune might be easily taken away from them. Despite Papal successes in Austria the Imperial forces were marching South from Modena, Tomasseo had to run away from Ferrara, as had done his brothers a while back when Imperial troops had encroached on their German sees.

Now in Rome, they had to act swiftly, before incentives from far-away East, Levant or Spain could arrive and shift the balance in the conclave. The wavering, fractured college, intimidated by both the nephews’ insistence and the fear of advancing Imperials, favourably received the nomination of Antonio Berberini ‘the older’, brother of the late Clemens IX. In barely ten days he was elected and took office as Martinus VI. This choice was rather well welcomed. It seemed to epitomise the idea of continuity and stability, extremely important at the time of such uncertainty, caused by the grand shift of alliances. Rome, admittedly having asked for this trouble itself, was fighting a new mighty enemy: the Protestant Emperor, it did not need internal strife to be added to this equasion.

Antonio Barberini 'the older' himself was well-known for his charity work, relative detachment from politics, deep religiousness, and – unlike his nephews – total lack of self-aggrandisement. Yet what made him a respected cardinal and bishop was not enough to cut a good Pope. He depended on his nephews’ whims completely. The inept Frederico retained his command of the Papal Army and it was on the brothers’ initiative that the peace talks with both the Archduke of Austria and Emperor Karl II Ludwig commenced. (Scotland is so far away and won’t affect this Papacy so much, so I decided to make this election a rather internal, family even, business)

From War to War​

The peace talks got hastened when the news of Venice’s imminent withdrawal from the conflict reached the Curia, and – more importantly – a group of allied Protestant princes (led by the ambitious Marie I of Burgundy) attacked the Duchy of Milan, hoping the Pope, his hands tied, will not come to aid the heretic regency council there (the Papacy had time and time again, unsuccessfully, tried to bring the ruling houses of Milan, first the Sforzas, then the Viteks, to the light).

The September-October peace talks with the Catholic and Protestant enemies were conducted separately. The treaty of Verona was effectively a collection of separate peace resolutions signed between the allied Italians on the one side and the Archduke of Austria and the Emperor on the other. Martinus VI decided to act magnanimously, having made sure Venice and Naples had taken a nibble at the Austrian territory, he personally stormed the negotiations room, approached the Austrian delegates, embraced every and each of them, than quoted, turning to his startled representatives;

‘Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that got lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ Thus I do welcome, my long-lost sheep, dear son of mine, His Majesty Joseph of Austria, back into my loving arms, the ever forgiving arms of Mother Church and I demand nothing in return for any slights and wrongs he had done, as I remember none.’ ​

All the Austrian delegates were made to do was to cover the expanses of their stay in Verona and head for Vienna; which was still fending off against Hungary and its allies. Many European courts, even the Papal allies, were baffled by the leniency of the terms; some more insightful ones understood the Barberini Pope did not want to weaken Austria too much. It was fighting the enemies of Faith after all, and the Emperor having gone the wrong track and unlikely to convert, had to be counterbalanced, in these circumstances the Archduchy might make a worthy ally.

The terms of the treaty with Karl II Ludwig were no less surprising. All the minor details came down to the drawing the line at each party’s sphere of influence. The Papal States would not interfere in the political matters North of the Alps, Karl II Ludwig would refrain from engaging into affairs of Italy. The Emperor withdrew from the disputed Duchy of Mantua, and both parties agreed to decide the fate of the duchy at a later notice. (Immediately the diplomacy game commenced as it seemed neither the Pope nor the Emperor could successfully further their claims there and a few minor claimants had turned up – one of them Tomasso Barberini on behalf of his wife). Until the final resolution, the terrirory of the former Duchy was to be administered 'jointly by the Pope and Italian princes'. Martinus VI promised to go back on financing the Jesuit missions in the Low Lands, his nephews were stripped of their Bishoprics in Germany (and compensated with titles and lands in Italy and Greece). There was no mention of Emperor’s conversion to Catholicism, a condition, promised by him to Martinus VI’s predecessor and late brother, Clemens IX; the condition, which had granted Karl II Ludwig both the throne of Bohemia and the elevation to the Emperorship. (the peace mechanics in EU III can be exploited; so that’s what I did here; first I was happy to see Venice ask for at least a core; than as Austria was the alliance leader (and severely beaten) I could easily take Modena (juicy province and finally some expansion in Italy!) from the Emperor (!?), as I could ask for sth else, I decided I didn’t want any Austrian provs (I hesitated a bit considering Triest, but it would soon prove difficult to defend) and decided to give one more province to Naples, hoping to strengthen it a bit more at the expanse of Austria and tie it to the northern affairs; 8 infamy is not good news of course, especially with 3DIP Pope; Milan is Reformed but my vassal so I felt my duty to defend it)

Peace Bringer​

As in personal contacts Martinus VI appeared modest and amiable, the whispering campaign portrayed him in a quite favourable light. Even though he did not shun from nepotism, he was much more liked by his subjects than Clemens IX. His nephews trod more lightly too and tried to mitigate their own demands; indeed, they had already accumulated so much, they could afford to be less greedy. Also, the Pontiff seemed to be a great advocate of peace and the idea of solving any resentments through peaceful means. Twice or thrice he even alluded to the Innocentius VIII’s concept of concert of powers and system of congresses. All this considered, and circumstantial number of truces and peaces at the time of his rule, he was nicknamed, especially in the Papal States and those Catholic countries which perceived him favourably, the Peace Bringer.

One more reason for the Barberini nephews to keep low profile was a series of military defeats the Papal army was inflicted in the course of war with the Protestant camp. Frederico proved to be an incapable commander. As the war dragged on, the Pope had to increase taxes and raise additional forces; this undermined his popularity. Luckily for Martinus VI, the war was fought far away and despite the defeats neither side made significant ground, though both sides had spent vast amount of money perpetuating the conflict; mostly as it was seen as a miniature religious war between Catholics and Protestants over the dominance in the Empire.

In 1467 the belligerents entered onto peace negotiations, humiliatingly for the Pope mediated by Imperial envoys. Soon the negotiations collapsed and the conflict resumed. For Rome, it took one more overwhelming defeat the retreating Papal forces suffered by Lake Iseo, to admit it had lost. By July the peace was agreed, the concessions were limited to indemnities as the enemies had not made much of headway either. (what can I say, the Swiss dow took me by surprise, I was unprepared, fought badly, and for the first time had to spend money to rebuild the whole army; but as long as they haven’t taken any provinces, I could peace them out one by one, and that’s what I did)

More or less at the same time other important conflicts came to an end and it seemed Europe might enjoy peace at last. At its eastern corners Catholic powers: Poland-Denmark and Trebizond strengthened their status as local powerhouses. The former to an outward and genuine applaud from Rome, the latter to a far less sincere one. (the growing power of Trebizond is warrying)

The Threat of Schism​

Probably one of the most destabilising factors in Europe at the time was Karl II Ludwig as the Protestant Emperor. Not even Martin VI cherished delusions the Emperor would convert; for many reasons he simply could not afford this. The Low Lands populace saw him as their champion, as did many Protestants throughout the Empire. The Bohemian diet, predominantly Catholic but not devoid of Protestant or even Hussite delegates, demonstrated loyalty. The Eperor simply had to remain Protestant if he wanted to retain control over all his territories. With Karl II Ludwig sticking to his heretic creed, the Protestants appeared to have gained advantage in western Europe. Luckily for Rome, they were by no means united

Nor were the Catholics. The accusations of corruption and nepotism soon threatened to tear the Catholic unity apart once again. Again Martinus VI acted in a most peculiar way. Probably in an attempt to neutralise Karl II Ludwig, he sent a letter to him, as the Emperor of the Holy Empire, to pass forward the question to the relevant Imperial institutions, so that Rome could address some concrete pleas rather than react to rumours. Did Martinus VI believe, in this way, he could, despite everything, nudge Karl II Ludwig to convert? Appalled at his uncle’s folly, Antonio ‘the younger’ sent a similar missive to the Duke of Savoy, the champion of the Catholic cause within the Empire. Secretly, the courts in Madrid and Warsaw were contacted too. However, no reply had been received by the time Martinus VI died on January 4th, 1648. (ok, it’s all a bit weird, I pbly should have role-played more and chosen ‘We have done nothing wrong’, but Martinus VI was a 3DIP Pope and the -1 infamy was too tempting; you can see Austria (now split in 3) is in the process of converting its provs, so there’s hope it’ll remain Catholic with its new ruler)

The extent of Catholic advance in the East at the death of Martinus VI​

Treasury / yearly income: 1976d / 133,4
Merchants: 6 in Thrace: 75.01/465.38 and 5 in Alexandria: 66.37/494.70
Fleet: 8: 1 early usciere, 3 flytes, 4 cogs
Army: 26k Offensive musketeers; 5k Carabiners
Manpower / discipline: 39.405 / 116.90%
Army / navy tradition: 49.40% / 0.00%
Prestige: 79
Stability: +3
Infamy: 6.5/21.00
War exhaustion: 6.71/14

 

[blsteen]

Interesting set of RP choices there...Trebizond seems to be doing really well.

 

[morningSIDEr]

(Scotland is so far away and won’t affect this Papacy so much, so I decided to make this election a rather internal, family even, business)

Thank goodness you did too. Considering how precarious the situation was, giving the Scots any say in the matter would have spelled definite doom for the Papacy!

Martinus seems to have been a rather able Pope despite my fears that he would prove more alike his nephews, the peace with Austria a considerable accomplishment. Still with even the likes of Switzerland causing such a challenge the Papacy will need to continue treading carefully, especially with nations such as Trebizond looking increasingly threatening.

 

[Memento Mori]

It's alive! I was afraid that the only post added to the aar would be "Requiem aeternam donna eis, Domine", but fortunately it AARises from the dead like Lazarus. I guess Martinus wasn't a bad pope, but was certainly not a prodigy either, as the heretic emperor wasn't dealt with. Looking forward what mischief are the three 'cousins' up to now

 

[Athalcor]

Wow, you have done a big piece of work in the East!

 

[loki100]

another superb job with a rather dodgy pope ... good idea to keep the Scots out of it.

But it does raise the question again of why not leave the Germans to their petty struggles and make the east the focus and power of the Papacy?

 

[Willum]

(the growing power of Trebizond is warrying)

Now there is something you don't hear every day...

 

[Chris Taylor]

It is a shame Martin VI had such a short tenure, because the activities of the Barberinis made for a fascinating read!

[...] Martinus VI decided to act magnanimously, having made sure Venice and Naples had taken a nibble at the Austrian territory, he personally stormed the negotiations room, approached the Austrian delegates, embraced every and each of them, than quoted, turning to his startled representatives;

[...]Thus I do welcome, my long-lost sheep, dear son of mine, His Majesty Joseph of Austria, back into my loving arms, the ever forgiving arms of Mother Church and I demand nothing in return for any slights and wrongs he had done, as I remember none.’

Loved this; eminently plausible and the invocation of the Prodigal Son parable is exactly what one would expect from Rome.

Though I think in time you may come to regret the partition of Austria, especially as Bohemia grows. There doesn't seem to be a capable counterweight within the Empire. If you rely upon Poland-Denmark to police it, it will do it happily, but end up devouring significant portions for itself. (As would Austria, but at least it's within the Empire and slightly more inclined to beware Imperial sanction.)

The Emperor withdrew from the disputed Duchy of Mantua, and both parties agreed to decide the fate of the duchy at a later notice. [...] it seemed neither the Pope nor the Emperor could successfully further their claims there and a few minor claimants had turned up – one of them Tomasso Barberini on behalf of his wife...

I share Tomasso's undoubted disappointment that his Este wife did not end up with Mantua. But on the other hand, Greek provinces are less likely to be overrun in one of the HRE's periodic convulsions.

[...] what can I say, the Swiss dow took me by surprise, I was unprepared, fought badly, and for the first time had to spend money to rebuild the whole army; but as long as they haven’t taken any provinces, I could peace them out one by one, and that’s what I did...[/COLOR]

Good thing it was the Swiss, and not somebody that could actually reach you.

Poland-Denmark and Trebizond strengthened their status as local powerhouses.

There is a certain amount of shame in a military crusading order losing turf to the rump of a dead empire.

(ok, it’s all a bit weird, I pbly should have role-played more and chosen ‘We have done nothing wrong’, but Martinus VI was a 3DIP Pope and the -1 infamy was too tempting...

No one will begrudge you an infamy reduction under those circumstances.

 

[aldriq]

You definitely made the best of it... Keeping nepotism in the family since 1627

Let's just hope Trebizond is not suddenly inherited by Austria or Bohemia...

 

[unmerged(90806)]

blsteen: Trebizond is still manageable, at leas as long as France doesn't attack and divert my forces. but I'm glad I didn't give them more Anatolian provinces back then.

morningSIDEr:

Martinus seems to have been a rather able Pope despite my fears that he would prove more alike his nephews.

I wanted him to be a better, more spiritually-minded version of his brother.

Memento Mori:

I guess Martinus wasn't a bad pope, but was certainly not a prodigy either, as the heretic emperor wasn't dealt with.

Precisely. The Barberini family amassed huge wealth but at the terrible cost -> the heretic Emperor. Will the support for Karl II Ludvig's candidacy backfire?

Athalcor: My NIs, sliders, decisions etc make converting easy and speedy. One can clearly see Trebizond despite two religious NIs is not that successful in this department.

loki100:

But it does raise the question again of why not leave the Germans to their petty struggles and make the east the focus and power of the Papacy?

Good question.
Firstly, the Papacy feels responsible for the Heretic Emperor and can't leave the things the way they are. There might still be some hope in Rome (even if only pretended, so as to appease other Catholis countries in Europe) that Karl II Ludwig will keep his word and convert.
Secondly, the East has been relatively peaceful and loyal; and did not require that much attention from Rome.
And frankly, Martinus VI sort of left the Germans to themselves, officialy, limiting the Papacy's aspiations to the territory South of the Alps.

Willum: Indeed. Now that I see my typo 'warrying' instead of 'worrying', it makes it sound even more alarming.

Chris Taylor:

It is a shame Martin VI had such a short tenure, because the activities of the Barberinis made for a fascinating read!

That's not the end of their antics!

Though I think in time you may come to regret the partition of Austria, especially as Bohemia grows. There doesn't seem to be a capable counterweight within the Empire. If you rely upon Poland-Denmark to police it, it will do it happily, but end up devouring significant portions for itself.

You've sort of seen me through. Strengly, things will go the way you suggested, yet differently at the same time.

I share Tomasso's undoubted disappointment that his Este wife did not end up with Mantua.

Tomasso and the women in his family haven't said the last word yet.

Good thing it was the Swiss, and not somebody that could actually reach you.

My biggest worry is France might wake up from its amnesia and go after Avignon, rather then England-held former Brittany.

aldriq:

Let's just hope Trebizond is not suddenly inherited by Austria or Bohemia...

You know how to comfort. My worries about France seem so exaggerated.

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Leo XII​

14 January 1648 – 20 July 1649​

DIGITUS DEI EST HIC!​

Societas Iesu and ‘New Pharos’​

The short pontificate of Martinus VI did more good to the Barberini family’s reputation than the long reign of Clemens IX. Therefore, now, when the Barberini brothers once again wanted to preserve their power, they could not propose their own candidatures so as not to break the fragile balance of trust. And they had run up against a serious obstacle: the shortage of uncles. All three of them realised time was not on their side, so they quickly agreed on Cardinal Marcello Sacchetti, papal treasurer and staunch supporter of the Barberinis, as their papabile. Within just ten days he was chosen and took the name Leo XII.

In the 1630s and 40s the Sacchettis had benefited greatly thanks to the Barberini’s generous gratitude for their loyal support. Marcello Sacchetti was a man of an advanced age and due to having been consistently favoured and rewarded by the Barberini popes, he accumulated a considerable wealth an impressive collection of titles. Still, if the Barberini brothers hoped Leo XII would be merely their figurehead, they were in for a surprise. The new Pope in principle did not disobey the Berberini policies, but he was proficient enough to press forward his own agenda. And he was a pupil of Jesuits and this was a formative upbringing, which shaped his spirituality and determined his lifelong political sympathies.

The history of Societas Iesu was a turbulent one. Established in Spain and seemingly unwillingly authorised by del Monte Pope Leo X in 1532, the order members professed vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; including a special vow of obedience to the Pope. Until the death of its founder Ignatius of Loyola the Society of Jesus, operated mostly on Iberian Peninsula, successfully fighting heresy in both Spain and Portugal. With the commencement of the Pharos policy in 1560s, a few groups of Jesuits travelled to the East, but clearly del Monte Popes favoured Dominicans, as did the Grand Inquisitor Popes.

It was on Ana of Spain’s insistence that in 1576 Clemens VIII issued a new bull Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae, the opening lines of which declared that Societas Iesu was to ‘strive especially for the propagation and defence of the faith and progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine.’ The Curia, invoking Ignatius’s Jesuit Constitutions of 1554, stressed in this document the order’s total obedience to the Pope. In the early 1570 the Jesuits established schools in freshly converted Austria and in the territories of partitioned Greece. Thus they were involved in both the process of bringing the idea of the Union of Florence into fruition and the staving off the Protestant menace.

Jesuits concentrated on a few key activities: founding relatively modern, open to middle-class populace schools and evangelising through missions, settlements which combined charity with spreading the true faith. Despite some promise the Jesuits work in 1570s was short-lived. Sadly, the order steadfastly supported the Spanish influences in Rome and in 1582, the year of the Schism, it sided with Leon-based anti-Pope Innocentius VII. Jesuits got banned from Venice, Naples and the Papal States and even after the end of the schism the mistrust remained.

However, through decades of their work on spreading the gospel, they proved effective and innovative; in the 1590s they rebalanced their curriculum and emphasised teaching in the vernacular rather than Latin. As a result they could take pride in having many multi-lingual members amongst them. Paulus II, the Greek Pope, soon realised what an asset it was. Meanwhile the Spanish monarchy had been going through a prolonged period of crisis. The Societas needed funds, Rome could do with its able men; in 1602 Paulus II issued the bull Injuctum Nobis; which brough back the order to the Papal favours. Apart from vows of undisputed obedience to Rome the members were obliged to speak at least three foreign languages, on top of knowing Latin and Greek of course, and translation of Papal instructions became one more of their duties. Thus Jesuits grew to become an elitist caste of professional translators and interpreters.

Bohemian emperors were also supportive and generous, and Jesuits were invited to the Low Lands and other territories of the Empire (violating the agreements with Protestant princes). Twice they were officially introduced to Austria and Hungary and twice they had to flee, leaving much of what they had accomplished and all they had been donated behind. Due to these persecutions they gained an aura of martyrdom. They were gentle yet persistent; throughout the first half of the 17th century their missions greatly succeeded in the Balkans, and in the East. Curiously, their linguistic prowess became indispensible for many a monarch and chancellery, especially in political entities so diverse as the Empire or Poland-Denmark.

The relationship between the Barberini family and the Jesuits could be best described as mistrustful mutual dependence. The Society needed funds and political backing; Rome needed educated ambassadors. The evangelical mission of the Jesuits was like a spiritual veil disguising the temporal ambitions of Popes. But Leo XII took this spirituality seriously. Merely weeks since his elevation he proclaimed the ‘New Pharos’ policy as a way to defy the Protestants. And he designated the members of the order as the light-bearers. (sorry for such a long intro, but you understand I needed Jesuits to explain the lightning swift conversion cycle initiated in Cairo (oddly, the two options say the same: ‘give them free reign in Cairo, btw; frankly I don’t remember if the pop-up was different); there will be some other Jesuit-related content; no conclave so Scotland remains the pope controller (and my ally), but again, it’ll turn out irrelevant)

The Crown of Saint Stephen​

The endorsement of Jesuit influences and the ‘New Pharos’ as one of the first moves of the new Pontiff startled the Barberinis. As they could hardly oppose his own creature head-on, they decided to retreat to their estates and bide their time. Meanwhile Leo XII was on the lookout for, as he put it, ‘an anchor’; a Catholic ruler who might replace the Bohemian Emperor in the role of a strong European ally the Papacy could rely on. And while the Curia relentlessly insisted on the Emperor’s conversion, the court in Warsaw was approached and a possibility of an alliance got probed.

With some decisions the zealous Leo XII just could not wait. Through his friends from the Jesuit seminar in Graz, now under Hungarian rule, he learned about the religious wavering of the most likely candidate for the Hungarian throne; empty after the demise of the local Andrássy dynasty. Mátyás von Wettin, a relative to both Bohemian and Hungarian houses, was raised in the Protestant faith, but spent most his youth in Prague and thus was exposed to Catholic influences. All a Jesuit messenger, on behalf of the Pope, asked him to promise was not to close down the Jesuit seminar in Graz. To this Mátyás conceded, in secret; the hell broke loose when the Hungarian diet found out about it after having elected him the king. Instantly, the new ruler was accused of colluding with the Papists and selling Hungary to Rome.

The civil war broke out in Hungary, the war, which Leo XII most likely had not been planning to ignite, in which, nevertheless, he would gladly support the Catholic side. For the Barberini brothers this was too much. They sabotaged any initiatives to raise and send expeditionary forces to Hungary or diplomatically support the Catholic cause, citing the fact that Mátyás I had not officially converted and the war was in fact a noble rising against a foreign ruler. They even opposed the idea of sending a Papal regiment to evacuate the Jesuits from the Graz seminar, and this was after the Turks opportunistically attacked the weakened Hungary. (this was sth out of the blue, there’d been a no-heir regency in Hungary and bang: religious war; this time the bastions are all accessible, Catholics (that is rebels) sadly stand little chance (especially with the OE intervening), and I didn’t feel strong enough to join in; Steiermark province does have a university; and why Tsar (!?) Yusuf of OE is beyond me)

Fresh Air​

The Barberini brothers' conduct in the Hungarian question cost them much of their, always questionable and uncertain, popularity with the common folk. The martyrdom of the Graz Jesuit community pushed the ‘New Pharos’ policy to the fore and allowed Leo XII some room for manoeuvre in other policies he did not see eye to eye with the Barberinis.

To prevent the Hungary-like strife in Bohemia the Emperor gave a spirited talk to diet in Prague. On the one hand Karl II Ludwig assured the peoples of Bohemia of their religious freedom, on the other hand he finally, publicly, announced he would never ‘become the vassal of Rome’; which put an end to any hopes of his conversion. Since then Leo XII sought a rapprochement with Poland-Denmark more and more eagerly. One step in the process of winning Władysław IV over was recognising him as the legitimate ruler of Lithuania; and sending numerous Jesuit missions to the still mostly Orthodox or Reformed lands of Lithuania. (I was thinking about allying Poland but it said impossible, even after they annexed Lithuania; they’re allied with Denmark, Portugal and Prussia; maybe it was me who had too many allies? anyway soon after the annexation of Lithuania Poland allied Naples, hope it’s for the better)

Leo XII’s death brought these diplomatic overtures to a sudden stop. However, it is worth noting that this relatively shortly ruling Pope left behind a lasting legacy; and one which, through its spirituality, clearly stands out in the period known as the Berberini papacy. The brothers could not turn back the tide Leo XII initiated. His reliance on the reformed Societas Iesu and the ‘New Pharos’ policy would become, for the Berberinis, the unwanted part of this inheritance. This long-awaited revival of Catholic spirituality was much needed in the face of the Protestant realms, like Burgundy, consolidating their power. The Protestant camp could be challenged now as thanks to Jesuit translators’ hard work the word of God was easily accessible in the vernacular for the Catholics too, and this accessibility once again united the Catholic world. (the last pics rush a bit ahead of time, but I wanted to show you how Burgundy is on the rise and that the Leo XII’s choice of advisers justified the choices I made for him)

Central Italy at the death of Leo XII​

Treasury / yearly income: 1992d / 169,7
Merchants: 6 in Thrace: 36.14/405.47 and 5 in Alexandria: 42.97/578.91
Fleet: 8: 1 early usciere, 3 flytes, 4 cogs
Army: 27k Offensive musketeers; 6k Carabiners
Manpower / discipline: 40.990 / 113.20%
Army / navy tradition: 39.20% / 0.00%
Prestige: 82
Stability: +3
Infamy: 5.8/21.50
War exhaustion: 4.86/13

 

[loki100]

Leo seemed to achieve quite a lot there ... one question though, I assume at the start it was Burgundian emperors inviting the Jesuits to the Netherlands? In any case do you now plan to try and build them up as a counterweight to Bohemia?

 

[Athalcor]

Poland is shaped rather weirdly.
How powerful is France?
Well, Ottos almost = Bulgaria, so .
I forgot how small are your Italian holdings.
Pope Papal Curia Odescalchi