I've often in the past made some suggestions regarding the Low Countries for Vanilla.
And while 1.30 Emperor overhauled the area in a good way, there is always something that can be improved.
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Intro
The Low Countries are a unique area of Europe. It's a historically rich area, with easy access to the Rhine River, the Channel and the North Sea and with some natural defenses it's very interesting.
The area has a long history of self-rule and local nobility and citizens managing their own affairs, in part thanks to the hostile terrain which at times flooded and the time when vikings raided most of the coastal areas of the Franks.
Many of the states and regions that formed in the Frankish period remain.
The Coastal Area is home to the County of Flanders, the County of Holland and the Frisian Republic. These states formed because of the many Viking Raids on this land, with the Dynasty of Flanders being given the territory by the West Frankish ruler as he did not expect him to be able to hold off against the Vikings. The Frisians and this includes Holland in the early period revolted against a Viking Ruler with the Ancestor of the Dynasty of Holland plotting his murder and secured himself a state in this manner, while the rest of the Frisians remained a heavily autonomous area.
The Inland area of the Low Countries is home to many of the states that fractured away from the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia. With the Bishop of Liege and Utrecht and the Duchy of Guelders and Brabant and the rest owned by Burgundy. Brabant would become the de facto successor state of Lower Lotharingia and thus was able to claim itself a Duchy. Guelders meanwhile grew in the more conventional practices of the Holy Roman Empire and the Bishops also managed to dominate large chunks of land.
With the recent deaths of the dynasties of Brabant, Flanders, Hainaut, Luxemburg and Holland the Burgundians were able to inherit large chunks of land. Which they would solidify over the coming period. They were also able to influence the appointment of many Bishops in the Low Countries, effectively making Bishoprics like Liege, Cambray and Utrecht their vassals.
The last independant states of the Lowlands that are left are the Duke of Guelders and the Locals in Frisia.
However even their faith is tied to that of Burgundy with Guelders still being in a succession crisis between itself and Jülich-Berg which would last until 1448 with the Duke of Jülich-Berg eventually selling his claim to Burgundy.
Friesland instead was until recently in a bloody conflict known as the Great Frisian War, with much of the Frisian land now being devastated and a chief in East Frisia effectively becoming the monarch there, while the city of Groningen is becoming increasily dominant in the frisian lands bordering it. The Frisians opposed to the Chief in East Frisia promised their overlordship to the Count of Holland who at that time was the Duke of Bavaria-Straubing. Though, Burgundy would still like to press it's claim on this area and the Bishop of Utrecht has long wanted to subjugate these Frisians as well.
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So with a brief overview of the situation in the Low Countries I will now try and attempt to make a case for a few Quality of Life Changes and Other Suggestions regarding the Low Countries and what to do with it.
Let's start with the Map
The Map
While the 1.30 update already overhauled a lot already, there were some minor nitpicks that I think would alter how the Low Countries functions somewhat and create more historical states and accurate situations:
Areas:
Because of the Addition of some new provinces, some changes are needed:
First off, splitting up Frisia. Currently Gelre and Oversticht are part of Frisia. This doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's clear that the provinces didn't fit anywhere else.
So I propose to add in a new Area with the addition of the province of Drenthe:
Oversticht or Gelre Area:
The provinces of Gelre, Oversticht (Overijssel) and Drenthe
Rework of the Brabant areas:
Currently Brabant is split between North and South Brabant, this is not needed however and it makes more sense to make all Brabant provinces part of a single Area:
Brabant Area:
Provinces of Brussel. Antwerpen, Breda and 's Hertogenbosch
Instead a new area can be added:
Limburg Area:
With the addition of Limburg once more, we can add in the area of Limburg. This area is quite unique and speaks its own dialect.
The Provinces of Loon, Opper Gelre and Limburg
The province of Walloon Luxemburg can be added to Wallonia
The province of Vermandois can be added to Picardy
The province of Tecklenburg and Mark can be added to their respective nearby areas
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The cultural setup:
As mentioned before some changes ought to be made with regards to culture or at least there needs to be further research into it with regards to how to properly represent the low countries.
This map above shows how the game currently handles the Cultures in this region.
However, this map is far too modern and does not represent the nuances that existed in 1444.
This image above shows a realistic situation of 1444.
Flemish/Dutch
Notable changes is the fact that Flemish would not be distinct from a Dutch Culture yet. This is for a simple reason. Most of Dutch Culture was seperated between a few main dialects, but most of them all saw themselves as a single group of people speaking the same language.
With Flemish culture in 1444, the game sort of jumps the gun. Flemish would take some time to emerge as a unique culture and a unified dutch culture makes more sense in 1444.
HOWEVER, I do think it makes sense to keep the Flemish culture. Perhaps as a result of some events where if the provinces are not owned by a Dutch Nation or if the Netherlands formed without Flanders the Flemish Culture appears.
It's not that Flemish wasn't a spoken dialect, it was. But so was Hollandic, Brabantian and many smaller ones. Only when Dutch was standardized based on Hollandic can we make this distinction.
Notibly the Dutch Dialectal area expands in Calais and Kleves in this timeframe and the old dialect in Cleves is still related to dutch dialects.
Picard
Picard is a tough one, we don't want to add too many cultures. But Picard is somewhat unique. It's similar to Walloon, yet it isn't. It's spoken mostly in The Picardian area and in the area of Nord-Pas de Calais.
Currently the provinces are split between Walloon and Francien.
With this addition most provinces in Picardy can be made Picard with exception of Calais as noted above. A tough choice has to be made regarding Hainaut. Dialectially it's closer to Picard, while culturally today it's part of Wallonia.
Westphalian Dialects in the Netherlands
Another issue that appears is that most of the Eastern part of the Netherlands does not originally speak a dutch dialect. They instead speak a Low Saxon dialect which is very closely related to Westphalian. While a design choice can be made by making the province of Oversticht dutch as it was the only province which really made sense in this regard. With the optional addition of Drenthe, this can be done somewhat easier. Gelre is partially Low Saxon even today, but the issue here lies it's only part of the province.
Frisian
The Frisian culture outlined here can be somewhat ignored. While Frisian was somewhat more widespread, the area it covers aren't really worthy of a new province, even though some of the areas were somewhat rich.
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Additional Flavor and Fixes:
Centers of Trade
As with a few other things in the Low Countries, a lot of things are not proper in the 1444 startdate and are more geared towards later periods.
One notable example is the distribution of Center of Trades.
Currently all three provinces of Brugge, Amsterdam and Antwerp have a center of trade level 2.
This is not correct for 1444.
In 1444 one of the largest centers of trade in the Low Countries was Brugge. It had it's own hansa kontor, was the primary harbor for many goods in the Low Countries and the rich trade of Flemish Cloth further made it very important.
It was in fact so important that it deserves to be a Level 3 Center of Trade on par with cities like Venice and Genoa.
However, Amsterdam and Antwerp, while they would become important later DO NOT deserve to be level 2 centers of trade. They were only marginal at this point in time with Amsterdam technically still being a small town no where near what it would become in 2 centuries. Antwerp was a bit more important, but not yet as mentioned before most Trade went to Brugge.
BUT, this would soon change. You see, the City of Brugge was connected to the sea by the Golden Inlet, a channel created by a stormtide a few decades ago. This channel however was slowly starting to sand up and Brugge was starting to lose importance.
To replicate this, I think an event is in order to remove the Level 3 center of Trade of brugge and downgrade it to level 1 as some local harbors remained who supplied Brugge.
Instead, this event should make Antwerp the new Level 3 Center of Trade. Antwerp was the primary benefactor of the fall of Brugge and because of the Burgundians would grow to become very influental.
Much like Brugge, Antwerp grew out to be a large city with a lot of wealth.
However, as faith had struck Brugge, so did faith strike Antwerp.
When the Protestants in the Netherlands revolted against the Spanish Rule, many of the rich cities such as Antwerp joined them. This would soon be fatal for them however as the Spanish were harsh on the city and besieged it a few times. Not only that, the Spanish Mercenaries hired to fight the protestants soon would no longer be paid and would go on a rampage further destroying Antwerp.
With this, many protestants fled north to a small town in a save protestant area:
Amsterdam
Much like how an event controls Brugge's downfall, the same should happen to Antwerp. This would instead make Amsterdam if owned by Protestants/Reformed/Anglican/Hussite a Level 3 Center of Trade.
Overijssel and the Hansa
While we just discussed the Ports of Brugge, Amsterdam and Antwerp. There were other major centers of Trade in the Low Countries.
One currently overlooked, both in development and the lack of a Center of Trade is Oversticht (Overijssel)
Oversticht was relatively wealthy in 1444 and harbored two Hanseatic Cities, The city of Kampen and the City of Deventer. Not only that, Zwolle was quite wealthy as well.
This province should thus also be made a level 1 center of Trade.
The Development of the Province should also be increased to represent the fact that it was somewhat wealthy.
Hollandic Ideas
One of the only large nations in the Low Countries without unique Ideas.
Sadly Holland has been given Dutch Ideas.
As explained before Dutch =/= Hollandic, at least not yet.
So I think it makes sense to add unique Hollandic Ideas,
I recently came up with some of them:
With regards to the Dutch Ideas,
I would like to update them somewhat.
The Dutch Traditions currently give +50% Naval Forcelimit and +25% Sailor Modifiers, which is good. But I don't feel the Dutch really need this.
I think replacing the +25% Sailor Modifier with Naval Leader Fire +2 from (Instructie voor de Admiraliteiten) and nerf the +50% naval forcelimit to +25% makes more sense as its tradition
With (Instructie voor de Admiraliteiten) being replaced with a bit more flavorful of an idea called:
Raid on Medway
This exploit of the Dutch Marines and Navy was very impressive, sinking a large portion of the British Fleet and taking some Ships with them.
Instead of the Naval Leader Fire +2, this can be replaced with Ship Capture Chance +10% as a reference to the theft of some British ships. The marine force limit can stay as it makes sense as they were used in the Battle.
Releasable Tags
There are 3 releasable nations I feel would make sense:
1. In the province of Groningen
The Independant city state of Groningen
This state would become somewhat independant when Friesland fell under the influence of Saxony. Groningen would then remain as a powerful city and was something the Dutch Rulers had to deal with when the city remained Catholic in the 80 Years war.
2. In the Province of Artois
The County of Artois
Artois was seperated from Flanders and would remain a county in personal union with Burgundy. I believe it should become a core that can be released.
Later the Habsburg Netherlands became split between the Union of Utrecht and Arras. Artois makes sense for this as well.
3. In the Province of Cambray
As mentioned before the Prince Bishopric of Cambray
4. In the Province of Namur
The County of Namur
Much like Artois, it was a title held in Personal union by the Burgundians. It had it's own stadholder who had some power.
East Frisian Government Type
With the 1.30 Update after a long request, the government type of Friesland was changed to a peasant republic.
But East Frisia was changed too.
While it could be argued to be correct, it leads to a problem where Cirksena doesn't get reelected, even though he pretty much conquered most of East Frisia by force.
Because of this, it makes more sense if it was a Monarchy as that's what it had already become.
Peasant Republics becoming Free Cities
Another issue that appears with Peasant Republics is that they can quite easily become an Imperial City in the HRE. This is sorta weird historically, because most peasant republics had no major city center and were instead a rural agragrian society.
I think it makes sense to not allow the emperor to grant these states Imperial City Status.
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End note:
I am bound to have made some mistakes and will update things accordingly or clarify things.
I would love to hear some feedback from other Lowlanders and other people if they think this makes sense.
Sources:
BONUS:
Please split up Schleswig into this:
1. North Friesland (Frisian culture)
2. Schleswig (Early on Danish Culture, later perhaps Lower Saxon?)
3. Abenraa/Haderslev or Tonder (Danish Culture)
And while 1.30 Emperor overhauled the area in a good way, there is always something that can be improved.
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Intro
The Low Countries are a unique area of Europe. It's a historically rich area, with easy access to the Rhine River, the Channel and the North Sea and with some natural defenses it's very interesting.
The area has a long history of self-rule and local nobility and citizens managing their own affairs, in part thanks to the hostile terrain which at times flooded and the time when vikings raided most of the coastal areas of the Franks.
Many of the states and regions that formed in the Frankish period remain.
The Coastal Area is home to the County of Flanders, the County of Holland and the Frisian Republic. These states formed because of the many Viking Raids on this land, with the Dynasty of Flanders being given the territory by the West Frankish ruler as he did not expect him to be able to hold off against the Vikings. The Frisians and this includes Holland in the early period revolted against a Viking Ruler with the Ancestor of the Dynasty of Holland plotting his murder and secured himself a state in this manner, while the rest of the Frisians remained a heavily autonomous area.
The Inland area of the Low Countries is home to many of the states that fractured away from the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia. With the Bishop of Liege and Utrecht and the Duchy of Guelders and Brabant and the rest owned by Burgundy. Brabant would become the de facto successor state of Lower Lotharingia and thus was able to claim itself a Duchy. Guelders meanwhile grew in the more conventional practices of the Holy Roman Empire and the Bishops also managed to dominate large chunks of land.
With the recent deaths of the dynasties of Brabant, Flanders, Hainaut, Luxemburg and Holland the Burgundians were able to inherit large chunks of land. Which they would solidify over the coming period. They were also able to influence the appointment of many Bishops in the Low Countries, effectively making Bishoprics like Liege, Cambray and Utrecht their vassals.
The last independant states of the Lowlands that are left are the Duke of Guelders and the Locals in Frisia.
However even their faith is tied to that of Burgundy with Guelders still being in a succession crisis between itself and Jülich-Berg which would last until 1448 with the Duke of Jülich-Berg eventually selling his claim to Burgundy.
Friesland instead was until recently in a bloody conflict known as the Great Frisian War, with much of the Frisian land now being devastated and a chief in East Frisia effectively becoming the monarch there, while the city of Groningen is becoming increasily dominant in the frisian lands bordering it. The Frisians opposed to the Chief in East Frisia promised their overlordship to the Count of Holland who at that time was the Duke of Bavaria-Straubing. Though, Burgundy would still like to press it's claim on this area and the Bishop of Utrecht has long wanted to subjugate these Frisians as well.
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So with a brief overview of the situation in the Low Countries I will now try and attempt to make a case for a few Quality of Life Changes and Other Suggestions regarding the Low Countries and what to do with it.
Let's start with the Map
The Map
While the 1.30 update already overhauled a lot already, there were some minor nitpicks that I think would alter how the Low Countries functions somewhat and create more historical states and accurate situations:
- The Province of Limburg
This was once a province ingame owned by Brabant. However with the 1.25 Patch, instead of adding in a new province to represent Upper Guelders, they instead removed a province of Brabant and reworked it into this new province.
This I think was a mistake as this area has a unique history and is somewhat significant because of it's famous Fortress of Maastricht and it's many important sieges and battles.
This province should not be confused with the Modern Province of Limburg. The modern province was formed from the remnants of both this Province and the Province of Upper Guelders.
Capital: Maastricht
Culture: Flemish (for lack of a better solution)
Owner: Brabant - The Province fo Chiny/Bouillon/Bastogne/Arlon or in general Walloon Luxemburg
This province has sadly not been added yet and thus creates a problem ingame regarding the culture of the Luxemburg province.
Luxemburg has for a long time been split between a French speaking populace and a German speaking one. Modern day most French speakers live in Belgian province by the same name while the German speakers live in the state of Luxemburg.
Without this province the correct border between French and German is much harder to make. Thus I think it warrants the inclusion of a province to correct this.
The name of the province is up to choice. There is an argument for the old county of Chiny to be the name of the province, or the province can be known as Bouillon, Bastogne or after the modern capital of this province: Arlon.
Capital: (Depends on the name)
Culture: Walloon
Owner: Burgundy
***: With this change the province of Luxemburg proper needs to be made Rhenish Culture. - Zeeland
Zeeland is a marshy region of the Netherlands characterised by it's many Islands and it's history often was tied to the strategic nature of these Islands. While modern day a lot of Zeeland has been connected to the mainland with Polders, this is only a very recent modern thing. For most of the Europa Universalis timeframe these islands were not connected to the mainland. Thus it's clear that this province needs to be an archipelago of islands instead of a province connected to the mainland.
This creates a strategic province which can be very useful for a player in the Low Countries who is likely to possess a large navy.
Furthermore, it was exactly this that allowed the Watergeuzen (Dutch Rebels against the Spaniards) to conquer an important town here. - The Province of Drenthe
Drenthe is a historical county in the Low Countries which is somewhat infamous for being too poor in the period of the Dutch Republic and thus was both exempt from Taxes and did not get recognition in the States-General.
However, poverty is relative. The province of Drenthe wouldn't stick out in germany as poor. It would be somewhat relative with regards to the nearby german provinces of Meppen or East Frisia.
One important reason for including this province is the fact that it would help solve a border issue in the current 1.30 Map. Drenthe was under the control of the Bishop of Utrecht, but with the lack of this province. The area is split somewhat weirdly between Oversticht and Groningen.
Capital: Coevorden (This was the seat of power of the Bishop)
Culture: Dutch or Westphalian
Owner: Utrecht - The provinces of North Brabant
The provinces of North Brabant needs some redrawing. The province of 's Hertogenbosch is very small compared to Breda while in history 's Hertogenbosch had it's own district in the Duchy of Brabant corrosponding to pretty much the division lined out here.
Breda was a Magriavate with some independance and local lords.
By making Zeeland an island, Breda can now become coastal as it should be. An important port of Bergen op Zoom is in the western part of the Province which is currently part of the province of Zeeland. By making Zeeland a few islands, this inaccuracy can also be resolved. This would also grant the Netherlands another coastal province, helping it out.
Another point that needs to change is it's culture.
Because Brabantian is closer to Flemish dialect, I think it makes sense to make these provinces Flemish Culture. As these areas are still somewhat unique in Dialect from the rest of the Netherlands. - The Northern Coastline
Currently, the northern coastline of Holland and Friesland and it's waddenislands are somewhat inaccurate. The current coastline is way to modern with areas being poldered in which historically were still under water. While it's a minor nitpick it helps to define the nature of what the Netherlands is.
4 areas that need help are:
* The Wieringermeerpolder needs to be underwater. This are would not be poldered in until 1930.
* The Middelzee, a small estuary in the center of the Friesland Polder wouldn't be fully poldered in until well into the 17th and 18th century.
* Lauwerszee, a somewhat sizable estuary between the province of Groningen and Friesland. This would remain a sea-arm until the 20th century when it was dammed off and became a lake.
* The Waddenislands need some polishing to be more realistic. - Rework of the region around Münster (The North)
In the 1.30 Update, this area only gained 2 new provinces, which was Ravensberg and Dortmund.
* The Province of Tecklenburg
This sadly doesn't allow for a somewhat interesting state, which was the county of Tecklenburg. While already in decline in the 1400s, it would lead to some interesting history.
Tecklenburg would soon split up between Tecklenburg and Lingen and Lingen would become part of the Dutch Republic as a territory held by the Orange-Nassau dynasty.
This is why I think it could be an interesting addition.
Capital: Tecklenburg or Lingen
Culture: Westphalian
Owner: Tecklenburg or Münster - The Southern Part of Münster (The Province of Mark)
Much like the north, only the Imperial City of Dortmund was added, and while Dortmund was very close to the County of Mark, there is still room for Mark.
Mark was owned by Cleves. With the addition of Jülich-Berg as a tag, Cleves lost one province. Because of this I think this province should be added as this was owned by Cleves and would once again grant it it's 2nd province that it lost.
Furthermore, it would help to create a later historical situation where the Duchy of Jülich-Berg-Cleves (The Personal Union between the two states) would be split between the Palatinate and Brandenburg-Prussia.
Capital: Hamm
Culture: Westphalian
Owner: Cleves - The Bishopric of Cambray
Cambray is a one province bishopric which was under the influence of Burgundy. However, it was still a unique state in it's own right. While a new vassal of Burgundy might be too much to add, I think it makes sense to at least create a releasable tag here to represent the fact that it was still somewhat independant. - The Province of Vermandois
In a long forgotten patch, it seems that the province of Vermandois was reworked into the Province of Valois.
One problem with this however is that Vermandois was owned by Burgundy in 1444 while Valois was part of the French nations.
To resolve this I think it makes sense to add in Vermandois as a province.
Vermandois held some important towns such as St. Quentin and Peronne
Capital: St. Quentin
Culture: Walloon (Or Picard)
Owner: Burgundy
Areas:
Because of the Addition of some new provinces, some changes are needed:
First off, splitting up Frisia. Currently Gelre and Oversticht are part of Frisia. This doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's clear that the provinces didn't fit anywhere else.
So I propose to add in a new Area with the addition of the province of Drenthe:
Oversticht or Gelre Area:
The provinces of Gelre, Oversticht (Overijssel) and Drenthe
Rework of the Brabant areas:
Currently Brabant is split between North and South Brabant, this is not needed however and it makes more sense to make all Brabant provinces part of a single Area:
Brabant Area:
Provinces of Brussel. Antwerpen, Breda and 's Hertogenbosch
Instead a new area can be added:
Limburg Area:
With the addition of Limburg once more, we can add in the area of Limburg. This area is quite unique and speaks its own dialect.
The Provinces of Loon, Opper Gelre and Limburg
The province of Walloon Luxemburg can be added to Wallonia
The province of Vermandois can be added to Picardy
The province of Tecklenburg and Mark can be added to their respective nearby areas
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The cultural setup:
As mentioned before some changes ought to be made with regards to culture or at least there needs to be further research into it with regards to how to properly represent the low countries.
This map above shows how the game currently handles the Cultures in this region.
However, this map is far too modern and does not represent the nuances that existed in 1444.
This image above shows a realistic situation of 1444.
Flemish/Dutch
Notable changes is the fact that Flemish would not be distinct from a Dutch Culture yet. This is for a simple reason. Most of Dutch Culture was seperated between a few main dialects, but most of them all saw themselves as a single group of people speaking the same language.
With Flemish culture in 1444, the game sort of jumps the gun. Flemish would take some time to emerge as a unique culture and a unified dutch culture makes more sense in 1444.
HOWEVER, I do think it makes sense to keep the Flemish culture. Perhaps as a result of some events where if the provinces are not owned by a Dutch Nation or if the Netherlands formed without Flanders the Flemish Culture appears.
It's not that Flemish wasn't a spoken dialect, it was. But so was Hollandic, Brabantian and many smaller ones. Only when Dutch was standardized based on Hollandic can we make this distinction.
Notibly the Dutch Dialectal area expands in Calais and Kleves in this timeframe and the old dialect in Cleves is still related to dutch dialects.
Picard
Picard is a tough one, we don't want to add too many cultures. But Picard is somewhat unique. It's similar to Walloon, yet it isn't. It's spoken mostly in The Picardian area and in the area of Nord-Pas de Calais.
Currently the provinces are split between Walloon and Francien.
With this addition most provinces in Picardy can be made Picard with exception of Calais as noted above. A tough choice has to be made regarding Hainaut. Dialectially it's closer to Picard, while culturally today it's part of Wallonia.
Westphalian Dialects in the Netherlands
Another issue that appears is that most of the Eastern part of the Netherlands does not originally speak a dutch dialect. They instead speak a Low Saxon dialect which is very closely related to Westphalian. While a design choice can be made by making the province of Oversticht dutch as it was the only province which really made sense in this regard. With the optional addition of Drenthe, this can be done somewhat easier. Gelre is partially Low Saxon even today, but the issue here lies it's only part of the province.
Frisian
The Frisian culture outlined here can be somewhat ignored. While Frisian was somewhat more widespread, the area it covers aren't really worthy of a new province, even though some of the areas were somewhat rich.
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Additional Flavor and Fixes:
Centers of Trade
As with a few other things in the Low Countries, a lot of things are not proper in the 1444 startdate and are more geared towards later periods.
One notable example is the distribution of Center of Trades.
Currently all three provinces of Brugge, Amsterdam and Antwerp have a center of trade level 2.
This is not correct for 1444.
In 1444 one of the largest centers of trade in the Low Countries was Brugge. It had it's own hansa kontor, was the primary harbor for many goods in the Low Countries and the rich trade of Flemish Cloth further made it very important.
It was in fact so important that it deserves to be a Level 3 Center of Trade on par with cities like Venice and Genoa.
However, Amsterdam and Antwerp, while they would become important later DO NOT deserve to be level 2 centers of trade. They were only marginal at this point in time with Amsterdam technically still being a small town no where near what it would become in 2 centuries. Antwerp was a bit more important, but not yet as mentioned before most Trade went to Brugge.
BUT, this would soon change. You see, the City of Brugge was connected to the sea by the Golden Inlet, a channel created by a stormtide a few decades ago. This channel however was slowly starting to sand up and Brugge was starting to lose importance.
To replicate this, I think an event is in order to remove the Level 3 center of Trade of brugge and downgrade it to level 1 as some local harbors remained who supplied Brugge.
Instead, this event should make Antwerp the new Level 3 Center of Trade. Antwerp was the primary benefactor of the fall of Brugge and because of the Burgundians would grow to become very influental.
Much like Brugge, Antwerp grew out to be a large city with a lot of wealth.
However, as faith had struck Brugge, so did faith strike Antwerp.
When the Protestants in the Netherlands revolted against the Spanish Rule, many of the rich cities such as Antwerp joined them. This would soon be fatal for them however as the Spanish were harsh on the city and besieged it a few times. Not only that, the Spanish Mercenaries hired to fight the protestants soon would no longer be paid and would go on a rampage further destroying Antwerp.
With this, many protestants fled north to a small town in a save protestant area:
Amsterdam
Much like how an event controls Brugge's downfall, the same should happen to Antwerp. This would instead make Amsterdam if owned by Protestants/Reformed/Anglican/Hussite a Level 3 Center of Trade.
Overijssel and the Hansa
While we just discussed the Ports of Brugge, Amsterdam and Antwerp. There were other major centers of Trade in the Low Countries.
One currently overlooked, both in development and the lack of a Center of Trade is Oversticht (Overijssel)
Oversticht was relatively wealthy in 1444 and harbored two Hanseatic Cities, The city of Kampen and the City of Deventer. Not only that, Zwolle was quite wealthy as well.
This province should thus also be made a level 1 center of Trade.
The Development of the Province should also be increased to represent the fact that it was somewhat wealthy.
Hollandic Ideas
One of the only large nations in the Low Countries without unique Ideas.
Sadly Holland has been given Dutch Ideas.
As explained before Dutch =/= Hollandic, at least not yet.
So I think it makes sense to add unique Hollandic Ideas,
I recently came up with some of them:
Code:
HOL_ideas = {
start = {
navy_tradition = 1
naval_morale = 0.1
}
bonus = {
naval_forcelimit_modifier = 0.25
}
trigger = {
tag = HOL
}
free = yes #will be added at load.
hol_swampy_land = {
defensiveness = 0.10
hostile_attrition = 1
}
hol_monding_rivieren = {
embargo_efficiency = 0.05
trade_efficiency = 0.05
}
hol_dutch_courage = {
land_morale = 0.1
}
hol_land_of_migrants = {
num_accepted_cultures = 1
promote_culture_cost = -0.25
}
hol_oostzeehandel = {
global_ship_cost = -0.1
merchants = 1
}
hol_amstelredam = {
inflation_reduction = 0.1
trade_efficiency = 0.05
}
hol_polders = {
development_cost = -0.1
}
}
HOL_ideas:0 "Hollandic Ideas"
HOL_ideas_start:0 "Hollandic Traditions"
HOL_ideas_bonus:0 "Hollandic Ambition"
hol_polders:0 "Polders"
hol_polders_desc:0 "Holland is highly susceptible to flooding and in the unsettled weather of the 11th - 14th centuries there were multiple floods leading to the creation of the Zuiderzee and also salting the soil of coastal areas. We now have the technology to reclaim land allowing more productive agriculture."
hol_amstelredam:0 "Founding of Amstelredam"
hol_amstelredam_desc:0 "On the River Amstel a Dam was built which would soon grow to be one of the largest cities in the Low Countries. Many migrants would flock to this new city of Amsterdam"
hol_oostzeehandel:0 "Oostzeehandel"
hol_oostzeehandel_desc:0 "The Baltic Sea was of vital importance to Holland. With the Trade in the Baltics, the Hollanders were able to get the Wood they needed to build their ships and cities and the Grain they needed to feed the People and their Precious Cattle."
hol_land_of_migrants:0 "Het Land van Migranten"
hol_land_of_migrants_desc:0 "Holland has throughout history been a safehaven for many groups of people. These migrants brought with them many inventions and knowledge. They helped Holland become the most important Region of the Netherlands and would propel the Netherlands to become a World Power."
hol_swampy_land:0 "Marshes of Holland"
hol_swampy_land_desc:0 "Much of Holland was covered in marshes and large amounts of peatbog. The land was hostile to anyone not familiar with it's surrounding allowing the Count of Holland to easily ambush many of his enemies."
hol_monding_rivieren:0 "Rivierendelta"
hol_monding_rivieren_desc:0 "Holland was located at the mouth of the River Delta of the Rhine, Scheldt and Meuse. These rivers would at times change course and were excellent for Trading as they allowed the cities further up the river to be connected to the North Sea. By exploiting this strategic location we can become very powerful."
hol_dutch_courage:0 "Dutch Courage"
hol_dutch_courage_desc:0 "Foreign soldiers often remark on the bravery of our troops. Whether their bravery is caused by rations of gin as the foreigners believe, or by our superlative training regimen, it is not clear."With regards to the Dutch Ideas,
I would like to update them somewhat.
The Dutch Traditions currently give +50% Naval Forcelimit and +25% Sailor Modifiers, which is good. But I don't feel the Dutch really need this.
I think replacing the +25% Sailor Modifier with Naval Leader Fire +2 from (Instructie voor de Admiraliteiten) and nerf the +50% naval forcelimit to +25% makes more sense as its tradition
With (Instructie voor de Admiraliteiten) being replaced with a bit more flavorful of an idea called:
Raid on Medway
This exploit of the Dutch Marines and Navy was very impressive, sinking a large portion of the British Fleet and taking some Ships with them.
Instead of the Naval Leader Fire +2, this can be replaced with Ship Capture Chance +10% as a reference to the theft of some British ships. The marine force limit can stay as it makes sense as they were used in the Battle.
Releasable Tags
There are 3 releasable nations I feel would make sense:
1. In the province of Groningen
The Independant city state of Groningen
This state would become somewhat independant when Friesland fell under the influence of Saxony. Groningen would then remain as a powerful city and was something the Dutch Rulers had to deal with when the city remained Catholic in the 80 Years war.
2. In the Province of Artois
The County of Artois
Artois was seperated from Flanders and would remain a county in personal union with Burgundy. I believe it should become a core that can be released.
Later the Habsburg Netherlands became split between the Union of Utrecht and Arras. Artois makes sense for this as well.
3. In the Province of Cambray
As mentioned before the Prince Bishopric of Cambray
4. In the Province of Namur
The County of Namur
Much like Artois, it was a title held in Personal union by the Burgundians. It had it's own stadholder who had some power.
East Frisian Government Type
With the 1.30 Update after a long request, the government type of Friesland was changed to a peasant republic.
But East Frisia was changed too.
While it could be argued to be correct, it leads to a problem where Cirksena doesn't get reelected, even though he pretty much conquered most of East Frisia by force.
Because of this, it makes more sense if it was a Monarchy as that's what it had already become.
Peasant Republics becoming Free Cities
Another issue that appears with Peasant Republics is that they can quite easily become an Imperial City in the HRE. This is sorta weird historically, because most peasant republics had no major city center and were instead a rural agragrian society.
I think it makes sense to not allow the emperor to grant these states Imperial City Status.
-------------------------
End note:
I am bound to have made some mistakes and will update things accordingly or clarify things.
I would love to hear some feedback from other Lowlanders and other people if they think this makes sense.
Sources:
BONUS:
Please split up Schleswig into this:
1. North Friesland (Frisian culture)
2. Schleswig (Early on Danish Culture, later perhaps Lower Saxon?)
3. Abenraa/Haderslev or Tonder (Danish Culture)
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