Re-working the Reformed Faith's Appearance + Mechanics

[JKiller96]

As the game currently treats the Reformed religion, it pops up always after Protestantism, when Lutheranism and the Reformed movements were near-parallel. I want to suggest a few things to more appropriately represent the Reformed faiths and their appearance. I've recently read Blickle's Communal Reformation and Benedict's Christ's Churches Purely Reformed so this suggestion is inspired by those two books. I want to note what I am defining as "Reformed"; Benedict defines the Reformed faiths as Zwingli-inspired churches, Calvinists, Huguenots, Unitarians (or non-Trinitarians of the Protestant variety), and Anglicans. The national churches that became "Reformed" churches (not including England) include the Church of Scotland, Netherlands, and Transylvania.

I want to tackle a few aspects: first, the appearance of Reformed faith. Second, I want to suggest a re-work of the current fervor mechanics. Third, I want to suggest events for specific countries related to the few churches that were established by "Reformed" faiths.

Aside from events, if a country has over 50% of their development in Reformed provinces, a decision to adopt Reformed should appear. This would also trigger event 4, "Reformed Church Established in Our Country".

APPEARANCE OF THE REFORMED

Reformed faith should appear only by event, lacking a center of reformation like Protestantism. However, it should appear alongside Protestantism, with a MTTH of 5 years for the first event after the appearance of Protestantism. My reasoning for this is that Zwingli, the Swiss reformer who was active contemporarily with Luther, started his evangelic preaching not long after Luther. In addition, in Augsburg and elsewhere in southern Germany, Reformed (Anabaptists) had already become a huge influence during the first few years of the Reformation. Communal Reformation shows proof of this (Anabaptist presence in Augsburg). Further, the spread of the Reformed faiths was very much a bottom-up process in most cases, with a few exceptions (like Transylvania). Given this information, I argue Reformed should be locked unlike Protestantism and Catholicism; you can only become this religion through decision, event, or rebels.

The first event that should allow Reformed faith provinces to pop up should be along the lines of "Swiss Preachers Reject the Sacraments," MTTH 5 years after Protestantism. This event will happen to the holder of Zurich:
1. Zurich will turn to Reformed
2. Switzerland will get the option to become Reformed
3. Enables events "Anabaptist Revolt" and "Peasants demand more reform"
"Huldrych Zwingli, preaching in Switzerland, has rejected Catholic teachings about Sacraments and the Eucharist and advocated a Reformed version of Christianity. The canton of Zurich has embraced these teachings and abolished Mass"

Event 2: Reformists Revolt
"Protestants who deny the Eucharist have begun a revolt in one of our provinces. The rebels wish to impose their vision of religion on our government and institute more church reforms"
Requirements: Country is Protestant, Catholic, or Reformed (yes)
"?"
1. Spawns Reformed rebels in a province
2. Does NOT turn the province into Reformed religion, unless rebels take the province

Event 3: Peasants Demand More Reform
"The peasants in our country are demanding additional religious reforms"
Requirements: the disaster, "The Great Peasants' War" is active; country is Protestant or Anglican (ex. Reformed advocating more reform in the Anglican Church)
Decision: 1. Accede to their demands: Province that is not the capitol becomes Reformed; lose 15 prestige
2. Deny peasant demands: Province that is not the capitol becomes Reformed; Reformed rebels rise up in a random province

Event 4: Reformed Church Established in Our Country
"Reformed or Anabaptists have established an official church and government in control of our polity. We await to see what "reforms" they will make"
Requirements: Have accepted Reformed rebel demands or accepted a decision to become Reformed
Decision: 1. Let the peasants have their reforms: Country becomes a peasant's republic
2. Allow the preachers to establish a governing council: Country becomes a theocracy
3. (if the country is a monarchy) I will reform our church: Country gains government reform progress

This final event will happen in the case that any of the event revolts establish a state religion as Reformed.

COUNTRY-SPECIFIC EVENTS
First, Geneva & France's events remain as is, but Geneva does not gain a center of Reformation. Netherlands and Scotland should get events similar to Transylvania, but some of those events already exist.

Augsburg
Event: Reformed and Protestant Ideas Spread in Augsburg; Requires Augsburg be a free city
"The local congregations of Anabaptists, Protestants, and Reformists have appeared to the town council, requesting that local priests preach only a pure gospel"
Decision: 1. We will hear your case for reforms: Augsburg becomes Reformed
2. We prefer the Protestants, actually: Augsburg becomes Protestant
3. The Emperor would never approve of this...: Removes 2 stability, the HRE gains +100 improved relations "Loyal city" with Augsburg

Strassbourg
Event: Iconoclast Riots in Strassbourg (Event inspired by the research monograph, Voracious Idols and Violent Hands by Wandel)
"Peasants demanding removal of images in the Strassbourg cathedral have ransacked the altars and demanded that the city preach only a pure gospel"
Decision: 1. But... But I paid for that painting!: Lose ducats; Reformed zealots rise in Strassbourg
2. I always prefered whitewashed walls anyway: Strassbourg becomes Reformed

Münster
Event: Anabaptists Seize the City of Münster (inspired by the Münster Rebellion) Would probably not go for this
"Anabaptists, led by a man called Bernard Knipperdolling, have seized the city of Münster and set up an Anabaptist commune. The Catholics of the bishopric have rallied outside the city and will soon attempt a siege"
1. Münster becomes a peasant's republic
2. Catholic zealots rise up in the province of Münster (if Münster owns... Münster)
3. Münster becomes Reformed
4. Bernard Knipperdolling becomes the ruler of Münster

Transylvania
Event: Unitarian Church of Transylvania
"The ruler of Transylvania has invited a preacher by the name of Ferenc David to their court, intrigued by the idea of non-Trinitarianism"
Decision: 1. Establish the Unitarian Church of Transylvania: Transylvania becomes Reformed and gains a level 3 discounted theologian named Ferenc David
2. Sign the Edict of Torda, but keep our religion: Random province becomes Reformed, gain +2 stability

Poland/The Commonwealth
Event: Non-Trinitarian Preachers & Reformists Gain Prominence
"Certain nobles in our country have been convinced by non-Trinitarian and Reformed preachers that the Catholic Church requires reform and a "pure gospel." What do we do about these preachers and nobles?"
Decision: 1. Send the preachers away to Hungary: Random province in Carpathia become Reformed; Random province gets +10 unrest
2. Let the nobles have their church: Random province becomes Reformed

England/Great Britain
Event: Puritans Call for Further Reform (If England is Anglican or Protestant)
"Despite adopting the Reformation, the Puritans and some other groups feel that the church remains too close to that of the Catholic Church"
1. Two provinces of English culture become Reformed

Event: Puritans Emigrate
"Some of the Puritans have decided to leave for a colony, seeking to establish their own congregations there"
1. Random province held by England that is not in Europe becomes Reformed and English culture

Switzerland
Event: The Wars of Kappel (if Switzerland chose to become Reformed)
"Several pro-Catholic cantons have banded together to bring back Catholicism in the wake of the reforms made by Zwingli. They have launched a campaign to overthrow the Reformed administrations in the protestant cantons"
1. Catholic zealots rise up. These regiments should be in high number
2. Graubunden (if owned) and Schwyz become Catholic
3. Gain a general named "Huldrych Zwingli"

MECHANICS
Reformed should no longer give +2 tolerance of heretics and +1 possible advisors. Instead, it would give -1 tolerance of heretics and -15% stability cost. The negative tolerance is historical and also offsets the revamped mechanics by a bit.

Fervor: Instead of having 3 fervor buttons, there should be just one, the war fervor. Fervor points can be built up and used but will drain more quickly than before while the war fervor is active. When fervor runs out, it cannot be enabled again for a set amount of time, say 1 year.

Reformed Church: This will function like the Protestant church mechanic, but the chosen reforms will be permanent. There should be 2 church aspects that can be chosen that replace the trade and stability fervor buttons. I will give examples of these aspects below.

Spoiler: Reformed Church Aspects

Anabaptism: +10% manpower recovery speed
Iconoclasm: +10% national tax modifier
Unitarianism (Transylvania/Poland only?): +2 toleration of heretics and heathens
Disciplinary Council: -2 national unrest
Millenarianism: +10% morale of armies
Rejection of Saints: +2 tolerance of the true faith
Mobilize Peasants: -10% army maitenence
Emphasize Work Ethic: +10% goods produced
State & Church Discipline: +5% discipline

REFERENCES
Communal Reformation by Peter Blickle (1992)
Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism by Philip Benedict (2002)
Voracious Idols and Violent Hands by Lee Wandel (1995)

This suggestion was inspired by my own research into the topic due to my area of study...

Open to changing the OP if any better suggestions appear, I just feel Reformed is the overlooked of the 4 European religions.

 

[diplay name]

I would argue against this for several reasons:

First is the definition of "Reformed": In the most commonly used definition, the Reformed tradition refers to the Prebyterian and Continental Reformed Churches (of which include the Dutch, the Huguenot, and etc.). In a broader sense, it can also refer to other churches which affirm to a Calvinist soteriology, including many reformed Baptists. It can also refer to groups like the Puritans and Low Church Anglicans, although Anglicanism is its entirely own religion in-game. Pretty much no definition lumps in the radical reformers, Anabaptists, or non-Trinitarians into the term.

I haven't read Benedict's work before so I'm not sure as to why or how he came up with his definition of Reformed, but it seems to be uniquely tailored to fit his work, and is not at all in line with how the term is commonly used.

Second is that a lot of these are very specific. The Reformation currently is somewhat vague in order to keep in with the sandbox-y nature of the game. The Reformation can spawn in Spain or Finland, for example, although it's still heavily weighted towards Germany. There is no reason that Reformed should also not happen to spawn in Sicily or something.

 

[JKiller96]

I would argue against this for several reasons:

First is the definition of "Reformed": In the most commonly used definition, the Reformed tradition refers to the Prebyterian and Continental Reformed Churches (of which include the Dutch, the Huguenot, and etc.). In a broader sense, it can also refer to other churches which affirm to a Calvinist soteriology, including many reformed Baptists. It can also refer to groups like the Puritans and Low Church Anglicans, although Anglicanism is its entirely own religion in-game. Pretty much no definition lumps in the radical reformers, Anabaptists, or non-Trinitarians into the term.

I haven't read Benedict's work before so I'm not sure as to why or how he came up with his definition of Reformed, but it seems to be uniquely tailored to fit his work, and is not at all in line with how the term is commonly used.

Second is that a lot of these are very specific. The Reformation currently is somewhat vague in order to keep in with the sandbox-y nature of the game. The Reformation can spawn in Spain or Finland, for example, although it's still heavily weighted towards Germany. There is no reason that Reformed should also not happen to spawn in Sicily or something.

Radical reformers, and note that I said SOME Anabaptists (like those that were in Zurich during Zwingli's time), as well as the Unitarian Church of Transylvania and non-Trinitarian movements in Poland are linked together in Benedict's work, and I included them here, mainly because they lack representation, and second because "Reformed" is already a vague term and scholars agree that there are very few definitions that tie them together. Also, I did not specify that countries outside of the ones I mentioned couldn't become Reformed, necessarily.


Edit: I do understand your points however, and they are valid ones. I've changed some things in my suggestion that include Reformists and Anabaptists instead of using them seemingly as cognates.

 

[JKiller96]

Although I wanted some Anabaptist representation, I think they would be better as their own religion.