When the Byzantine Empire becomes a Theocracy

[Dahoota]

I've seen in other people's games that the Byzantine Empire somehow becomes a Theocracy, it's just happened in my game. I'm playing an Ironman vassal game as the Republic of Amalfi, is there any way to fix this without the console?





In other games I've seen, the Patriarch was elected Basileus, in this case though it seems to be the other way around. At first I thought he must have revoked the Patriarchy, but nope - he's the son of the previous emperor and had the empire for 7 years before he gained the patriarchy.

The only factions available now are Independence and Council power.

I was going to make it a vassal game, but now I guess I'll be going independent and bringing down the empire from the outside...

 

[Unready]

That's quite often last patch
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-fhon-the-great-teocracy-of-byzantium.939953/

Most interesting things will be later - when they choose new patriarch and new theocratic emperor
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-byzantine-empire-has-strange-effects.928514/
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/most-stable-biz-i-have-seen.935638/

 

[jumbi]

I once had something similar, but it was with a Karling becoming the Fraticelli Pope and King of France, leading to the future kings all also being the heretical pope. Fun times those were.

 

[Asiak]

They need to fix it, lord knows it's been posted so many times. Part of me thinks, oh but it adds variety. But that variety isn't worth the revolving door that emprie theocracies often become.

If you see it early and there are still claimants and you have the men and means to press them. Then I think it can be fixed that way.

But as time goes on those claimants will grow old and die. And with no imperial family just an unmarried priest emperor there will be no more new claimants. Once I did see a priest who must have been married first and then became a priest-emperor he had a few kids. I don't recall if they had claims, they should have.

But mostly within a few generations the celibacy of churchmen will destroy any chance you have of fixing it through a claim.