Crusader Kings 2 Redux

[Queequeg]

The main difference between Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism is probably the lack of a single leader (although the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is nominally the first among equals.) Instead, there are a number of practically autonomous Patriarchs, though they remain in communion with the rest of the Orthodox Church. This is called autocephaly, and we now represent this in the game by making the Court Chaplain in Orthodox kingdoms a Patriarch who is the religious head of everyone in the kingdom. He has power over excommunication and divorce over all characters in his jurisdiction, though only the Ecumenical Patriarch can grant invasions. Autocephalous Patriarchs have to be bishops (rule a temple Holding), preventing them from marrying or inheriting titles.

However, this is not all; we are also adding another concept called the Pentarchy. These are the five original heads of pre-schism Christianity; the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. If there is an Orthodox bishop in one of these Holdings, he will be considered a Pentarch, and will act like an autocephalous Patriarch over his entire traditional see (Orthodox kingdoms within such an area will not have their own Patriarchs.) Each reigning Pentarch will strengthen the authority of the entire Orthodox faith. Incidentally, this mechanic also has bearing on some key Decisions in Legacy of Rome (more on that in the next dev diary.)

As an added bonus, we are making the other forms of Oriental Christianity a bit more interesting. There is now a religion called Miaphysite, which includes the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. In game terms, it's another version of Orthodoxy, with its head in Alexandria instead of Constantinople. It has the same mechanics with autocephalous Patriarchs and the Pentarchy as Orthodox Christianity, but is not considered a heresy by Catholics and Orthodox Christians. The Monophysite heresy is now a heresy of the Miaphysite Church. Lastly, most Orthodox heresies now also work like Orthodoxy itself, and we've added the Nestorian and Monothelite heresies.

NICE! Looks like it'll be out in two weeks, as next week's dev diary will be the last one

[Faeelin]

Oh Good lord, we're about to get a bunch of events that are basically "Guns of the Basileus" aren't we?

[Valmy]

Oh Good lord, we're about to get a bunch of events that are basically "Guns of the Basileus" aren't we?

It looks like events for the entire Eastern Christian world to me, not just Byzantium

[garbon]

Oh Good lord, we're about to get a bunch of events that are basically "Guns of the Basileus" aren't we?

It looks like events for the entire Eastern Christian world to me, not just Byzantium

Issue for is that the new decisions they hinted at - all focus on conquest-oriented Byzzies. Seems unlikely that some other Orthodox power would really care about re-forming the traditional Orthodox sees.

[Sheilbh]

Now that I think of it the Roman empire did inspire Entry of the Gladiators a piece of music that people associate with clowns.  That is kind of humorous.

Christ.  I mean, I knew Bette Midler was old.

[Sheilbh]

But Yiddish is basically dead and gone at this point.  The culture that created Yiddish theater and literature is gone and isn't coming back.  Such is the way of the world.  Shit does indeed happen. Even without the Shoah the result would have been the same, for the same reason Yiddish culture died out in new York.

Wasn't there a debate in the early days of Israel over whether or not to use Yiddish or Hebrew?  I kind of love the idea of a Yiddish speaking Israel.

[Habbaku]

Wasn't there a debate in the early days of Israel over whether or not to use Yiddish or Hebrew?  I kind of love the idea of a Yiddish speaking Israel.

http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Michael-Chabon/dp/0007149824 

[Valmy]

Issue for is that the new decisions they hinted at - all focus on conquest-oriented Byzzies. Seems unlikely that some other Orthodox power would really care about re-forming the traditional Orthodox sees.

Why not?  Bulgarians and Georgians like Patriarchs to....or particularly blobby Russians.

[garbon]

Issue for is that the new decisions they hinted at - all focus on conquest-oriented Byzzies. Seems unlikely that some other Orthodox power would really care about re-forming the traditional Orthodox sees.

Why not?  Bulgarians and Georgians like Patriarchs to....or particularly blobby Russians.

There's a difference between their autocephalous patriarchs and wanting to revive the pentarchy. I'm just not really seeing why the Bulgarians, Georgians or Russians would be invested in that.

[Queequeg]

TBH, I think the Armenians might be. They were always more warlike than the Byzzies, anyway. One can also imagine amanda Orthodox Ruthenia warring against something like the Ottomans.  Or the Ottomans.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

iirc, for quite a while both bulgarian and serbian kings tried to style themselves as would-be successors to the Byzanteens. Implying that they would have taken the mantle, tiara and claims of the romans if they ever managed to take Constantinople

[garbon]

iirc, for quite a while both bulgarian and serbian kings tried to style themselves as would-be successors to the Byzanteens. Implying that they would have taken the mantle, tiara and claims of the romans if they ever managed to take Constantinople

That's a far cry from re-starting all of those sees that had frequently cause the Byzantines trouble.

[Valmy]

There's a difference between their autocephalous patriarchs and wanting to revive the pentarchy. I'm just not really seeing why the Bulgarians, Georgians or Russians would be invested in that.

For the prestige and power, contributing to the strength of the Orthodox Church and their own glory.  I have a hard time imagining an Orthodox King who is so powerful he is conquering Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria who wouldn't take advantage of this.  Why wouldn't they?  It seems impossible to me that they would not.

[garbon]

Asserting that he'd captured important Christian sites, sure? Pointedly setting up largely autonomous sees? Why would he bother with that?

[The Minsky Moment]

Wasn't there a debate in the early days of Israel over whether or not to use Yiddish or Hebrew?  I kind of love the idea of a Yiddish speaking Israel.

No.  The Labor Bund in eastern Europe promoted Yiddish, but tended towards opposition to Zionism.  I don't think Yiddish was ever seriously contemplated as a national language in Palestine.