MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase -- Part 19: The Reformation

Author: Findan
Published: 2017-12-02, edited: 2017-12-02
Rather Death Than Dishonor -- Europa Universalis IV AAR with MEIOU & Taxes 2.0 modification

Follow a lone man's epic quest to make Brittany a great power and learn a thing or two about the freaking amazing mod MEIOU & Taxes.

About the AAR in general:
-"""comedic""" and historical
- narrative, roleplay, gameplay
- Mostly screenshots instead of photos or paintings
- Some crude language
- Lengthy explanations of M&T mechanics
- Advice for new players of M&T
- The writer isn't a native speaker
- How i do talk england?

Part of the campaign:

MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase

Previous part:

Game: Europa Universalis IV

MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase -- Part 18: Nantes Falls

Images: 140, author: Findan, published: 2017-11-25

Get ready for a real long ride. This part has by far the most images, because a lot of shit happens.

Spain keeps giving me a golden shower and I forget to use the nopausetext command before taking this screenshot.
Ireland has been badly devastated by the civil war and the plague. It'll take years to recover.
The mud farmers complain loudly to Duke Charles about their lord treating them poorly. He surprises the nobility by actually listening to the common filth and punishing the lord accordingly. The peasants are joyous and spread word of Charles' justice and kindness.
Poland besieges Vienna while Austria occupies an ugly string of provinces in enemy territory.
In the Duchy of Austria, Prague has recovered quite well, gaining back a fuck ton of rural pop and some urban pop as well. Many hussites are converted back to catholicism, which causes some unrest.
Constantinople and Thessalonika fall to the Turks and are annexed. Rome is no more.

This image is NSFL for byzantiboos and can trigger them easily.
To appease the grumpy nobles, Charles sends a generous gift. He expresses genuine kindness and nobles for once think that the gift is more than just a bribe intended to shut them up.
Your turk is evolving!

Any Turkish nation that fulfills the requirements can form the Turkish Empire and get a better nation rank and some other neat stuff. If you want to make a big empire as some other beylik than the Ottos, go ahead.

I'm pretty sure in newer versions Turkish empire is actually green to reduce the density of red nations in the area.
Konstantiniyye, was Constantinople
Now it's Konstantiniyye, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Note how the province was insta converted to Turkish culture and Sunni religion. R E A L I S M, this time ironically. Although thanks to Dei Gratia the conversion is kinda reversed and a sunni minority appears instead. So you end up with Orthodox Turks. Amazing.

Konstantiniyye had 40% sunnis after conversion so it's not too bad.
Unlike his father, Charles does not tell people to shut the fuck up when they say God is angry at him. Instead, he repents for his and his subjects' sins and begs for forgiveness.
Caravel time, bitches. Get rid of those lateen sails.

Wait, it costs HOW MUCH to do that?
Tuscany takes advantage of Milan's distraction with the Austrians and declares war. The Turks come to their allies' aid, but Tuscany is unlikely to need them.
The university of Nantes is opened and Charles reduces the education budget. Universities make each ducat spent twice as effective. Because I want to keep education at its current level, I decide to save some cash and cut the funding in half.
A noble with huge tracts of land dies and passes much of his property to the church. Charles does not intervene and thus pleases the clergy.
As more and more people get tired of complaining and embrace heresy, Rome begins yet another church council. It's like trying to plug holes on a leaking boat that is already sinking rapidly.

Charles advises his delegates that are going to Arezzo to focus on reforming absenteeism.
The Bohemians can't get a break even when they don't live in the Kingdom of Bohemia.
Cape Verde has been colonized. Where will the Portuguese go next?
To the empty island of Azores. The colonists settling there scratch their heads when they find Breton skeletons washed up on the coast.
And once again, the church council has fail-- WHAT THE FUCK

THEY ACTUALLY AGREED ON SOMETHING FOR ONCE

Eh, this is like the paris climate agreement, too little too late, I'm afraid.
Nantes has so much trade power now that it is a minor center of trade in the Bay of Biscay. And trade power will only increase as the city grows.
Anjou has embraced the Renaissance movement, with several notable artworks and philosophical treatises being produced in the university of Angers. Now that Nantes has a university as well, the renaissance will spread from there extra fast to neighbouring provinces once it gets there first.
Even with a drastically reduced education budget the education level keeps growing. That university was a good investment.
Milan itself comes under siege and the Austrians turn the tide of war. The Turks, after Milan looted and pillaged Bulgaria a bit, make peace, but that won't help the Lombards.
Austria heroically wins the war and forces Hungary to break its alliance with Poland-Lithuania.
A son is born to Charles and Maria Manuela. Charles decides to name the babby after his ancestor, Saint Charles the Blessed, whom he admires greatly. Not after himself as that would be arrogant, and pride is a deadly sin.
Charles' cousin is a blabbermouth who doesn't know how to keep a secret, yet Charles is merciful and only chastises her a little.
War. War has changed.

Cavalry of old no longer dominates the battlefield like it used to, although it remains strong. During the wars with Burgundy, it became clear that the new kings of battle are pikemen and musketmen. Charles and his officers reform the army accordingly.
The pike and shot era has begun.

I wish there were more games about this type of warfare. The 1648 mod for Medieval 2 is the best I've got, but it's a mod for an old and dusty game.
also bigger guns because i love big guns and i cannot lie
the heck is this

So Cape Verde is now a settler colony, apparently. This sounds like part of a colonization system that I thought was coming for M&T, but I guess it's already in the game, albeit probably unfinished and unpolished.

I'll explain the system soon.
Tuscans have thoroughly raped every hole Milan has.
HAIL THE NEW MIGHTY EMPEROR: THE COUNT OF MANSFELD!

I don't think those swiss guards will help much against an invading army of 15,000
*laughs in Tuscan*
yay more colonial range

+25? The fuck is that useful for?

M&T's current problem with colonization is mostly two things: low colonial range and low colonial growth. Also the difficulty of getting exploration ideas, I guess, as some countries lack mana to do that.

This all will be fixed Soon™
The infamous monk who had dared to complain about indulgences and the corruption of the church is kidnapped. Sad! That's probably the last we ever heard of him.

"Truly, the Lord works in mysterious ways" got a chuckle out of me.
Despite the criticism it received, Charles decides to allow the publication of Ptolemy's Geographia and even funds it personally. While Ptolemy was a filthy pagan, Charles believes the map could help the explorers find a sea route to Prester John's kingdom in Ethiopia. Some bishops complain but not much else, as the bishop of Rennes remains loyal to him.
Oh fuck off why are ship upgrades so damn expensive
Mansfeld's time on the Imperial throne doesn't last for long and the Habsburgs are elected for the first time. A dark age has begun.

Maybe the HRE won't get gangbanged by its neighbours this time.
AAAAAH HELP I FORGOT TO UNPAUSE
The disappeared monk, Isaak Marks, has been declared a heretic and is threatened with excommunication. But much to Charles' dismay not everyone is happy with this declaration and even attack priests in France. After hearing these news he immediately sends guards to protect all bishops of Brittany as they post the Papal Bull.
Charles is also disturbed by what is happening in his newly founded university. Students, influenced by those in nearby Angers, are reading and discussing pagan works openly and without shame. Not only that but the ideas they discuss stink of heresy. And so Charles bans the reading of classics, including Geographia as he comes to regret publishing it. The Pope applauds this decision and compliments Charles for his piety and loyalty to Rome.
Instead of drawing weird shit with different sized people and overall wonky style, the court painter has embraced the revolutionary idea of drawing something that actually resembles reality. This new painting is not heretical at all and in fact portrays Saint Mary, so Charles happily purchases it and puts it on a wall in his palace.
Charles is in need of an advisor and summons a papal legate to Nantes.

let's hope i get an inquisitor
hey look forced marching neat
Alright, here we go. The die has been cast.
FUCK

dammit shit

oh well
Calixtines, Calixtines everywhere.
The colony of Bujadur has become self-sustaining, and now my colonists can reach some actually useful provinces! Yay!
The first colonist is sent to the Cap-Vert peninsula.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Cape Verde islands were named after this nearby cape. Just to make things more confusing.
The second is sent to the mouth of river Senegal.
Despite Isaak Marks' treatment, many are inspired by him to complain about the church, although they do it in a less direct and obvious manner. One such complainer is in Nantes and has published a popular book, containing scandalous things like a priest having a sexual relationship with his mistress, a comedic sidekick who is a horribly uneducated bishop and a protagonist priest whose character arc is all about realizing how corrupt he and the rest of the church is and joining a secluded monastery where he repents for his sins.

Charles is afraid of the Pope being pissed if he hears of this, so he orders the bishop of Rennes to keep things on the DL while he burns all the copies he can find. Pesky printing presses have produced quite a lot of them.
The lesser nobility grows fond of Charles and many no longer miss their presitigious titles they lost. They commend Charles on his fight against heresy in these increasingly turbulent times.
The Council of Arezzo is over and Charles' delegates return, bringing good news of a reform.
Bujadur got a free fishing port for some reason. I'm not complaining.
Oh, now Bujadur is a settler colony too. It's explanation time, bitches. I'm writing from memory though so I might not be 100% correct.

The planned/already partially implemented system basically has two types of colonies: settler colonies and plantation colonies. The former simulates colonies in US East Coast/Argentina that focus on food production and attracting migrants from the Old World, while the latter simulates slave plantations focusing on exporting luxury goods while buying food from settler colonies. Basically what the event text says.

why did i even type this
hey look it's that meme city

you know I was there once, Ulm has a neat and really tall cathedral. There also was a toy store with an awesome lego diorama behind a window. Too bad this was years before the meme had even existed so I didn't appreciate it that much.

anyways

The monk's story is not over yet as news arrive in Brittany about the events of the Diet of Ulm. There, Isaak Marks did not deny to be a heretic, and in fact even acted like one, proudly in front of Emperor Albrecht. And so the Emperor issued the Edict of Ulm, which forbids helping the heretic and bans the reading of his heretical writings. But before he could be punished, he vanished without a trace. In Brittany, Duke Charles bans all twenty-five heretical works of Isaak, in accordance to the Edict of Ulm.

Dei Gratia assigned the location and the character name for this event years earlier, which is why Princess-Elector of Saxony appears instead of the newly crowned Emperor. Just pretend the Princess-Elector is actually Emperor Albrecht of Austria cross-dressing.

Also that previous abduction event probably should've happened AFTER this event. Because that's what happened historically.

Fun Fact: there is no evidence for Luther uttering the badass words "Here I stand", sadly. Instead, he likely said "I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."
Oh, I guess most people in Bujadur speak Breton or French now and worship Jesus.

Again, thanks to Dei Gratia, the province won't be fully converted and instead a minority will appear. So I'll have Breton muslims. Amazing.
If you border a heretic or heathen nation, you have the option to send a missionary to one of their provinces. It'll likely piss off the province owner, though.
I don't have enough church influence to send missionaries to distant African countries, yet.
The mission will actually require a missionary, which is a neat little thing.
Now that Bujadur is colonized, there's more provinces to explore within my range. Mikael goes on an expedition along the African coast.
Muscovy, having suffered a humiliating defeat against the Livonian order, is now being fucked by their other western neighbour of Denmark-Sweden.
To protect Breton coasts, Charles commissions the construction of a huge warship.
At the Estates of Brittany, the most influential nobles all of a sudden complain about centralization that was done about a century ago. Charles reasons that a strong central government is needed to keep the Duchy safe from invaders. Every tax penny currently going to Charles is necessary. This calms most of the nobility.
Charles is in a generous mood and so Norman nobility of Constentin are granted the same privileges as Breton nobles and are allowed to participate in the Estates and the Parliament. As both Breton and Norman nobles use French and Latin commonly, there is no language barrier.
Mikael is disappointed to realize that the African coast begins to curve southward again, making the possible route to India even longer.
He resupplies in Bujadur and prepares to go on another exploratory mission close to the coast.
The Church has fully realized the urgency of immediate reforms and thus yet another council begins in Minden. The heretics there openly protest near the meeting place of the council.
Black heathen savages attack Mikael's crew, and he decides to give them some jewelry to calm them down. The valuables had been given by Charles and were intended to be gifts for great kings they might find, although now they decorated the necks and chests of wild tribesmen.
Some nomads near Bujadur have been baptized and converted and Charles continues missionary efforts in Africa. The Pope recognizes this and publicly compliments him for spreading the word of God.
Mikael got completely fucking wasted but I guess no one cares as I lose no prestige.
Mikael makes contact with the powerful Yoruba empire of Oyo. The Alaafin ("Man of the Palace" aka King) was somewhat disappointed to be gifted hastily assembled necklaces made from rope and sea shells when Mikael and his men met him in the capital.
Further south Mikael discovers the Kingdom of Kongo and gives some of the alcohol he had drank earlier as a gift to the King. He did not complain and happily let the milkskin visitors stay for a while.

Kongo is my second favourite historical african nation after Ethiopia, mostly because catholic missionaries managed to record such a huge amount of its history and interviewed natives extensively to write down older oral history. The relationship between Portugal and Kongo is especially fascinating.
Here you can see how now 20% of the populace of Bujadur is catholic. Meaning I now have Sunni Bretons. How awkward.
Mikael did not find a route to India nor a route to Prester John's kingdom, but he did find several wealthy and populous kingdoms that are good potential trade partners and converts.
The peasants complain once again, this time much more loudly and in many regions of Brittany. Several nobles are killed and so are many more peasants as the farmers demand more rights, lower taxes and better treatment.

Charles shrugs, promises to lower the taxes and only punishes those responsible for murder, letting thousands of angry peasants be free of charges. Nobles are the opposite of pleased.
The walls of Nantes are outdated and still badly damaged after the Burgundian siege. Charles decides to fulfill his promise of using tax money for the defence of the kingdom and begins an extensive building project.

Upgrading a fort works just like building a fort, from the province interaction menu.

2500 men are drafted into service, and Charles makes sure they are fed well and treated for possible injuries.
Then he spends some money on architects and managers and materials and so on.
Work begins and is estimated to end in two and a half years.
There was a bug in the previous patch that made it impossible for new mineral deposits to be discovered, but it's been fixed now. Same with the food problem in Swabia and the capital bonus problem.

Isn't it fun to release a patch to your mod/game, then release another one fixing all the things the new patch broke for some convoluted reason? And then the bug-fixing patch ends up having new bugs. Fun times.
Holy shit, that's a lot of salt. Did the people of Aunis discover Paradox Forums?
Brittany is so large now that Nantes has thousands of new bureaucrats, all working to manage the expanded kingdom.

Also, 40,000 urban pop bitches.
Charles is deeply concerned when he hears of religious unrest across France. Radical preachers spread the Reformed faith and the King responds by evicting the heretic scum, called Huguenots. Many refuse to go and riot instead, demanding to be left alone to practice their new religion in peace. Their fervour is fueled by religious nationalism, a new phenomenon.

So far, Brittany is free for new heretical movements and Constentin's heretics remain the only problem.
The small fishing port in Bujadur is named Port Charles by its founders (in English: Port Charles), who wish to honor their pious and kind Duke.
As the fate of Isaak Marks remains unknown, his supporters convert en masse, abandoning the corrupted and evil Catholic Church and its shit-eating Pope. This religious sect in Germany is called Marksism by Catholics, who are fond of naming heresies after their leaders.

Isaak Marks, safely hidden by a noble supporter who kidnapped him, despises the term and prefers to be called Evangelical. Unfortunately for him, in a few decades Marksists would happily adopt the term.
King Enrique of Spain decides to finish the job and declares war on Aragon once more. But this time the Catalans have found a powerful ally in Italy: Tuscany, the most advanced and one of the wealthiest realms in Europe. A messenger arrives, calling for Charles to come to aid his wife's relative. He honourably accepts the call, although hopes to not actually send an army on campaign.
Some time later he generously grants market rights to merchants in La Rochelle, who are becoming quite wealthy thanks to the local salt marshes.
I note that Engolesmois has a capital bonus modifier and suspect that it is a bug, but upon closer inspection I am proven wrong.
France has build a capital building here to improve CE in the south. If I was playing as France, I would've built it further south, probably in Toulouse. But oh well, the current location is fine. Next to all the admin buildings, the King builds a neat palace where he can reside while visiting his southern domain.

Capitol buildings are hella expensive but can drastically reduce CE and give a bunch of bonuses. They are built from the province interaction menu, from the option "I would like to expand the bureaucracy".

Somewhat amusingly, the wikipedia page says Angoulême "was highly coveted due to its position at the centre of many roads important to communication". Maybe the AI has been trained in history, who knows.

I love how detailed the wiki page is, apparently live action Code Lyoko was filmed in the city some years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angoul%C3%AAme

Funt Fact: Before New York was called New Amsterdam, it was called New Angoulême.
Denmark annexes some Russian swamps after winning the war with Muscovy. Because the end result looked fucking horrendous I fixed it with a few console commands and gave the land to Sweden.

Shut up, I wasn't cheating, I was removing bordergore. A just cause, for certain.
After years of work the carrack is finished and is christened Saint Mary by Charles himself. It is the first dedicated combat vessel of the Breton Navy and is truly glorious. May no one try to storm the beaches of Brittany ever again.
To reward Charles for his unwavering loyalty to him and for his many pious deeds, the Pope grants him the title of Prince, thus making the Duchy of Brittany into a Principality. Charles is deeply greateful to him and swears to be loyal to Rome until his death and keep his land safe from vile heresy.
So, now that Charles' title is Prince, what's Charles' title? Because prince usually refers to heirs of kings. What is an heir of a prince called?
To potentially improve CE in the southern trade provinces, I need a trade wharf. To build a trade wharf, I need a commune hall. To build a commune hall, I need money. To have money-- oh wait I already have enough money nevermind
And so construction begins.
Charles is minding his own business when worrisome reports arrive from the east: the Tuscan army is coming.

Men are drafted and hired as the army is hastily gathered in Nantes. Once again, an enemy approaches.
The Tuscans lay siege to Nantes and the army retreats westwards while it gathers more men and supplies. The wall construction is left unfinished as the enemy encircles the city. Charles swears to defend it to the last and refuses to let it fall once again. Rather death than dishonor, he shouts to the crowd gathered around his palace. It erupts into cheers and praises Charles' courage.
A commoner from Locmaria, a tiny village on a tiny island called Belle-Île off the coast of Bro Gwened, has risen through the ranks and has been promoted to a high position, to the disdain of nobles. Charles orders him to take command of the army, mostly because he is a pious monk loyal to him. But he is not completely incompetent as he is fairly obsessed with new modern gunpowder weapons.

Albret, who see Brittany as their closest ally and best friend, come to aid them in the defence of their country.
A "religious war" "erupts" in Lippe, which is 100% calixtine. Catholics have risen in rebellion, only to realize there are two dozen of them against tens of thousands.

I really wish OPMs would be unable to have religious wars.
While Marksism spreads across Germany, the more radical Reformed movement is gaining traction as well. Württemberg has a notable number of reformed heretics. But so far, princes of HRE have only converted to calixtine heresies. Many still see the reformation movement as dangerous.
Uuinmael's army is ready and so are the Albret allies. The camp is disassembled and the army marches eastward, to break the siege on the capital.
Meanwhile in Minden, the church council is forced to end abruptly as religious unrest erupts and riots break out. Dozens are killed and the local Prince-Bishop evicts the heretic scum as the other bishops leave the province.
When Charles hears the news of a relief force approaching, he orders the garrison to sally out and attack the Tuscan twats.
The battle is short but brutal as Tuscan musketeers and artillery mow down Bretons and Albretians alike. Both sides take heavy casualties, with many a noble knight of Brittany being felled from afar before they could even reach enemy lines. Uuinmael orders a retreat and does his best to treat and comfort the wounded as they bleed out in wagons carrying them away from the battlefield.

Massimiliano is a talented and capable commander, but is unable to celebrate his great victory for long.
The Royal Spanish Army arrives and engages the weary and battered Tuscan force.
Massimiliano's army fights for a long time before he finally orders both the battle and the siege to be abandoned. He manages to save all the artillery of his army, but little else.

King Enrique really saved my ass, didn't he. He even personally led the army to battle.
Of the 2000 Breton horsemen, only 234 remain to fight. The battle was disastrous for the nobility as many of their young sons were slain or crippled.

The bloodied remnants of Uuinmael's army manage to gather and reorganize before beginning the long march back home.
Charles celebrates the victory over the Tuscans, as do the relieved citizens of Nantes. King Enrique is welcomed to the city as a savior and stays in the palace for a while. Charles presents him generous gifts to show gratitude for their help, such as the gorgeous painting of Saint Mary and several other valuable works of art and trinkets.
In the many towns and churches of Brittany, anti-Catholic propaganda spreads as do recently translated French versions of the Bible, printed en masse. As soon as Charles hears of this he bans the tracts. Some of his advisors suggested burning self-proclaimed heretic missionaries at the stake, but Charles thought it was inhumane and horrific at best and certainly wouldn't make heretics any less zealous.
After the Tuscans leave, the damage their cannons did is repaired and the fortification constructions are finally finished. Let the Tuscan twats try to besiege the city now, see if they can even make a dent.
The Pope grants the bishop of Rennes the right to bless Charles at his request.

Might as well spend the papal influence on something, i guess.
The Tuscan army returns, having been reinforced, but retreats when the recovered Breton army approaches. After a long chase and several skirmishes, the two armies finally face in battle in Picardie, with Spanish reinforcements approaching.
Thanks to Spanish aid the battle is a resounding victory, although once again Massimiliano manages to escape.
Charles not only has the reputation of being kind, but of being generous as well. After Enrique spreads word of his generosity and the taxes on peasantry are reduced, this reputation is cemented.

What a coincidence, Charles gets two very christian traits in a row. Too bad this impacts my tax income. Unlike Charles, I want all the pennies I can get in my coffer.
Peasants' War erupts in southern Germany, with a force of several thousand peasants storming Vienna and capturing it after a bloody siege. It was similar unrest that Brittany had faced during Charles' reign, but much, much larger in scale, with entire regions being overrun by thousands of angry mud farmers. They are sick of being repressed and rise up against their masters, making outrageous demands like "please don't treat us like pieces of shit, thank you" and "stop taxing us so much, we're already dirt poor". Absolutely disgusting.

Some blame Isaak Marks for being responsible for the revolt by spreading radical heretic ideas. He is deeply insulted by this and begins writing...
The Bishop of Rennes declares that the war Brittany is fighting is a just war blessed by God. The home of the Bretons has been defended from sinful invaders and it is their duty to now punish them. 82 eager men voluntarily join the army and swear oaths to Prince Charles.

GOTT MITT UNS
During Charles' reign, the devotion of his subjects intensifies, especially as heresy spreads across the border. Catholicism is becoming an important part of Breton identity.
The Tuscans return once more, this time with a larger army. They besiege Constentin while Uuinmael's army stays around Nantes.
Both Portugal and Spain have unlocked exploration ideas. Seems like I'll possibly have more colonial competition in the near future.
The Spanish arrive and drive the Tuscans away. Truly, King Enrique is the protector of Brittany.
Brittany's internal stability improves, yay.
For some reason the army of Albret is in Rosello and doesn't move as the Tuscans approach. The whole army ends up getting stack wiped.

The AI of EUIV never fails to surprise me in unexpected ways.
The Spanish arrive some time later and defeat the Tuscans, albeit after taking heavy casualties despite greatly outnumbering the foe.

Technology + combat width reduction due to terrain + Tuscan Space Marines = an army of 40000 can't stackwipe an army of 6000
A bunch of people migrate to Bujadur, mostly merchants.
I guess this is supposed to boost population growth, but I didn't see any change in the province interaction menu. Maybe it doesn't work, I dunno.
After the rudely interrupted Council of Minden the bishops and cardinals regroup in the valley of Trent. Perhaps not the wisest idea as Trent is at war.

Charles advices his bishops to focus on reforming absenteeism, the biggest problem plaguing the church. Brittany has suffered from it several times.
The nobility has had enough of Charles pandering to the peasant mobs and have complained at the Estates. Some also complain of Charles being a little more than a puppet of Rome. Charles humbly admits his faults but his supporters argue loudly against the complaining nobles, which eventually leads to them angrily leaving the room.

Oh, 5 loyalty, that's not too bad MOTHERFUCKER IT'S STILL TOO MUCH
AND I JUST GAVE THEM GIFTS FOR FUCKS SAKE

IS THIS HOW THEY THANK ME
[autistic screeching]
Good news from Trent, absenteeism is no longer a big problem thanks to reforms. But the heretical movements aiming to separate from Rome continue to spread unabated.

You can bet your ass that in the near future many will happily abandon anything that damages the environment once a dozen major cities are repeatedly flooded or damaged by storms and the fishing industry collapses in many parts of the world. That, of course, doesn't help at all.
Spain goes on the offensive and invades Tuscany's recent acquisitions from Milan. Old rivals Genoa and Venice fight in the adriatic and I choose paper mana focus as I no longer need that much bird mana.
A talented man from Nantes offers Charles his services, but the Prince rejects him once he learns about his heretical beliefs. This leads to small-scale violence in Nantes against heretics.

Hold on, "Gifted Protestant" from Nantes? WHAT THE FUCK
FUCK THE CANCER IS SPREADING

RED ALERT RED ALERT

IT'S PURGE O'CLOCK
Having learned that Nantes' heretic population has grown at a staggering rate and that there already are about 30,000 of them, he requests a Papal bull to establish the Breton Inquisition. The Pope happily grants the bull and permits him to appoint priests as inquisitors. Charles will have full control of this new inquisition. He might be kind to people, but to him, heretics are not people.

You expected the Breton Inquisition, didn't you?
Rejecting that advisor gave me a lot of piety, which allows me to do this decision.
I'll get a dirt cheap inquisitor that I can then use to unlock conversion missions.
A priest from the small town of Châteaubriand, known for his zealously and condemnation of Isaak Marks and other heretical preachers, is appointed as the head of the inquisition by Charles.
The State Inquisition of the Principality of Brittany is officially founded on 2.12.1498, precisely 519 years ago.
The tech cost penalty reminded me, here's the tech levels of countries in 1498.
The fuck? "Other trade companies"? You fucking idiot, Cayor belongs to the Jolof Empire, who is allied with motherfucking Mali! I ain't gonna declare war on them!

fucking dumb cunts
Priests in Brittany see the Bishop of Rennes Yvo de Mayeuc as nothing more than Charles' pawn who does everything he asks and thus try to remove him from office. Charles, however, intervenes and supports him, causing a small dispute.
Tuscany makes peace with Spain after several cities are occupied, thus abandoning Aragon to its grisly fate.
Poland overruns Austria and Prague is once again occupied and looted.
The two new trading company provinces actually get fish as a rural trade good, which makes heck of a lot more sense than millet.
After several years of nothing happening, the construction of the SUPERCATHEDRAL continues thanks to Charles' generous support.
The repressed German mud farmers are slaughtered in droves by professional soldiers, but receive no sympathy from Isaak Marks. He strongly condemns them and says they should stay loyal to their princes, and thus stay loyal to God. His book, Admonition to Peace, and its sequel with an amazing name, Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, prove to princes who read them that Isaak's ideology isn't dangerous like they thought, but possibly even useful. Princes are chosen by God, and thus have God's blessing to do what they like... the very thought gave erections to many rulers.

This event unlocks country conversion to protestantism, as you know if you watched the video I linked in the last part. If not, you can watch it now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3F0K_XfUrA
Also a useful wiki link explaining how the reformation spreads:
http://meiouandtaxes.wikia.com/wiki/Rules_for_Reformation

"A rebel is not worth rational arguments, for he does not accept them. You have to answer people like that with a fist, until the sweat drips off their noses"
- Martin Luther
- Also Bashar al-Assad
Renaissance is spreading quickly to Nantes.
For months now, Spain has sat in Girona doing nothing. Apparently they don't have transport ships or something as they are not invading the Aragonese islands.

Fuck off Spain, I want to convert heretics and I can't do that while I'm at war.
Looks like Bretons need to end this war. Troops and ships are gathered and supplies prepared for a long military expedition to the Mediterranean.
Not long after the end of the Peasants' War, the Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg formally abandons Rome and converts to Marksism. This shocks people all around Europe, including Brittany.
Inquisitor Vougay has good connections with many other priests, and one of them has been promoted to a Cardinal. Charles sees an opportunity and generously helps Vougay's friend in moving to Brittany.
The boys are going on vacation to Mallorca. Like British tourists, they will loot and pillage to their hearts' content.
OH COME ON WHAT THE HELL

4 months pass and the cardinal is already dead.

it's not funny stop laughing
My high piety increases the effects of religious modifers, such as those from a religious head.
Following Magdeburg's example, countless rulers abandon Catholicism and convert to Protestantism. Notably, Scotland and Norway do so.
Mallorca is occupied and thoroughly pillaged. When Charles eventually hears of this, he will threaten to harshly punish those responsible. But for now, the soldiers happily haul valuables onto their ships.
Livonian Order's crusade against Muscovy ends in victory and the weakened Russian princedom is weakened further.

Never seen Muscovy get fucked this hard.
The church council of Trent comes to an end, having successfully reformed the Church once again. But the bishops are not in a good mood as they depart, for they have heard of many rulers converting to heresy without shame.
The Pope dies, but his successor has much weaker authority than him thanks to the rapidly spreading reformation.
I look at the warscore bar and realize that ticking war score won't come from Girona being occupied, but from won battles. Fucking shit, no wonder warscore wasn't growing.

Time to invade Sardinia I guess
Austria makes peace with Poland, only to end up at war with Denmark, as well as the allied Switzerland and Milan.

...

Fucking SWITZERLAND has occupied Vienna. This is getting fucking ridiculous. Every Emperor that gets elected is fucked in the ass, mouth, ears and dick hole.

This is a current problem with the mod and you usually see HRE get invaded repeatedly by its neighbours, with the Emperor being unable to resist.

It's time to install the HRE bandaid fixes mod. ASAP.
One of Charles' advisors suggests spreading heresy to England or some other hostile nation, but he angrily rejects this proposal and says that would be a mean thing to do. Besides, heretics must be purged everywhere, not just in Brittany.
Uuinmael leads his army to land in western Sardinia, and the Aragonese army marches to meet them.
Yvo dies of disease and it's time to replace him. Charles chooses the most pious candidate, partially to avoid accusations of having a puppet be the bishop.

Not sure why the chances are different. Last time I had 90% chance of getting the guy I wanted.
Claude de Dodieu becomes the new bishop of Rennes, and is known for his fiery speeches against the heretics and for calling Isaak Marks the Antichrist.
Felip Ordovás' army is beaten and forced to retreat. Uuinmael thanks God for granting him victory.
*Screams in Swedish*

Denmark annexes Sweden, thus creating this satanic abomination.
The survivors of the previous battle surrender as they are cornered by Uuinmael's forces. Only a hundred Breton men were killed or wounded before the enemy capitulated.
And thus Brittany has brought victory to Spain. As a reward, I get 1 prestige.

Surprisingly, Spain doesn't annex Mallorca, only Girona.
Now that there is peace, I can finally begin the P U R G I N G
Missionaries are sent to Constentin to peacefully convert the local heretical populace there. Charles is more benevolent than his father or grandmother, who would've happily initiated a massacre and mass eviction.
Another missionary is sent to Africa, to the Empire of Jolof, to spread the word of God amongst the locals.
I'm sure the muslims will be thrilled about this.
Charles harshly punishes several soldiers that looted Mallorca, but as it's hard to prove who is guilty and who is not, most are left alone.

A tenth of the money is confiscated for the crown.
Charles generously grants market rights to the burghers of Vannes, Lorient and Auray, helping them greatly with trade.
Ulm, where the Edict that condemned Isaak and his Marksist followers was issued, turns Protestant. Things have come full circle, yet the reformation keeps spreading, and the tensions between Catholics and heretics continue to grow. Perhaps a religious war will erupt, a war that will shake all of Christendom...
Perhaps. Who knows, as I haven't recorded the next part yet.

Here's Europe and Africa in 1502 AD. That's all for now, see you next time. Now if you excuse me, I need to buy prosthetic fingers. As well as install HRE bandaid fixes mod. Never again shall Vienna fall to the Swiss.

Fun Fact: this is the first part that took three days to make.

Next chapter:

Game: Europa Universalis IV

MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase -- Part 20: Heretics Everywhere

Images: 154, author: Findan, published: 2017-12-09

Check out another AAR:

Game: Europa Universalis IV

The Golden Empire. Part 1 The Disaster Years

Images: 40, author: lokigtvarre, published: 2019-03-13