MEIOU&Taxes 2.0 Brittany AAR/Mod Showcase -- Part 21: Peace and Prosperity

Sorry for not posting a new part last saturday. Like I said, I wanted the last parts of this AAR to be extra long, but I had less time to record than I thought I did. Just pretend I had a christmas vacation or some shit, even if this is nowhere near as labour intensive as a real job.

Anyways, here's the political map of 1515 to complement the religion map that was the final image of the last part. Also, France somehow rivals me despite having over four times more population than me.

At the Estates of Brittany, the nobles and the clergy have a dispute about property rights or something boring like that. Charles, being a pious man, of course favours the prior and his archbishop ally.

"Jesus lived among beggars and fishermen, why don't you?" Holy shit what a sick burn *insert cringy flame emojis here*

It annoys me to no end that estate loyalty rises and falls based on two random events where you have no choice but to take it up the ass. This is because estate loyalty effects aren't mostly included in regular events, probably because the mod team hasn't had time to integrate them yet or something. This means that if I "anger the nobility" in an event, their loyalty still stays the same and I get some other punishment, like this random unrest modifier.

Nantes ends up having unrest from the nobles in addition to religious riots. Surely, this unfortunate turn of events will cause trouble?

Nah. The capital has -9 unrest despite having +25 unrest from modifiers.

*facepalm*

I embargoed France to get PP and an advantage in the bay of Biscay, and the French do the same to me. However, their penalty to trade power is harsher, meaning they suffer more than me.

Poor Bulgaria gets kebabed after Hungary fails to defend them from the Turks. After the peace treaty is signed, the king of Hungary asserts full control over the church, thus making his kingdom a marksist one.

Last time I completely forgot about exploration, so now I hire an incompetent explorer to continue charting the southern lands and oceans.

D E U S V U L T

So in the comments of the last part, /u/TheDarkMaster13 said the following:
"The reason you lost your religious CB is because of the religious peace in the empire. That actually disabled religious wars in Europe over the heresies, since it's normally suppose to be at the end of the reformation. That use to be tied to a hard cut off at 1650 in vanilla. It might have also disabled the crusade action for the curia controller.

As far as the game is concerned, religious wars over heresy between catholics and protestants is over."

Then what the fuck is this shit? Why did I gain these CBs back all of a sudden? Also I lost them some time later so who the fuck knows.

New units!

The generals of Brittany adopt early tercio tactics from the Spanish allies. The high defence should result in somewhat smaller casualty rates in battle. Somewhat important as my manpower isn't as crazy as that of France.

Missionaries in Africa prove to be rather successful at spreading the teachings of Christ. Those natives who refuse to convert are persecuted and oppressed, but Prince Charles thinks that's perfectly fine and good.

what the fuck is going on I'm seeing famines in Europe regularly now

I don't think anything is fixed or changed, the population has just grown over capacity in some areas.

General Uuinmael dies of a disease while training his conscripts to fight in a basic tercio formation.

Ironic. Uuinmael could save others from death, but not himself.

fuck i hate these random loyalty drop events

Thankfully a previous loyalty increase event happened earlier so the drop doesn't make them disloyal. I love these random loyalty increase events.

Artur of Argentré follows the coast and finds a route around the southernmost tip of Africa, being the first European captain to do so. Upon his return to Nantes, many explorers and traders are joyous to hear the news. A sea route to India is becoming increasingly possible each passing decade.

He goes on another expedition to explore the coast more closely and contact any native realms there.

The King of Naples wants the next church council to be held in the small town of Chieti, which Prince Charles has no problem with. Time must not be wasted on arguing about dumb things like the location of councils, as reforms are urgently needed to stop the cancerous spread of the reformation.

Chieti eventually turns out to be a shitty place for a church council.

Utrecht, a devoutly catholic prince-bishopric that has annexed much of the netherlands, offers an alliance to a fellow fanatic. Charles happily accepts the offer.

War erupts in Italy between Genoa and Naples and their many allies. Two of Brittany's allies, Burgundy and the Pope, both join the war. Let's hope France doesn't do anything...

The council begins, the bishops of Naples and the Papal State awkwardly avoiding eye contact as their armies fight not too far away. Prince Charles advices his delegates to argue for a conservative counter reformation.

Oh boy, this is going to be most awkward church council ever.

Artur finishes his explorations and finds little of value, except for a few natural harbours. Southern Africa seems to have no signs of civilization, only deserts, wild forests and angry tribesmen who are not exactly ideal trade partners. Their main export is javelins thrown at high speed straight at your face.

Some island provinces around the world, like Ascension, have this modifier which mostly renders them completely useless. Be careful where you colonize, and don't be as dumb as the AI is being here. Then again, maybe they're planning to use that island for reachingfar away colonial provinces? Nah, the AI is dumber than an average redditor.

Spain settles isles as well, also wanting to set up a sea route to India.

The bay of Luanda seems like an ideal spot for a trade post and will be a future target of my colonists.

Naples besieges Rome. Prince Charles is rather outraged to see Catholics fighting against the head of the church while heresy is spreading everywhere.

Genoa has occupied all of provence, but while their army was busy their capital was taken. Tens of thousands of people either perished or fled, turning one of the largest cities in Italy into a shell of its former self.

I didn't check but I'm pretty sure Genoa lost 70,000 urban pop. Ouch.

The minor landowners, who had been stripped most of their privileges decades ago, push for autonomy and the right to govern themselves more, as well as smaller taxes for themselves. Prince Charles decides to let them have these rights back as the landowners are still too weak to pose a threat in any way.

The missionaries return from Africa and Constentin builds a marketplace.

The marksist scum are kept at bay in Nantes, thanks to active and aggressive missionary work.

Told you this would end up being a failure.

As refugees begin to arrive from the borderlands between the Papacy and Naples, the bishops decide to end the church council and leave before the region becomes a warzone.

Neapolitans are faring poorly against a larger army of the Pope and his pious allies.

Neapolitans later attempt a counter-offensive, which ends up failing horribly as well. Just look at those casualty rates.

After the crushing defeat, the King sues for peace. Nice is ceded to Genoa and war reparations will be paid.

While catholics slaughter each other on the battlefield, marksism spreads ever further.

Some protestants are not happy with marksist rulers nationalizing churches. In their opinion, the common worshippers should seize the means of preaching. Marksists ended up hating them for it and persecuting them. However, the treaty of Merseburg states that every prince has the right to choose the religion of their state, and some choose to be radical, dude.

The Reformed faith is popular in southwestern Germany, with the princes of Baden and Württemberg adopting it as their state religion.

"the radicals have joined the mainstream" is what I thought when far-right shitposts started to appear on most of the websites I browse regularly.

heeeyyy a historical flavour event I thought Brittany didn't have those

His wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier

I'm linking all these wikipedia pages so you people can read them and learn from them. If you don't care about history and find it boring, then stop reading an AAR about a mod that is all about historical accuracy. Then again, this event happened 13 years earlier than it did historically.

Honestly this event text makes me think someone at Paradox literally copy pasted stuff from the wiki page.

Jacques has some sick skills, so I fired the old explorer. If a war breaks out, he'll make a good admiral.

Explorers with no military skills leading fleets to battle? R E A L I S M

Spain suffers from internal conflict, with peasants rising up against their oppressive landlords and marksists supporting them. The brand new Tercios exterminate the rebel scum efficiently.

Paris grows rapidly during peace, and is about to reach 300,000 population. It is already the largest city in Europe.

Copenhagen has also grown. In 1356 it has less than 10,000 inhabitants, now it has 80,000 and growing. This is partially thanks to a world famous university...

wait, how did you build that again?

After some research, turns out this is once instance of random advanced buildings appearing in provinces, despite the requirements not being met. I've seen it happen in Briansk and Yemen, and now in Denmark.

oh well I'll let it be

Protestant Auvergne is absorbed into the French crownlands. It is a hugely populous province, so a fuck load of heretics are about to have a bad time.

Anjou gets its centre of art back. Apparently there's enough art power in the region for two provinces to have this modifier.

Let's hope this calms them down.

Arguin is fully colonized by the Spaniards, and... for some reason it has 95% farming efficiency?!

What a weird bug, must've been introduced by a patch

The Chief of Canarias seems to be interested in becoming a Breton vassal. Having already converted to Catholicism, they've been left alone by Spain and Portugal. Charles wouldn't mind having control of these isles and convert the remaining animists on them.

However, to vassalize I need to do some work. Give them a blowjob or two.

Before Charles can do that, he dies of pneumonia. His militarily inept son with a silver tongue inherits the throne. Charles II Electric Boogaloo thankfully already has an heir, a young son called Francois.

Charles is a zealot, passionately hating the marksists and other heretic scum and eager to spread the faith to distant lands.

His wife, Filipa de Trastamara of Spain, asks for help soon after the coronation is held in Rennes. Spain, who hold their army in Gibraltar and lose hundreds of men each month to low supply, needs more manpower. Charles decides to help his friends in need and thousands of Bretons end up starving to death in Gibraltar. Hey, at least the unrest is low in that province, am I right????

fucking dumbass AI

We get it, Catalonia, you want independence from Spain. Shut the fuck up about it already.

A new tech has unlocked a bank, a very expensive building with some very neat bonuses, like 25% urban gravity modifier. But the requirements for it are as big as its benefits.

Counter-reformation picks up speed as the Society of Jesus is formed. You know that anyone who calls themselves "Soldier of Christ" is a fanatical badass.

Charles, a zealot and a hater of the reformation himself, grants the jesuits special privileges so they can spread the true faith more efficiently. The church ends up gaining more power and influence in the Principality.

Unrest in Spain continues and more people rise up in arms against the King. Charles considers sending an expeditionary force to aid their ally and ultimately decides to do so. He has no military skills, but knows that his army will benefit from combat experience.

Spain doesn't really need help as they crush the rebels easily, but Bretons do aid in sieging down lost provinces.

Francois is developing a strong sense of right and wrong and is growing to become a just ruler. Charles couldn't be prouder.

oh what's this

it's one of those natural disaster events, neat

The County of Aunis is badly hit by late spring storms and La Rochelle is flooded. Charles sees this as a fitting punishment for former heretics in the province. Francois would've liked if God had just punished the guilty instead of drowning many innocent catholics as well.

Some blowjobs later Canarias happily accepts the "once in a lifetime opportunity to become our vassals". Heh, I love Paradox' sense of humour.

Chief Romen swears fealty to Prince Charles and swears to stay loyal to him. The nearby city of Port Charles becomes a centre of trade with the isles.

Looking at these modifiers, Canarias should be integrated fairly quickly. They have low population, same religion and a monarchy, while I have decent admin tech and am highly centralized.

The trade post in Bawol no longer requires funds from the Princely coffer and begins trading with the natives.

For some reason the province got the "nogoods" rural good. Wonder what that tastes like. Also, Brittany now has a monopoly on this strange substance, being its only producer in the world.

A missionary is sent there to convert the local pagans.

The colony further east becomes self-sustaining as well.

Like I said earlier, a colonist is sent to Luanda. From here, I can expand towards India. Sadly it's not in the Guinea Coast trade node so benefit from this province will be minimal when it comes to trade.

The other colonist is sent to Tagrin bay, an excellent natural harbour.

Heheheh. Bawol converted instantly thanks to Dei Gratia and I got FREE prestige. Heheheheheh oh wait I only got 0,40 prestige fuck I thought I had discovered a clever exploit

>impressive knowledge of military strategy
>1 sword mana power
>has the "coward" trait

wat

>ends up giving military tech discount

W A T

Oh, for a while I thought this institution wouldn't even appear. It's 28 years late.

Printing industry grows rapidly in Cologne, one of the largest cities in Germany. Thousands of copies of Marksist propaganda are printed every year and spread to nearby catholic lands, but also hundreds of scientific texts, political treatises, poems, stories, guides and so on. The local burghers are amongst the most literate north of Italy and eagerly read everything they can.

A revolution is at hand, a revolution of books...

The eastern trade post is named Saint George of the Mine, a reference to the gold imported there from Mali and exported to Europe. The merchants and sailors casually call it Lamine.

The other trade post is named Port of Saint Mary.

Historically, it was called Porto de Ale, and I wanted to translate that to French. But google translate has difficulty saying what de Ale means in portuguese. It's either something to do with heaving/hauling or ale, the alcoholic beverage. Fuck if I know.

With the founding of the trade post in Luanda, a new trade company is founded and a charter is granted to it. The company has exclusive rights to trade with the Kongolese.

Also, Canarias is freed from military obligations but are required to pay more taxes.

Ireland goes to war with someone else besides other Irishmen for the first time in a while. Norway comes to their aid against Scotland.

Man, look at Nantes. Center of trade and art, largest regional city, an archbishopric, the crown jewel of Brittany. How it has grown over the years...

*wipes tear from eye*

I'm not crying, it's liquid pride

Ireland's war with Scotland is off to a decent start, but then Denmark declares war on Norway and calls Poland-Lithuania to join.

Oh fuck. I mean, fuck the Irish, scumbag traitors and heretics! I hope they will be okay. I mean I hope they'll die horribly.

A mudfarmer from Bro Dreger has been appointed the bishop of Treguier. Charles holds him up as a model for all his subjects and shows what greatness faith can lead you to.

Marksists had initially hoped their Prince would've helped them reform the church, but then the missionaries came, the witch hunts began and so did the burnings. Those few protestants that are left turn to radicalism. Charles tells them to abandon their foolish ideas and rejoin the church. Some do, the rest embrace the reformed faith.

Man, the last sentences describe radical islamists pretty well. "Dispirited and embittered, the perfect targets for more radical missionaries to preach to. After all, if peaceful methods [...] failed, that still left one option..."

Fun fact: most radical islamist groups started out as more extremist resitance groups fighting against occupiers such as USSR and USA, after more moderate resistance groups failed to accomplish much.

And no, I don't want another dumb debate in the comments, I just type whatever comes to my head as it's 4 in the morning and I'm sleepy as shit.

Jacques goes on an expedition to Africa. I've finally reached the Indian Ocean! Not much left before I can finally reach India.

Casual Literacy gains a spread bonus in provinces with the renaissance and a religion that endorses casual literacy by translating the bible to the common tongue. That means Catholic provinces are less likely to get it.

Renaissance keeps spreading, but the cost remains too high. It's not like I'm behind in tech or something, so I don't care.

Tuscany's Grand Duke proposes that they try having a council again, this time on an island away from the mainland, where they can safely argue theology and shit. Most people think it's a good idea.

Uh oh. That doesn't look good. Um, Ireland, need any help? I mean FUCK THOSE HERETICS I DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM

Surplus food in the region is being mostly consumed now, both by cities and developed rural industries. Growth is thus reduced by 60%.

Spain moves its royal court from Toledo to Madrid. Not sure why as Toledo has three times as much population.

The protestants in Spain, unable to convince or force their King to convert and reform the church, become frustrated and radicalize.

Can you spot the changes on the religious map?

If not, there they are:
-Protestants in Spain and Milan converted to Reformed
-Some minor German princes convert
-Protestantism spreads in Croatia and Livonia
-Reformed faith spreads to Sardinia and Corsica
-Poland purged the heretics in Köningsberg

Norway and Ireland make peace with the Scots and all the islands in the North Sea are ceded to the victor. Meanwhile Ireland is helpless as their only ally is invaded by the Danes.

Jacques learns that the world is in fact flat, and is surrounded by a gigantic wooden frame. Few believe his ridiculous claims as the Greeks already proved millenia ago that the world is round and the wooden frame thing is just raw insanity.

He also finds a bunch of salty water

Jacques goes on another expedition, this time hoping to find something instead of nothing.

Another church council begins, and once again the debate will mostly focus on the Counter-Reformation. Delegates sail from Piombino onto the isle of Elba, where they will hopefully be safe.

OH SHIT ALBRET NOOO

France declares war on the heretics of Albret, aiming to unite France. The King of Spain, an ally of Albret, declares war on France in return. Brittany remains neutral.

Paris keeps growing and has 33 urban pops. Sacre bleu.

Yeah, that's what you get, Albret, for being filthy heretics. N-now d-die like the d-dogs you are...

*sniff*

They called me their best friend once... ;C

War erupts in Italy once again as Naples claims that Nice was only temporarily given to Genoa and that they should've read the small print on the treaty papers. The Genoese burn the treaty papers and say "come get Nice, then. Bitch. Pry it from my cold dead hands."

White Horde has allied with their trading partner Genoa and sends horsemen southwards.

I feel like the Council will be rudely interrupted soon...

Ignoring the war, the Council makes progress. Latin will be enforced as the only language used by the clergy, in order to maintain coherency and ease communication between priests from different regions. This is, of course, complete opposite of what the protestants wanted. The Counter-Reformation seems to refuse to give any quarter to the reformists.

HOLY SHIT 55 THOUSAND SOLDIERS

Welp we're all fucked aren't we

Spanish artillery breaches the walls of Foix and the general leads his troops in an assault into the city. The small outnumbered garrison is overwhelmed and slaughtered and the city is sacked by the adrenaline-filled and reward-hungry bloodied soldiers.

Jacques charts hundreds of miles of African coastline and discovers several small island as well as one large island, Madagascar. Still no sign of India, sadly. But it must be close as they've spotted many trade vessels on the open sea...

Prince Charles decides to reform the school system of Brittany and lets the Jesuits take full responsibility for running it. Monastic schools are abolished and replaced with Jesuit schools.

As a Papal army approaches, the Council gets nervous. Doubly so as the coast is blockaded by the Genoese and the supplies on the island begin to run out. The councilmen try to negotiate with the Florentine garrison and the Papal army, but both say they will alone protect them from the enemy. Ultimately the Church Council ends by the Genoese being bribed and the delegates sailing to the nearest neutral port, which is many miles away. Dozens of delegates drown as their ships sink in a vicious storm, but the rest ultimately make it safely back home.

Welp, at least some progress was made instead of none at all. Next time hold the council as far away from Italy as humanly possible, thank you.

Unexpectedly, Francois dies of disease at the age of 21. Charles is deeply shaken by his death, but eventually accepts that this was God's will and decides to build a cathedral for Him. Seeking comfort from banging a young woman don't even come to his mind.

BEGONE THOT, Charles is a christian prince.

But his chastity and piety mean that Brittany now lacks an heir to the throne.

The new cathedral is built in Saint-Charles, and is the first catholic cathedral in Africa.

The Spanish are decisively defeated at Narbonne by a much larger french army, but did end up causing more casualties to the enemy. Nevertheless, things are not looking good for Albret.

Charles happily allows jesuits to participate in Brittany's missionary work and do what he personally loves to do: converting heretics, heathens and pagants to the one true faith.

Bohemia is STILL getting fucked. Damn. They've been reduced to a small one province rump state that stubbornly clinges onto Calixtine heresy. Yet they are not put out of their misery and will continue to suffer.

Rome falls to the Neapolitan army and the Holy City loses 50,000 inhabitants. Seems like Naples will have its revenge.

Jacques makes contact with the powerful city-state of Kilwa, which has expanded to control all of the Swahili coast. They trade extensively with the Arabians and the Indians, but Jacques has lost enough men and ships on this expedition and returns home instead of following the african merchants to India.

Kilwa is a large and wealthy muslim city, with over 110,000 people. Slaves are the most valuable commodity and the main export of the city.

Jacques almost found a sea route to Prester John's kingdom, as well. Charles is joyous when he hears of this and praises Jacques.

Catholic Finns rise up against their heretic masters, as do the Russians of Beloozero. Denmark is too preoccupied in Norway to do anything about the rebels.

Fun Fact: Beloozero means "Whitelake" in Russian (Belo means white and Ozero means lake). Stop making Below Zero puns.

They're preoccupied in ireland too.

U-uuh Ireland maybe I can h-help you in some way? I mean HAHAHA SUFFER YOU HERETIC PIECES OF DRUNKEN LEPRECHAUN SHIT

I randomly gain a core on Saint-Charles, not that it helps at all due to its distance from my capital.

Filipa gives birth to another son, who is also named Francois in memory of his older brother. This removes the threat of Brittany falling under personal union.

Some crazy monks start demanding that the conditions of the poor should be improved. Pure insanity, at least according to most nobles in Brittany. Charles, however, promises to do something and ends up lowering taxes for the peasantry and gives alms to the poor.

Spain is in trouble against France, with Albret under siege and the eastern fortresses in enemy hands.

Over the years, Breton merchants have grown their influence in the coast of Guinea and are now the second largest trade power in the region. Ivory, gold, jewelery, luxury cloth, metalwork and slaves are bought and sold at a high price in the Bay of Biscay.

Albret has fallen and the French approach the Spanish army ominously as they try to retake Girona.

Some time later a huge battle begins in Zaragoza. All military might of France and Spain meet on the field and start bombarding each other with artillery and shooting each other with muskets. Pike columns advance and are about to meet--

then a messenger arrives and kindly asks everyone to stop as Albret has capitulated and a peace treaty has been signed. the soldiers shrug and leave the battlefield.

talk about an anticlimax

Albret is gone forever. Press F to pay respects. *sniff* Damn heretic traitor scum. I'll miss them.

The major landowners, the most powerful nobles of Brittany, realize their influence is dwindling as Brittany centralizes with the help of the church. They try to rectify this by getting themselves privileges, but Charles acts against them and ruins their plot.

I don't remember what privilege they wanted, but it must've been a nasty one as I revoked it without hesitation.

Norway surrenders and cede large swathes of territory to Denmark. Denmark's dream of a united Scandinavia, a Union of the North, is slowly becoming a reality. The pesky Hanseatic cities have already been conquered and Poland-Lithuania stands by their side, so no one is likely to oppose them.

Poland-Lithuania breaks alliance with the Livonian heretic knights and declares war on them, wanting to protect the catholic minorities in the Order. The Livonians have no one to help them as Denmark abandons them, wanting to preserve their alliance with the mighty Poles.

Denmark is about to go and crush the rebels in the east, when a dynastic dispute begins and unrest erupts. Maybe the separatists have a chance, after all.

Ottomans declare war on the Mamluks, who by now suffer a bankruptcy every other year. Mamluks are guaranteed by Jalayirids and Tunis, both of which end up not giving a shit about Mamluks.

holy fuck the abuse train never stops does it...

Charles is a temperate man, able to control his desires. This is seen as a supernatural ability by most regular people, who procrastinate and indulge in pleasure all the time.

Beloozero declares independence from Denmark and a rebel leader is crowned as their ruling prince. Denmark is unable to stop them.

Another storm, just eight years after the last one? The heck? First no storms for over a hundred years and now this?

Turns out the storm was all the way in Africa, and its effects are rather insignificant.

Surprisingly, the White Horde ends up contributing to the war and for the first time ever Albanians see Mongol horsemen, moments before they are impaled by lances or arrows.

Rome is taken back by the Genoese allies of Milan and the Papacy, Tuscany makes separate peace and the three allies decisively defeat the Neapolitans once more in their home turf. King Borso's attempt at retaking lost territory has ended in failure.

Shortly after a peace treaty is signed with the Papacy, meaning Naples can no longer reach Genoa by land. In the north, Muscovy declares war on the newly liberated Beloozero while in the Caucasus Georgian rebels go wild and retake a bunch of provinces from the White Horde while they're distracted in the west.

Constentin's population grows rapidly, and they now even have over 10,000 urban pop thanks to that marketplace they built.

Note the cultural conversion progress, which is very slow as I accepted Norman culture.

Unable to continue the war, Naples makes peace with Genoa and cedes a bunch of territory that once belonged to Provence. This increases the chance of France going to war with them in the future. An alliance with Genoa wouldn't be too crazy, but I don't want to get dragged into any Italian wars.

Poland defeats Livonia and takes two provinces. Somehow Denmark got two provinces as well, without declaring war. Not sure what's up with that to be honest.

Seems like Denmark cockblocked Poland from taking catholic provinces, letting them only have two. The resulting bordergore is disgusting.

The throne of Burgundy is inherited by Philippe IV, who is unfortunately of the Reformed faith. Soon after the coronation protests begin and some nobles denounce him. Alliances with Brittany and Spain are in tatters and the Triumvirate is broken. France might take advantage of this...

A religious civil war erupts in Burgundy against the heretic ruler. Charles does not intervene and supports the rebels, who will hopefully force the Duke to convert before it's too late.

that's a lot of rebel armies, dang

and Burgundy doesn't have mil access with France so they can't bring reinforcements from their holdings in Luxembourg and Burgundy proper.

PYHÄ PASKA MITÄ VITTUA

*earrape national anthem Maamme plays at 110% volume*

The rebels of Finland declare independence from heretical Denmark and Edvard Harviala is crowned the first King of Finland.

what the fuck I can't believe this happened, and it's the 100 year anniversary of real world finland as well, such an odd coincidence

Charles encourages missionaries to push aggressively to convert all the African natives they can, no matter how much they resist. This leads to some attacks on trade posts in the future.

At first I was baffled to see that Finland was orthodox, despite only having one province with an orthodox majority. But then I realized that Finland was playing ingenious 4D chess. You see, now Muscovy has guaranteed them and they are protected from Denmark. But won't this cause unrest issues, I hear you ask? I'll answer that question momentarily.

new cannons yay

The catholic fanatics are occupying city after city and province after province, and the Duke is unable to resist them. The civil war is coming to an end.

Turks annex all Mamluk territory north of the border with Banu Rassi. Fanatic rebels rise up in Palestine and Mamluks are forced to pay massive war reparations.

Mamluks are treated extremely roughly, and they're still somewhat alive, unlike Bohemia. That's both impressive and terrifying.

Brugge surrenders to the rebels and its catholic minorty welcomes them with open arms.

Thankfully, France has not declared war on Burgundy yet as they're too busy plotting to remove France from the map. See, even the French hate the French.

>has the mission "Remove yourself from the map!"
>basically "Fucking kill yourself!"

/r/2meirl4meirl

The Breton army is expanded with more artillery and infantry. Also development continues as Princely funds are invested into infrastructure. The Long Peace is an era of prosperity for Brittany, while other regions of Europe burn in flames. Cities grow in both population and wealth, as does the rest of the Principality.

See this shit? Finland is highly secular and tolerant nation, meaning them being orthodox actually makes heretics MORE happy than those following state religion. This means Finland can ally with Muscovy with ease while suffering from little to no internal unrest.

4D CHESS I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO

And that concludes this part. See you again--

wait the fuck how few years have passed? nine fucking teen? Hell no nigga we're gonna keep going.

Fearing the threat of France, Francois begins extensive building projects in and around Rennes. A string of forts and castles will be built, which will hopefully keep invaders at bay.

I'm making a fuck load of money, by the way. Low autonomy combined with high population and constant growth result in high taxes, and control of trade in the Bay of Biscay and the Coast of Guinea result in high tolls from commerce.

Duke Philippe accepts rebel demands and publicly converts to Catholicism. His repentance is approved by a local archbishop and nobles accept him as their ruler again. Brittany too now seeks to mend their broken relationship with Burgundy.

An alliance is offered and accepted.

However, Spain has already allied with Lorraine in the meantime, meaning the powerful Triumvirate is a thing of the past. This could cause problems if France gets aggressive.

Kongo is apparently angry about luanda and rivals me. Yeah good luck declaring war against me with your pitiful mil tech.

After Norway's crushing defeat, Ireland looks for new allies and finds one who used to be their mortal enemy: England. Both are protestant, but while Scotland is Ireland's rival they are England's ally. Hard to say what will happen, it all depends on who England will side with.

Not that I care. It's not like I love Ireland or anything. B-baka.

Muscovy, which is acting like a phoenix and rising from the ashes, declares war on the Livonian Order, eager to retake lost regions and Pskov, one of the oldest Russian cities.

The vile taint of anabaptism spreads to Brittany, and as soon as Charles learns of this, he is horrified and arrests the leading priests and drowns them for being criminals and enemies of the crown.

Electing priests? Scriptural proof of doctrine? RE-BAPTISM OF ADULTS? HOLY SHIT THESE GUYS ARE WORSE THAN NAZIS

hehehe, breton brethern, that's a damn good name

aw shit

okay maybe it wasn't 4D chess as Finland is now a vassal of Muscovy and will probably get absorbed within decades

crap well this is just fucking awful

YOU KNOW MOD DEVELOPERS IF FINLAND HAD MORE POPULATION LIKE IT DID HISTORICALLY THEN IT'D BE LESS LIKELY TO BECOME VASSALS

JUST FYI

Charles II decides to finally finish the renovation project of Nantes' cathedral, which have at this point lasted for well over a century. He pours money and bureaucrats into the project and desires to finish it within months.

SUPERCATHEDRAL IS FINISHED

AAAWWWW YEAAAAA

MAY IT STAND FOR A THOUSAND YEARS BITCHES

There it is.

...

wow those effects are kinda shit aren't they

oh well

The Duchess of Triest proposes that the next Church Council is held in their small and secluded duchy, which is far away from conflict yet still close to Rome. Charles and other rulers approve of this proposition and delegates are sent there.

Before the council even officially begins, delegates already agree to continue working towards a conservative counter reformation that refuses to make any major changes.

NO BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST FOR YOU, FILTHY COMMONERS

Charles agrees that a conservative counter reformation is the way to go.

With the Breton navy reaching capacity, Charles commissions the expansion of the shipyard in Brest. A naval drydock will be built, doubling many bonuses given by the first tier.

The problem of simony is addressed, and punishments for corruption become a lot harsher.

Huh, I thought there already was an event which reduced simony events... maybe there can be multiple ones for each source of reformation desire.

Separatists rise up in Denmark's remaining holdings east of Finland, and those territories soon swear fealty to the ruler of Moscow. In the west, the Livonian Order fails to defend against the Russians and ends up ceding them all territory they had taken years ago, as well as all of Catholic Estonia.

Charles the Faithful dies of disease at the age of 49. His heir Francois is only 8 years old, so his mother Princess Filipa of Spain becomes the regent of Brittany.

Conservative counter reformation continues to gather support, as the Catholics stubbornly refuse to change anything whatsoever. If it ain't broken, why fix it? Shut up, a massive reformation movement does not mean it's broken. You've been brainwashed by marksist propaganda.

more of that stuff

As the ruler of Jülich dies, Habsburgs are once more elected to the Imperial throne. Austria is the most powerful German nation, and will hopefully keep the Empire safe from foreign invasions. Hopefully. Assuming the HRE bandaid mod works.

The Council of Triest comes to a conclusion after much progress has been made. For once, no armies rudely interrupted the gathering and thus reforms were successfully put through.

King of Bohemia abandons the Calixtine faith and once more embraces catholicism! May God be praised!

A commoner woman is claimed to be a miraculous healer and after her death she is canonized by the Church. The court celebrates this miracle and so pleases the Pope. Filipa has no choice but to take part in the celebration.

The rapidly growing population of Nantes has worsened the sanitation of the city and makes it easy for diseases to spread like wildfire. And so it should be no surprise when an outbreak of English sweating sickness occurs (yes that's one name for the illness). Thousands perish and Filipa, instead of giving support to those struck by sickness, cowardly flees the city to save her and her son's lives.

The colony at Luanda is now self-sustaining!

I can now found a colony on the other side of Africa, in Maputo, to be specific. I didn't notice at the time but it is not in a trade company region, so that might result in this colony being different from others. It still has a natural harbour and is thus worth settling. There might however be unrest issues in the future.

Port Charles has grown in size rapidly thanks to trade with the Canaries and West Africans. Catholicism has also spread in the surrounding province of Bujadur, with many tribesmen being baptized.

Here's the natural harbour I talked about, with a custom description.

Burgundy allies with Spain once more, as well as a bunch of other nations. The Triumvirate is alive once more! France Containment Project is going well.

Damn, Canarias is being assimilated surprisingly fast, even if I already thought it'd be fairly quick. I'll be able to integrate them in just 24 years.

Filipa tries to negotiate a tighter bond with Chief Romen to speed up the integration process, but...

...ultimately fails.

I notice that my timber production can't keep up with my rapidly expanding navy. I could pass laws to increase production, but those have pretty harsh negative effects so for now, when I'm only buying one unit of timber, I won't worry about it.

Something really weird happens and two almost identical Protestant leagues form. If you're a member of one league, you're a member of the other league. Also protestantism is the state religion all of a sudden.

Fucking Habsburgs ruining everything.

Also note how HRE has only 69 princes left. Remember how many it had in the beginning of the game? I should've had the HRE bandaid mod from the start.

Sherbro becomes self-sustaining. Not sure why this province is colonizable as historically no one even tried to touch it before the 19th century. But oh well, I'll take it.

After two devastating wars, the Livonian Order reforms into a secular absolutist Principality that is purely marksist.

Jacques Cartier died a while ago, so a new explorer called Gwenneg sets out to explore... the Indian Ocean.

I'm getting REALLY close now. It's been my objective from the beginning to reach India.

Francois comes of age and is crowned in Rennes. He is a calm man who never loses his nerves, and a rather good diplomat as a result. His other skills are rather poor though, and so he continues to employ an advisor that his mother had hired.

Rumours of another wave of major plague outbreaks arrive in the port of Nantes. Francois is not a particularly fanatical person, but is still religious and believes this is God's way of testing him and his nerves.

Konstantiniyye is hit by a devastating plague outbreak. Seems like Rome has cursed the Turks from beyond the grave.

Another less severe plague outbreak occurs in Dumyat, a major Egyptian city under Tunisian control. The plague will certainly not bring any relief to the starving people of western Iran and the Caucasus.

New idea group time! I adopt the expansion ideas. More colonists, more range, more claims, et cetera. A good one for me to take. I will take trade ideas after I make contact with India. I don't want to lower my piety just yet.

A severe plague epidemic hits Augsburg, a large imperial free city. This is the first time I've seen the plague spawn in Germany, meaning that the region has certainly developed over the years.

Sensing weakness in the Turkish Empire as they deal with several revolts, the King of Hungary declares war on them and hopes to reclaim provinces lost to the heathen scum.

wow look nothing

go find something

The plague fails to cause any serious damage in Germany as it quickly fizzles out. It does gain some strength from a French city, and might reach Paris. I don't want to know what happens if it manages to spread there.

And finally, a religious map of Europe in 1548 AD. Phew, that was a long part! Yet I only managed to cover 33 years. Maybe I covered events outside of Brittany too much, but then what would remain? Nothing happened in Brittany as it enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity, and in EU4, aside from building stuff the only thing you can do during peacetime is grab some popcorn and watch the world burn around you.

I hope this wasn't too drawn out or boring. See you next time, which might be the last part, depending on whether or not I fulfill my goals for this campaign. Merry Christmas and happy holidays and whatever. Bye.