This article lists and discusses the various religions and denominations of the world.
Religion map[]
Legend:
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Religions details and effects[]
Christian[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Calixtine/ Hussite |
Bohemia, England 14-15c |
Yes |
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Catholic | Western Europe, European colonies Start |
Yes: Archbishop [1] |
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Chaldean | Iraq, Persia, India Minorities |
Yes | Holy Lands (Ctesiphon) |
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Dualist/ Gnostic |
Bulgaria, Serbia Minorities |
Yes | Church Aspects (by event, needs improvement) |
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Miaphysite/ Coptic |
Ethiopia, Armenia, Syria Start |
Yes: Catholicos [2] | Holy Lands (Catholicates) |
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Orthodox | Eastern Europe, Anatolia Start |
Yes: Patriarch/ Metropolitan [2] | Holy Lands (Patriarchates) |
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Protestant | Northern Europe 16c |
Yes | Church Aspects (via event) |
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Reformed | Northern Europe 16c |
Only theocracies | Church Aspects (via event) |
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Judaic[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Jewish | Semien (Ethiopia) Start |
Yes |
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Muslim[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Druze | Syria Minorities |
Only theocracies |
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Ibadi | Oman Start |
Yes: Imam | Dhimmi System |
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Shi'ite | Yemen, Persia Start/15c |
Yes: Imam | Holy Lands, Dhimmi System |
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Sunni | Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, India, Indonesia Start |
Possible: Sheikh-ul-Islam/Caliph [3] | Holy Lands, Dhimmi System |
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Wahhabi | Arabia 18c |
Yes |
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Dharmic[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Hindu | India, Indonesia Start |
Yes: High Priest | Caste System |
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Jain | India Minorities |
Yes: High Priest |
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Sikh | Punjab (India) 16c |
Possible: Gurus [4] |
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Zoroastrian | Persia, Gujarat (India) Minorities |
Yes | Great fires |
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Taoic[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Confucian | China, Korea Start |
Yes: Minister of Rites | Tolerance System |
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Mahayana | Japan, Vietnam, Korea Start |
Yes [2] |
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Theravada | Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka Start |
Only theocracies |
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Vajrayana | Tibet, Central Asia Start |
Yes [2] |
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New World Pagan[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Inti | Incas (Peru) Start |
Yes: High Priest | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Mayan/ Mesoamerican religion |
Mayas (Mexico) Start |
Yes: High Priest | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Native American Spiritualist | North America Start |
Only theocracies | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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South American Spiritualist | Brazil Start |
Only theocracies | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Toltecayotl/ Nahuatl |
Aztecs (Mexico) Start |
Yes: High Priest | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Old World Pagan[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Adi Dharam | India Minorities |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Animist | South Africa Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Atua | Polynesia Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Fetishist | Africa Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Shamanist | Central Asia Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Shinto | Japan Minorities |
Only theocracies (needs improvement) | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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West African Polytheist | West Africa Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
European Polytheists[]
Religion | Usual Location / Appears | Head | Special Mechanics | Country modifiers |
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Asatru/ Norse |
Scandinavia Fantasy |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Hellenic | Greece Fantasy |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Rodnoverie/ Slavic pagan |
Russia Minorities |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Romuva | Lithuania Start |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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Ukonusko | Finland Minorities |
Yes | Syncretism, Religious Reforms |
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- If your country does not control the papacy OR control benefices in your country, you will have one appointed for you by the Pope.
- If your country does not control a province with one of these religious leaders, you will have one appointed for you by your religious leader (assigned by location).
- Sunni countries do not start with a religious head, but can gain one either by appointing a Sheikh-ul-Islam by decision, or gaining control over the Caliph. If a Sunni ruler has declared himself Caliph, he will be treated like a theocracy for the purpose of this mechanic.
- Sikhs only gain religious heads while the Gurus are alive. If the Sikhs have declared the line of Gurus to be over, they do not have religious heads.
Mechanics common to most religions:[]
Church Influence (all religions)[]
- All religions have a trait called Church Influence which can be seen on the religion screen by hovering over the arrow icons.
- Church Influence is a measure of how much power and influence your religion has over the state.
- It has global effects (over your entire country) and local ones (over provinces of your state religion only).
- The effects are both positive (more/stronger missionaries) and negative (lower taxes, more expensive ADM technology)
- It is rated from 0% to 100%. Most countries will start around 50%, although this depends on your government and religion.
- Church Influence changes slowly, mostly due to decisions players make. It is calculated every two years based on the amount of land owned by the Church, its presence in your government and education system, and the laws about religion in your country.
- The simplest way to change it is to give or seize land from the Church.
Piety (all religions)[]
- All religions have a trait called Piety which can be seen on the religion screen. For Catholics, you will need to hover over the arrow icons.
- Piety is a measure of how much your people care about religion.
- It has global effects (over your entire country).
- Positive piety will help you with tolerance of the true faith and morale, while negative piety will help you with tolerance of heretics and heathens.
- Piety also affects how often religious events happen to you and how powerful religious modifiers will be, such as the bonuses from owning a holy land, the effects of a religious head, or the penalties from a religious scandal.
- Piety is rated from -100% to +100%, with most countries starting between 0-20%.
- Piety changes slowly, mostly due to the idea groups countries choose. Each religious group increases piety by 40%, while each secular idea group reduces it by 20-40%.
- Your ruler's personal piety also has an impact on this, by up to +/- 20%. You will have one opportunity to change your ruler's piety when he or she takes the throne.
Head of Religion (most religions)[]
- Many but not all religions (see chart, above) have access to a religious head, a religious leader who adds a personal touch to the state religion.
- Each religious head has a personality which gives the country a modifier for his lifetime, which is around 18 years. In a theocracy, the lifetime of your religious head is the lifetime of your ruler.
- Each personality also gives countries access to several religious events:
Corrupt | Hostile | Obedient | Theologian | Zealous | Controversial |
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Religious Mob | Criticism of the King | Divine Right of Kings | Reaching out to Heretics | Criticism of the King | ALL EVENTS POSSIBLE |
Just War | The King's Excommunication | Just War | Ecclesiastical Writings | Condemning Heresy | |
Defrocked Cleric | Pacifism | Ecclesiastical Writings | Pacifism | Holy War Declared | |
Religious Power Struggle | Defrocked Cleric | Religious Power Struggle | Inspirational Preacher | Inspirational Preacher |
Special rules for pagans
- Global
- Great Temple (Cathedral, Mosque, Synagogue)
- Holy Lands
- Declining Religion
- Christian
- Catholic
- Papacy
- Archbishop
- Ecumenical Council
- Schism
- Lollard Heresy
- Reformation
- Events
- Orthodox
- Patriarchy
- Mending Western Schism
- Mending Eastern Schism
- Chaldean
- Patriarchy
- Miaphysite
- Patriarchy
- Dualist
- Calixtine
- Protestant
- Church Aspects
- Reformed
- Church Aspects
- Catholic
- Muslim
- Sunni
- Shi'ite
- Druze
- Ibadi
- Wahhabi
- Taoic
- Theravada
- Confucianism
- Mahayana
- Vajrayana
- Dharmic
- Hinduism
- Sikhism
- Jain
- Zoroastrain
- Jewish
- New World Pagans
- Mayan
- Inti
- Native American Spiritualist
- Toltecayotl
- Pantheist
- European Pagans
- Romuva
- Ukonusko
- Rodnoverie
- Asatru
- Hellenic
- Old World Pagans
- Adi
- Shinto
- Animist
- West African Spiritualist
- Shamanist
- Atua
Voluntary religious conversion effects:[]
Converting to another religion using the dedicated button in the religious menu often carries a cost in stability, to simulate the court, clergy and population being outraged at such a large shift in a country. For countries that are already accustomed to another religion switching will be cheap, and can in some cases even benefit stability.
The first stability effect in the tooltip is influenced by how much of your population already has the target religion, it's less harsh to switch when you're already mostly of that religion. The percentage of a religion in a country can be calculated by counting together all the minority parts in provinces and dividing them by the total religious parts of all provinces (province count * 11):
- 0-25% of that religion: -2 stability
- 25-50% of that religion: -1 stability
- 50-75% of that religion: neutral
- 75-100% of that religion: +1 stability
The second one is church influence, high church influence means that the state church is firmly entrenched in the country's administration and has a lot of power to stir up unrest when the state church is evicted in favour of a new one:
- 100-75 church influence: -2 stability
- 75-50 church influence: -1 stability
- 50-0 church influence: neutral
The third one depends on the current ruler's administrative skill and if the capital country has already embraced the new religion:
- Ruler has 3-4 adm skill: +1 stability
- Ruler has 5-6 adm skill: +2 stability
- Capital province has embraced that religion officially (main province religion): +1 stability
(these are two different stab gain effects that add up, but are used together for tooltip purposes)
There are also additional effects that are only mentioned in the tooltip if they apply:
- Having a theologian advisor: +1 stability
- Having been of that religion previously: +1 stability
- Having converted from another religion recently: +1 stability
- The religion has not been officially unlocked yet: -1 stability
(again, different stab gain effects so they all add up)