Catholicism (M2TW Religion)

Overview

Catholicism is one of the three major religions in the game Medieval 2: Total War, next to Orthodox Christianity and Islam. The Catholic Religion is headed by the Pope who in the game is the faction leader of the Papal States. Well over half the factions in Medieval 2 Total War are Catholic. The Catholic religion brings many unique advantages and disadvantages, and as more of an effect on gameplay than any of the other religions, although most of these mechanics are only in the Grand Campaign, as the Pope does not appear in any of the Kingdoms expansions campaigns.

Unique Characteristics

The Pope

The Catholic factions in the game all have to contend with the will of the Pope - the leader of the Catholic Church - and therefore the Papal States. The Pope may give you missions during the campaign or make specific requests, he will often offer rewards if relations are good, but if relations are poor they can backed up by threats of excommunication. These missions include building Churches, recruiting priests, spreading Catholicism, joining Crusades, dealing with heresy, and ceasing hostile actions against other Catholics. The largest effect of the Pope is trying to stop wars between Catholic factions; attacking Catholics who are not excommunicated hurts relations with the Pope. The Pope also tries to stop the spread of Heresy in Catholic lands, and if too much heresy emerges, the Pope will send an Inquisitor, who can denounce and execute not only heretics but any character, even your faction leader. Characters with high piety are less likely to be found guilty of heresy.

Catholic factions have the opportunity to have their own Cardinals elected to the position of Pope when a Pope dies. When they do, their Relation with the new Pope improves tremendously.

Excommunication

-See main article: Excommunication

Should a player continually ignore the wishes of the Pope, the players Faction Leader can be excommunicated by the Pope, which essentially excludes him from the Church. This is usually done for poor conduct towards fellow Catholics. Excommunication ruins a factions relations with the Papal States, and will automatically break any alliance between that faction and the Pope if there was one present. It will affect your standing with other Catholic factions in the game, and in particular the populations of your own Catholic cities will be more difficult to please while you remain excommunicated. (Cities that are majority non-Catholic don't care much about Excommunication.) Generals who are pious also are likely to develop the DiscontentGeneral trait (Feels Unappreciated or Disrespected), which reduces their Loyalty. Factions with an Excommunicated King also cannot participate in Crusades, and can even have a Crusade called upon one of their cities, which probably means war with most or all of Christendom. Acts of war against the Papal States also lead to the automatic Excommunication of the faction leader.

Excommunication can end in 3 ways. If the Pope or excommunicated King dies, the faction is Reconciled, unless the 2 factions are at war. Excommunication can also be ended through diplomacy, including by making the Papal States a vassal, although this is very difficult for the Excommunicated faction. Finally, if a faction is at war with the Pope, if the Pope dies and a Cardinal from their faction is elected Pope, there is an automatic Ceasefire and the Excommunication is lifted. Simply improving relations with the Pope is not enough to get an Excommunicated faction Reconciled.

Crusades

-See main article: Crusades

Catholic factions have the opportunity to request the initiation of, and take part in, crusades. Crusades are called by the Pope and will generally involve requests for the capture of a city (Jerusalem, Antioch etc.) belonging to either a non-Christian faction, or an excommunicated Catholic one. These are generally accompanied by a time limit. Crusades can end either in success, when a Crusading army takes over the city, or in failure, when all Crusading armies have either been destroyed or have abandoned the Crusade (or if no army army joined the Crusade in the first place). They can also be cancelled if the city in question is no longer in the hands of the blasphemers. This can happen because the city was acquired by another faction, or because an Excommunicated faction was Reconciled.

Any army can join the Crusade that has 8 units and a general. While on Crusade an army gets double movement points and free upkeep, but must move towards the Crusade target or else face desertion, and cannot attack other Catholics who are not excommunicated. A general can abandon a Crusade, but this will result in his men deserting unless they are put back into a Crusading army.

Units

Catholic factions get access to a number of Crusader Mercenary units. These units are numerous, cheap and effective; their upkeep is high but is not paid during a Crusade. Most Crusader Mercenaries are available until 1300 only. Several Mercenary Knight units also only fight for Catholic and Orthodox factions.

Catholics can also build unique Knight Order Guilds if enough generals go on Crusades, which can recruit some of the most powerful Cavalry in the game. These Knights are available in both cities and castles, and this unique advantage makes Catholic factions much stronger if utilized properly.

Diplomacy

Diplomatically Catholic factions can have an antagonistic relationship with non-Christians in particular, and especially Muslims. They are able to call Crusades on Muslims as well as Pagans (and excommunicated Catholics and rebels). Muslims for their part can also call Jihad on Catholic factions, leading to inevitable conflict as both sides declare a religious war on each other. For this reason it is difficult for a Catholic faction and a Muslim faction to have a long-term alliance. Catholics can also call Crusades on Pagan factions in mods that include them, which means that they will probably go to war with them. Although Catholic players can also choose to not call or ignore Crusades on Pagan factions if they want a more cooperative relationship with them, ignoring Crusades can anger the Pope, especially if your relationship with the Pope is already poor.

Catholic factions cannot directly target Orthodox factions with a Crusade. However, they are able to attack Orthodox forces on the way to a Crusade target and can even abandon the Crusade after taking Orthodox settlements. This creates a very interesting strategic option.