Theocracy

Topic

Government

Government

Monarchy

Republic

Theocracy

Tribal

Theocracy is a form of government where power is held by the religious elite. Theocracies get to designate a heir from a list of candidates (except in a papacy government form). Although the choice does not affect the future heir's monarch skills (set at random), they give the player different effects and events once the heir comes into power.

Devotion

Devotion replaces legitimacy / republican tradition for theocracies and represents the zeal of the faith inside the country. Devotion increases from high stability and pious acts while decreasing from low stability and low religious unity.

When switching to a theocracy from another government form, the starting devotion value is set to the level of the nation's religious unity at the time.

Effects

The effects of devotion are proportional to its value (the table lists the major milestones):

Variable	0%	50%	100%
National tax modifier	−25%	0	+25%
Yearly prestige	−1	0	+1
Yearly papal influence	−1	0	+1
Church power	−12.5%	0	+12.5%

Modifiers

	Conditions
+1.00	Ruler with ‘Pious’ personality
+0.50	Inti after Reform the Cult of Inti reform Stability (per positive point) Defender of the faith Power Projection (at 100%) Loyal Clergy estate (scaling by influence)
+0.25	Crusade Protestant with Legalised divorces aspect
−0.50	Base Value Disloyal Clergy estate (scaling by influence)
−1.00	Stability (per negative point) Religious Unity (at 0%) Target of Sow discontent covert action
−5.00	Excommunicated

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1.0 yearly	—	Garhwali idea 5: Source of the Ganges Liège idea 3: Religious Devotion Mutapan idea 4: Spokesman before the Dead Yi idea 6: Renovate the Skyward Tombs Zambezi idea 5: Centralizing the Mbona Cult	—	Diplomatic-Aristocratic: The Tenures Abolition Act Diplomatic-Plutocratic: Mandatory Service
+0.5 yearly	—	Religious idea 4: Devoutness Utrecht idea 2: Ex Cathedra Yarkandi idea 4: Empower the Khojas	—	Aristocratic-Economic: The Court of Wards and Liveries

List of all theocracies

A list of all available theocracies at the 1444 start date:

Religion	Type	List of countries
Catholic	Clerical State	Alsace Augsburg Avignon Cologne Liege Magdeburg Mainz Münster Riga Salzburg Trier Utrecht Verden Wurzburg
Catholic	Monastic Order	Livonian Order Teutonic Order The Knights
Catholic	Papacy	Papal States
Sunni	Clerical State	Ajuuraan Sus
Inti	Clerical State	Ichma

Reform tiers

Notes:

1. Without Dharma the game uses the old government system. Each government reform has a pre-Dharma equivalent; an effect that would enact a reform instead changes government to the equivalent type. Starting governments, including special types, correspond to tier 1 reforms.
2. Special governments made available through other DLCs are denoted as such.

Leadership

Type	Effects	Description & notes
Clerical State	+5% National tax modifier	This state is ruled by the clergy and uses the hierarchy of religious institutions for all government purposes. See below for a list of all available theocracies. Forming Tibet before 1642 may trigger an event turning the country into a theocracy.
Monastic Order	−20% Fort maintenance	This country is ruled by the members of a Monastic Order. The order's hierarchy and rules replaces the need for most laws and administration. Only used by The Knights, the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Order. Heirs and rulers can be generals. Religious unity affects devotion when changing religion Fixed rank: Duchy
Papacy	+1 Tolerance of the true faith +0.33 Prestige per development from missionary	A political structure where the nation is governed by a spiritual leader, the Pope, the highest ranking office of the Roman Catholic Church. Only possible government for the Papal State. May not designate its heir. A ruler with random stats is generated upon the current pope's death. May not secularize by decision. Fixed rank: Kingdom

Internal & External Mission

Type	Effects	Description & notes
Internal Mission	+2 Tolerance of the true faith	We must focus our energy on our religious mission within our country, to protect the faithful, feed the poor and fulfill our religious duties.
External Mission	−20% War score cost vs other religions	The spread of our holy faith must be our foremost mission and we cannot rest until we have defeated all enemies of our religion.

Divine Cause

Type	Effects	Description & notes
Safeguard Holy Sites	+1 Yearly prestige	It is our holy duty to look after the holy pilgrimage sites under our control and to protect any pilgrims within our lands.
Combat Heresy	+10% Morale of armies	In the mission to spread the true faith we must never waver in our conviction and be ready to root out heresy wherever it springs up.
Expulsion of Heathens	−5% Development cost	As our state grows so does our exposure to wrongful teachings. We must not tolerate heathens or heretics within our walls. Instead these people can come live in our cities only if they convert to the true faith.

Clergy in Administration

Type	Effects	Description & notes
Subservient Bureaucrats	+1 Free policy	Our growing bureaucracy requires loyal officials who will do their duty to the state and trust that we have the best interests of the faith at heart.
Zealous Administrators	−10% Stability cost modifier	Religious conviction must be an integral part of our state in all its parts. When educating administrators among the clergy we must stress that they all get a sold grounding in theology so that they can take the right decisions at all times.

Secularization?

Type	Effects	Description & notes
Strengthen Religious Head	+0.1 Yearly absolutism	We must strengthen the rule and abilities of our leader so that we can at all times be certain that the divine will is being carried out in accordance to their designs.
Hereditary Religious Leadership	Change to Monarchy with Feudal Theocracy reform.	Many have come to regard our leaders not only as great spiritual and worldly leaders but as semi-divine beings themselves. Many followers have in fact formed a type of order together for the following of our ruler in all ways that is required. Let us reform our country so that all our subjects are in fact members of our sect. Only available to Muslim countries.
Crowned Ruler	Changes government type to Monarchy. Lose 2 government reforms.	It is time we drop the trappings of religion and make our leader a monarch in own right.
Proclaim Republic	Changes government type to Republic. Lose 2 government reforms.	While we must never stray far from our religious roots it is also important that we allow our state to evolve. Let us create a free republic where the head of state is elected from among the group of valid candidates freely.
Magister Militum Dei	Allows rulers to become generals. +1 Land leader fire	Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius Only available to Papal States.

References

Realm