Religion

Religion in 1066

Every character in the game follows a religion. A character's religion has a major impact on their gameplay mechanics.

Interaction between religious groups is mostly limited to warfare. Characters may convert to another religion in some cases.

Religion groups

Six religious groups are represented in Crusader Kings II. Within each group there are variants, heresies, or both.

Religion group		DLC required1	Marriage2	Key mechanics and variants	Common goals
Christian			Monogamy	Variants of Christianity are uniquely peaceful toward each other, disallowing the use of religious revocation except against heretics. Relations with religious head are important, as they can perform excommunication, enabling free imprisonment and a depose-ruler CB. Variants: Catholic: extra Papal favors, Papal succession by election among the College of Cardinals, antipopes, investiture. The Sanctioned Invasion CB is also mostly used by Catholics. Orthodox: the largest religion with autocephaly Heresies: Fraticelli: can establish a papacy just like Catholicism Cathar: full feminism (female temple holders, councilors, and commanders; no opinion penalty for female ruler or heir) Messalian: full feminism like Cathar; close-relative marriage like Zoroastrian	Catholic, 769 start: hold Italy (or Italia) as one of the requirements to Create the Holy Roman Empire Catholic, later: hold Germany to Restore the Holy Roman Empire Byzantine Empire: Control the five Pentarchy sites to Mend the Great Schism Byzantine Empire: Completely control key duchies in order to restore the Roman Empire
Israelite (Jewish)		Sons of Abraham	Monogamy	Heresies	Completely control the Kingdom of Jerusalem in order to create the Kingdom of Israel and restore the high priesthood
Islam (Muslim)		Sword of Islam	Polygyny	Powerful Muslim CBs allow fast expansion, but large realms often fail due to dynastic decadence. Most variants of Islam can have a caliph, a secular (and thus playable) religious head. Iqta government replaces both Feudal and Theocracy governments, allowing rulers to hold both castles and mosques without penalty. Iqta rulers can freely revoke duchies, and use Open succession to effectively designate heirs. Variants: Sunni: schools of thought, Shia uprisings Shia Ibadi Heresies: Yazidi: excommunication	Usurp the Caliphate by claiming the existing caliph's primary title. Or, create a new caliphate by conquering key locations and converting to a variant with no current Caliph.
Pagan		The Old Gods	Concubinage	Many unique mechanics make Pagans strong early on but weaker as time passes. Powerful Pagan CBs allow fast expansion, but unreformed Pagans has extreme stability problems. Can raid regardless of culture or government. Variants: Germanic: runestones, prepared invasions, river movement, viking trait, secular religious head Tengri: horse warfare bonuses make them uniquely suitable for nomadism. Often associated with cultures that support the powerful Tribal Invasion CB. Aztec: prisoner sacrifice Zunist: Four defensive variants which are similar to each other.	Control holy sites in order to boost moral authority and reform the religion. Reformed religions combine the best features of paganism and existing organized religions. They consider those following the old ways to be heretics. Tribal rulers must reform (or convert) in order to adopt feudalism or found a merchant republic.
Mazdan (Zoroastrian)		The Old Gods	Concubinage	The main religion, Zoroastrianism, allows and even encourages marriages between close relatives. Heresies	Completely control the Empire of Persia in order to become Saoshyant and restore the priesthood
Dharman (Indian)		Rajas of India	Concubinage	Characters can convert to another Dharmic religion if they control any province with the new religion. Provinces convert very slowly, but this is okay because there is no revolt risk. No religious heads. Variants: Hindu: A huge holy order and +30% morale. Hindus are the only Indians who can raid and duchy-level holy wars. They are hindered by strict adherence to caste system, and by lack of heir designation. Buddhist: ambition to reject negative trait. Buddhist county conquest CB against other religion groups, which can be extremely useful if used strategically. Jain: stability bonuses include a large demesne, vassal opinion boost, and pacifist AI that further reduces factionalism.	Conquer the entire Indian subcontinent in order to unite India into a single de jure empire

¹Religion DLC is not required to play as a nomad; Horse Lords unlocks nomadic rulers of all religions. However, players must convert to a playable religion before they can settle down to a non-nomadic government type.

²All religions support concubinage when tribal or nomadic. For Muslims, this replaces polygamy for rulers^{[what about courtiers?]}

Relations

If characters are of different religions, they'll get a large opinion penalty towards one another:

Name	Criteria	Opinion	Example
Religious Differences	Different religions of the same religious groups	-10	Catholic vs Orthodox
Heretic	Different religion within the same religious sub-group	-35	Catholic vs a Catholic Heresy
Infidel	Different religion group	-30	Catholic vs Sunni
Zealous	Anyone of different religion	-50	Stacks with standard penalty

This penalty, apart from Zealous, is reduced by the Tolerance technology in the capital of each character, -6.25% per technology level. Additionally, a character who is sympathetic towards another religious group has no Infidel penalty towards or from characters following a religion of that group.

Application of Crown Laws and Offers of Vassalization

Religion affects how Crown laws are applied. This is particularly important in regions which see frequent religious conflict (Iberia, Eastern Europe and the Near East), or are simply religiously diverse (India). Independent dukes and counts are considered to have the No Crown Authority Law, if the king of the de jure kingdom which they belong to is of another religion.

AI rulers will also never accept diplomatic vassalization if they follow a different religion from the potential liege's.

Holy wars

Main article: Casus Belli#Religious CBs

Religion also provides various Casus Belli, most notably holy war and Crusades, though this varies from religion to religion - both are unavailable to unreformed pagans for example. Sword of Islam also introduced two new Casus Belli specifically for Muslims.

Religious head

Main article: Religious head

Religion also affects what powers the religious head has; unreformed Pagan religions for example have no Religious Head, while a Christian Religious head can excommunicate characters, which is impossible for Muslims and Pagans.

Pagan religions may gain a religious head and a Great Holy War (Crusade CB) if they reform. They then become the "Reformed" version. The version without a religious head and Great Holy War becomes a heresy and is called the "Old" version of the religion.

Moral Authority

Main article: Moral authority

Each religion has a moral authority, determined by the actions of its followers. It defines the power of the religion, and impacts the chances of heresies.

List of religions

Parent religions

	Religion	Group	Head	Holy Sites	Holy Sites Maps	Mechanics	Special CBs	Modifiers
	Catholic	Christian	The Papacy	Rome Santiago Köln Jerusalem Kent		Excommunication, College of Cardinals, Investiture, Antipope, Pilgrimage	Holy war, Crusades, Sanctioned Invasion
	Orthodox	Christian	The Ecumenical Patriarchate	Constantinople Jerusalem Antioch Samos Athens		Autocephaly, Excommunication, Mending the Great Schism, Pilgrimage	Holy war, Sanctioned Invasion
	Miaphysite	Christian	The Coptic Papacy	Alexandria Aksum Antioch Jerusalem Napata		Autocephaly, Excommunication, Pilgrimage	Holy war, Sanctioned Invasion
	Nestorian	Christian	The Patriarchate in the East	Alexandria Antioch Baghdad Jerusalem Rayy		Autocephaly, Excommunication, Pilgrimage	Holy war, Sanctioned Invasion
	Sunni	Muslim	The Sunni Caliphate	Mecca Medina Jerusalem Baghdad Cordoba		Decadence, Polygamy, Hajj	Holy war (also vs non-Sunni, non-heretic Muslims), Muslim Invasion, County Conquest, Jihads, Caliphal Subjugation
	Shia	Muslim	The Shia Caliphate	Mecca Medina Jerusalem Al Nadjaf Damascus		Decadence, Polygamy, Hajj	Holy war (also vs non-Shia, non-heretic Muslims), Muslim Invasion, County Conquest, Jihads, Caliphal Subjugation
	Ibadi	Muslim	The Ibadi Caliphate	Mecca Medina Jerusalem Atlas Mnt Hajar		Decadence, Polygamy, Hajj	Holy war (also vs non-Ibadi, non-heretic Muslims), Muslim Invasion, County Conquest, Jihads, Caliphal Subjugation
	Judaism	Israelite	None (Kohen Gadol once the Kingdom of Israel is restored)	Jerusalem Damascus Sinai Dhofar Hamadan			Holy war, Great holy wars, Sanctioned Invasion
	Zoroastrian	Mazdan	None (Zoroastrian Church once the Persian Empire is retaken)	Nishapur Sistan Fars Oromied Balkh		Divine blood, Concubinage	Holy war, Great holy wars, Sanctioned Invasion
	Hinduism	Indian (Dharmic)	None	Ujjayini Dvaraka Mathura Ayodhya Varanasi		Raiding, Caste System, Patron Gods, Concubinage, Sects	Holy war, Indian Subjugation	Morale +30%
	Buddhism	Indian (Dharmic)	None	Devagiri Vidisa Varadasi Gaya Udabhanda		Sects, Concubinage, can designate heir, no penalty for female rulers/heirs, no short reign penalty	Holy war (targets single county), Indian Subjugation	Learning +4
	Jainism	Indian (Dharmic)	None	Bhumilka Sarasvata Mandala Godwad Srirangapatna Rajrappa		Sects, vassal opinion bonus, can designate heir, Concubinage, no short reign penalty	Indian Subjugation	Demesne limit +3 Peace purity gain 1/month
	Germanic	Pagan	None	Zeeland Braunschweig Uppland Sjaelland Naumadal		Raiding, river movement, Concubinage, Reformation, female temple holders, defensive attrition, 250% short reign penalty, prestige loss while at peace, no penalty from raised vassal levies	County Conquest, Subjugation, Prepared Invasion	Levy size +30% Retinue size +50%
	Reformed Germanic	Pagan	The Fylkirate			Raiding, river movement, Concubinage, female temple holders, 150% short reign penalty	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Prepared invasion, Great holy wars	Levy size +30%
	Slavic	Pagan	None	Novgorod Kiev Plock Birlad Rugen		Raiding, Concubinage, Reformation, female temple holders, defensive attrition, 200% short reign penalty	County Conquest, Subjugation	Levy size +10% Garrison size +30% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Reformed Slavic	Pagan	The Slavic Church			Raiding, Concubinage, Great holy wars, female temple holders	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Great holy wars	Levy size +20% Garrison size +20% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Tengri	Pagan	None	Itil Tobol Crimea Syr Darya Otuken		Raiding, Concubinage, Reformation, 150% short reign penalty, prestige loss while at peace, no penalty from raised vassal levies, ignores defensive attrition	County Conquest, Subjugation, Tribal Invasion	Levy size +30% Light Cav Offensive +30% Light Cav Defensive +30%
	Reformed Tengri	Pagan	The Tengri Church			Raiding, Concubinage, Great holy wars	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Tribal Invasion, Great holy wars
	Romuva	Pagan	None	Rugen Chelminskie Podlasie Zemigalians Bryansk		Raiding, Concubinage, Reformation, female temple holders, defensive attrition, 200% short reign penalty	County Conquest, Subjugation	Levy size +10% Garrison size +30% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Reformed Romuva	Pagan	The Romuva Church			Raiding, Concubinage, female temple holders	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Great holy wars	Levy size +20% Garrison size +20% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Suomenusko	Pagan	None	Perm Ryazan Novgorod Osel Kexholm		Raiding, Concubinage, Reformation, female temple holders, defensive attrition, 200% short reign penalty	County Conquest, Subjugation	Garrison size +40% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Reformed Suomenusko	Pagan	The Suomenusko Church			Raiding, Concubinage, female temple holders	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Great holy wars	Levy size +10% Garrison size +30% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	West African	Pagan	None	Timbuktu Mali Marrakech Atlas Mnt Medjerda		Raiding, Concubinage, Reformation, female temple holders, defensive attrition	County Conquest, Subjugation	Garrison size +40% Home territory: All Units Defensive +80% Garrison size +40%
	Reformed West African	Pagan	The West African Church			Raiding, Concubinage, Great holy wars, female temple holders	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Great holy wars
	Aztec	Pagan	None	Rome Valois Cordoba Marrakesh Middlesex		Concubinage, prestige loss while at peace, no penalty from raised vassal levies	County Conquest, Tribal Invasion	Levy size +30%
	Reformed Aztec	Pagan	The Aztec Church			Concubinage	Holy war (costs 100 piety with 5 year truce), County Conquest, Tribal Invasion, Great holy wars
	Pagan	Pagan	None	Rome Västergötland Mecca Jerusalem Ghana		Concubinage, defensive attrition	County Conquest, Subjugation
	Zunist	Pagan	None	Baghdad Bost Cairo Kabulistan Multan		Concubinage, Reformation, defensive attrition	County Conquest, Subjugation	Levy size +30% Heavy infantry offensive: +20% Heavy infantry defensive: +20%
	Reformed Zunist	Pagan	The Church of Zun			Concubinage	County Conquest, Great holy wars
	Hellenic	Pagan	None	Abydos Thessalonica Athens Rome (Latium) Alexandria		Pre-reformed, Concubinage, female temple holders	County Conquest, Subjugation

Notes:

• Since 2.4.1 when a barony that holds a holy site is destroyed, the province holds it instead, but the value of the province for moral authority is reduced by half. But if you build a temple in the province, it will become the holy site. This was to prevent the game from crashing when hordes raze a holy site.
• Because a majority of Tengri land belong to hordes, they have no temples in a majority of their holy sites, forcing the player to build them.
• The Hellenic and (generic) Pagan religions appear for characters in the history files, representing (for Hellenism) the pre-Christian Roman emperors and (for Paganism) pre-Christian Irish and pre-Islamic Arabs, among others. They cannot normally appear in-game (Except one Arabian woman in 867.) But you can become them through the console.
• Catholicism and all Catholic Heresies become Orthodox heresies if the great Schism is mended. This does not affect the Miaphysite or Nestorian denominations.

Heresies

All religions with a parent religion are heresies. With Sons of Abraham, if a heresy becomes more prevalent than the parent religion (5 provinces more), it will become the new orthodoxy, and the parent religion will become a heresy. All holy orders of the parent religion switch over to the former heresy when this happens. Note that the Indian religions do not have heresies.

	Religion	Parent	Group	Head	Mechanics	Special CBs
	Cathar	Catholicism	Christianity	None	Absolute Cognatic succession; female temple holders, councillors and commanders, no penalty for female rulers/heirs
	Fraticelli	Catholicism	Christianity	Fraticelli Pope (once established)	Excommunication, College of Cardinals, Investiture, Antipope, Crusades	As Catholic
	Waldensian	Catholicism	Christianity	None
	Lollard	Catholicism	Christianity	None
	Monophysite	Miaphysite	Christianity	The Monophysite Papacy	Autocephaly, Excommunication	As Orthodox
	Messalian	Nestorian	Christianity	None	Absolute Cognatic succession; Divine blood, female temple holders, no penalty for female rulers/heirs
	Bogomilist	Orthodoxy	Christianity	None	Female temple holders, no penalty for female rulers/heirs
	Monothelite	Orthodoxy	Christianity	The Monothelite Partriarchate	Autocephaly, Excommunication, Mending the Great Schism	As Orthodox
	Iconoclast	Orthodoxy	Christianity	The Iconoclast Patriachate (once established)	Autocephaly, Excommunication, Mending the Great Schism	As Orthodox
	Paulician	Orthodoxy	Christianity	The Paulician Patriarchate (once established)	Autocephaly, Excommunication, Mending the Great Schism	As Orthodox
	Zikri	Sunni	Islam	None	Decadence, Polygamy	Muslim Invasion, County Conquest
	Yazidi	Sunni	Islam	The Yazidi Sheikhdom (once established)	Decadence, Polygamy, Excommunication, Has it's own unique set of holy sites	Muslim Invasion, County Conquest
	Kharijite	Ibadi	Islam	The Karijite Caliphate (once established)	Decadence, Polygamy	As Ibadi
	Druze	Shia	Islam	None	Decadence, Polygamy	Muslim Invasion, County Conquest
	Hurufi	Shia	Islam	The Hurufi Skeikhdom [sic] (once established)	Decadence, Polygamy	Muslim Invasion, County Conquest
	Mazdaki	Zoroastrian	Mazdan	None	Can borrow money from Jewish Merchants
	Manichaean	Zoroastrian	Mazdan	None
	Samaritan	Judaism	Israelite	None
	Karaite	Judaism	Israelite	None
	Old Germanic	(Reformed) Germanic	Pagan	None	Same as Germanic	Same as Germanic
	Old Slavic	(Reformed) Slavic	Pagan	None	Same as Slavic	Same as Slavic
	Old Tengri	(Reformed) Tengri	Pagan	None	Same as Tengri	Same as Tengri
	Old Romuva	(Reformed) Romuva	Pagan	None	Same as Romuva	Same as Romuva
	Old Suomenusko	(Reformed) Suomenusko	Pagan	None	Same as Suomenusko	Same as Suomenusko
	Old West African	(Reformed) West African	Pagan	None	Same as West African	Same as West African
	Old Aztec	(Reformed) Aztec	Pagan	None	Same as Aztec	Same as Aztec
	Old Zunist	(Reformed) Zunist	Pagan	None	Same as Zunist	Same as Zunist

Christian religion (typically, but not necessarily, Orthodox) is also required for the special Imperial Reconquest CB. Additionally, the Tribal Invasion CB can be used by any non-Christians of the Altaic culture group.

When a pagan religion is reformed, anyone following it gets an event to decide whether to accept the reformation. If they don't, they become the "Old" version, which is considered a heresy. The reformed version keeps the name of the pre-reformation religion.

Likewise, if an Orthodox ruler mends the Great Schism, Catholic rulers get an event to decide whether to convert to Orthodoxy (or the "heresy"). Either way, Catholicism is thereafter treated as an Orthodox heresy, and all the Catholic heresies become Orthodox heresies instead. Orthodox Heresies can also mend the Great Schism if they manage to replace Orthodoxy as the parent religion.

Yazidi has its own holy sites. They are Nishapur, Fars, Mosul, Mecca, and Jerusalem.

Religion ID tags

catholic; orthodox; sunni; shiite; miaphysite; jewish; cathar; bogomilist; zikri; bektashi; monophysite; mazdaki; fraticelli; nestorian; yazidi; druze; manichean; waldensian; monothelite; ibadi; hurufi; zoroastrian; lollard; iconoclast

pagan; hellenic_pagan; norse_pagan; norse_pagan_reformed; tengri_pagan; tengri_pagan_reformed; baltic_pagan; baltic_pagan_reformed; finnish_pagan; finnish_pagan_reformed; aztec; aztec_reformed; slavic_pagan; slavic_pagan_reformed; west_african_pagan; west_african_pagan_reformed

See also

• Religious conversion
• Culture
• Religion modding

Religion

Universal concepts

Religion guide • Piety • Crusades, jihads and great holy wars • Religious head • Moral authority • Holy orders

Unique concepts

Excommunication • Antipope • Investiture • Autocephaly • Decadence • Hajj • Polygamy

Religion groups

Christians • Muslims • Zoroastrians • Pagans • Judaism • Indian religions