There's been a lot of discussion as to what the cultural borders should look like in 1419. To a large extent this is dictated by history (in some cases, alternate history). But what happens afterwards is determined by circumstances as they arise in the game. I'm particularly interested in the 'new' cultures, those which blossom after 1419 more so than before. In particular:
1. Burgundian
So Burgundy decides not to become France, and instead to fully integrate with the HRE. To me, this suggests a Burgundian culture centred around the Rhine. But at the moment, that's not how it seems to work: Burgundian is purely a breakaway from French, and it never assimilates anyone who wasn't French in 1419. Surely there are some areas to the east that could be assimilated, such as Luxembourg or Strasbourg (both of which are now largely French-speaking at an official level IRL)? What about the Low Countries, especially Wallonia? They shouldn't be French in 1419, but historically the French language gradually spread northwards, eventually getting as far as Brussels. Surely Burgundian language and customs are even more likely to permeate if Burgundy comes to rule the area?
2. Hanseatic
This represents the emergence of a city-state multi-culture that is based around trade and a lot of autonomy for individual cities. As such, it can spread more or less anywhere in theory. I like the current events, except I think they should have some conditions based on badboy and the like, so a bloated land empire Hansa doesn't get them. In fact, maybe a bloated land empire Hansa shouldn't even have Hanseatic, but rather be a plain old German-cultured country.
3. The TO
In 1419, you have a small group of Germans ruling over a large number of Balts and Poles. In 1819, the TO is nothing like any German state, but all those centuries of living under mostly German rule must have had some effect on the Balts as well. Something has to happen in the interim. At the moment this process is a bit invisible, because giving the TO German culture sends out all the wrong messages (any sane TO player would take it as a signal to abandon their existing land and start pillaging northern Germany). Instead, I suggest we represent the peculiar cultural setup of the TO heartlands by some new culture, let's call it 'Balto-German'. Depending on the choices made by the TO, this culture could expand into previously un-Germanised 'Lithuanian' areas and/or German cities which are closely tied up with the area like Danzig, or it could contract, or it could precipitate violently into straight German and Lithuanian, neither of which is able to rule over the other any more.
4. Inglis
Not so much an emergent culture, as it already exists well before 1419, but the 15th century is when Inglis-speakers get the upper hand in Scotland. Or do they? The boundaries between Lowlander and Highlander were fluid at this point, as were their relative fortunes so players have a choice here: either the Inglis-speakers become dominant, or there's a Gaelic resurgence. A Gaelic Scotland would be very different from the Inglis one, so much so that I think we should have a separate tag for it: Alba. Thereafter Alba can revolt from Scotland, or Scotland from Alba, depending on which is dominant; in terms of outside influences, the English would tend to favour Scotland, while the Eireanns would tend to favour Alba (especially as it's theoretically a vassal to the High King). I've written events for the Inglis option, ie 'Scotland', but I don't know enough to do many events for the Gaelic option. At the least though, there should be some cultural to and fro depending on who's in charge, so Alba could start assimilating the Lowlands and finally lose Inglis culture. For Scotland, there are already events dealing with the Highlands, but what about the Scottification of northern and central England?
1. Burgundian
So Burgundy decides not to become France, and instead to fully integrate with the HRE. To me, this suggests a Burgundian culture centred around the Rhine. But at the moment, that's not how it seems to work: Burgundian is purely a breakaway from French, and it never assimilates anyone who wasn't French in 1419. Surely there are some areas to the east that could be assimilated, such as Luxembourg or Strasbourg (both of which are now largely French-speaking at an official level IRL)? What about the Low Countries, especially Wallonia? They shouldn't be French in 1419, but historically the French language gradually spread northwards, eventually getting as far as Brussels. Surely Burgundian language and customs are even more likely to permeate if Burgundy comes to rule the area?
2. Hanseatic
This represents the emergence of a city-state multi-culture that is based around trade and a lot of autonomy for individual cities. As such, it can spread more or less anywhere in theory. I like the current events, except I think they should have some conditions based on badboy and the like, so a bloated land empire Hansa doesn't get them. In fact, maybe a bloated land empire Hansa shouldn't even have Hanseatic, but rather be a plain old German-cultured country.
3. The TO
In 1419, you have a small group of Germans ruling over a large number of Balts and Poles. In 1819, the TO is nothing like any German state, but all those centuries of living under mostly German rule must have had some effect on the Balts as well. Something has to happen in the interim. At the moment this process is a bit invisible, because giving the TO German culture sends out all the wrong messages (any sane TO player would take it as a signal to abandon their existing land and start pillaging northern Germany). Instead, I suggest we represent the peculiar cultural setup of the TO heartlands by some new culture, let's call it 'Balto-German'. Depending on the choices made by the TO, this culture could expand into previously un-Germanised 'Lithuanian' areas and/or German cities which are closely tied up with the area like Danzig, or it could contract, or it could precipitate violently into straight German and Lithuanian, neither of which is able to rule over the other any more.
4. Inglis
Not so much an emergent culture, as it already exists well before 1419, but the 15th century is when Inglis-speakers get the upper hand in Scotland. Or do they? The boundaries between Lowlander and Highlander were fluid at this point, as were their relative fortunes so players have a choice here: either the Inglis-speakers become dominant, or there's a Gaelic resurgence. A Gaelic Scotland would be very different from the Inglis one, so much so that I think we should have a separate tag for it: Alba. Thereafter Alba can revolt from Scotland, or Scotland from Alba, depending on which is dominant; in terms of outside influences, the English would tend to favour Scotland, while the Eireanns would tend to favour Alba (especially as it's theoretically a vassal to the High King). I've written events for the Inglis option, ie 'Scotland', but I don't know enough to do many events for the Gaelic option. At the least though, there should be some cultural to and fro depending on who's in charge, so Alba could start assimilating the Lowlands and finally lose Inglis culture. For Scotland, there are already events dealing with the Highlands, but what about the Scottification of northern and central England?
