MattyG said:
One of the very tricky aspects of the Kingdom of jerusalem, something that makes it a much more difficult file to write, is that the crusader states didn't last, there isn't anything in the world at the period on which can properly model it and realistically a lot of different outcomes were possible.
Here, though, are a few points which I think ought to bear on the decisions we make.
I think we're basically on the same page here, it's just a matter of degree.
1. Cultrual Change Affects Everyone
I think this is well represented by Levantine culture, which can slowly spread if the KoJ prospers. Whether we need a separate Crusader culture is another matter - I don't think the culture is that relevant at the level of whole provinces, because the Europeans are not numerous enough to dominate whole provinces culturally (with the possible exception of Judea). As such, JER might as well have no culture if we really want to screw them over. But overall I think giving them Levantine from the start is fair - they'll suffer enough penalties as it is from wrong-religion.
2. Something MUST Have Been Different
Yup. Over the KoJ's long Interregnum history, it must have done all three I think, particularly in establishing some level of religious tolerance, and in being militarily more secure. It is less of an affront to Muslim states by 1419 partly because it isn't actively threatening Muslims, but mainly simply because local Muslim rulers have got used to it being there, and religious solidarity is often trumped by inertia or convenience. I think the EU engine does quite enough by itself to stir up hatred between different-religion states, what with the way the AI sets its tolerance sliders (no provinces of the relevant religion = zero tolerance), so we don't need to make the KoJ even more of a pariah. If anything, by sheer necessity the KoJ is going to be rather better at making deals with Muslim rulers than either Byzantium or later Christian arrivals to the fringes of Islam.
3. The Military Orders Need to be Represented
Represented yes, but in a balanced way, bearing in mind how both JER and the military order must have evolved to still be around in 1419. If they are all-powerful, then they must have supported the direction in which the KoJ has evolved politically, so they can't have been dominated by fanatics. If they're more of a radical fringe politically, the risk of them taking over should be dependent on circumstances, and the way this ought to happen is not as straightforward as winning vs losing. For instance, if the KoJ suffers on the battlefield, you might think 'JER is shown to be weak, rebel Templars take over'. But actually, those same fanatics would have been first to charge off and attack the enemy, large numbers would be vulture food by the time it became clear that JER was losing the war, and in any case they'd have better things to do than launch a coup (better to fend off the external enemy first, then take over). Rather, military orders would tend to thrive if JER is too successful militarily, as they would get a lot of the spoils in terms of newly-conquered frontier territories. On the other hand, a KoJ on reduced territory but with major European immigration would not strengthen the established military orders so much, as they would be seen to have failed, but it would increase the concentration of Christians somewhat and increase competition for land, which might destroy some of the relations built up between the different communities.
At the other end, we could consider different fates for the KoJ. Here are some ideas:
- A local Muslim leader launches a successful rebellion, however he tries to carve out his own kingdom rather than submit to the Caliph of Baghdad. We can have some revolter tag to represent this - call the revolter 'al-Sham' or 'Palestine' maybe?
- After rejection of crusades, heresy and schism in the Catholic world, the KoJ undergoes a rapprochement with the Orthodox world, seen as more useful allies in the region. This may reach a point where we give the KoJ Orthodox state religion - for instance, the king might marry a Byzantine princess, one of whose children wants to switch to Orthodoxy, or alternatively, the KoJ sets up its own church, separate from both Rome and Constantinople but more sympathetic to the latter.
- The Kingdom gets inherited by a large outside power with the military muscle to fight for it - but do they have the will? The most likely candidates here are Sicily and Byzantium - the latter either by true inheritance (if there's a rapprochement) or due to a takeover by pro-Greek forces in the Kingdom, such as Cypriots or potentially Armenians.
- Even for Muslim states, the JER may be the lesser of two evils. The most likely scenario is that Egypt is hard-pressed by the Caliphate, and decides to form an alliance of convenience with JER. This is the kind of logical choice a player might make, but we need to help the AI if we want it to behave sensibly according to regional politics.
- With the combination of different religions, a concentration of holy sites and pilgrims, and the influence of schisms ripping through the Christian and Muslim worlds in the 15th and 16th centuries, strange things could happen. Maybe some novel religious movement springs up in Jerusalem, probably represented by Reformed (if Christian) or Mutazelite (if Muslim) or even use one of the eastern tags (some kind of weird evangelical Jewish or Gnostic sect?). Little chance of survival and even less of taking political control of the Kingdom, but fun for those who want the ultimate challenge for JER.
