User Guide

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ously unknown religion, or if a new one (such
as the various forms of Protestantism) is cre-
ated, a new slider will be added to the page.
You can move each of the sliders to any
setting that you wish. Choosing a position to-
wards the extreme left will cause your country
to be hostile towards anyone of that faith. A
setting that is towards the right end of slider
will make your country quite tolerant of that
religion. There is one restriction to the slider
settings: the sum of your tolerance settings must
always be neutral. If you wish to be highly toler-
ant of one religion, you must either be equally
intolerant of another, or somewhat intolerant
of several. You can adjust a slider by dragging
the tab to the desired position, or by clicking
the arrows at either end of the slider. As you
do so, you’ll notice other sliders moving in the
opposite direction to automatically maintain
the required overall balance. You can prevent
a slider from moving by locking it in place.
Right-click or double-click the slider to lock it,
and repeat this process to unlock it again. Be-
cause you must always have an overall neutral
balance, you will only be able to adjust your
tolerance towards a religion if at least one other
slider is also unlocked.
Religious Tolerance’s Effect on
Province Revolt Risk
Your religious tolerance settings have a large
effect on the revolt risk in any province that
you control. If you are tolerant towards a prov-
ince’s religion, it will be much less likely to re-
volt than it would if you were intolerant. This
effect is entirely dependent on your tolerance
settings and not on your official realm religion.
It also applies to any province that you control,
not just to provinces that you own. This can be
a very important distinction during war.
We discussed the difference between own-
ership and control in the chapter on Province
Management; but a quick reminder might be
a good idea. Any province that is part of your
realm is one that you own and will also usually
be under your control. During a war, control
of a province will change if an enemy is suc-
cessful in defeating the province’s defences and
occupying the provincial capital. When this
happens, the province will have an increased
revolt risk, which simulates a population’s nat-
ural tendency to resist an enemy’s occupation.
The revolt risk will be much greater if the en-
emy is also intolerant towards the province’s re-
ligion. You should keep this in mind when you
are fighting wars against religious enemies. It
might be worthwhile to make a few temporary
adjustments to your religious tolerance settings
to prevent too many rebellions from springing
up in any provinces that you occupy.
Religious Tolerance’s Effect on
Population Growth
The rate at which a province’s population grows
is also dependent on whether the country that
controls it is tolerant towards the province’s re-
ligion. High tolerance will increase the rate of
growth, while low tolerance will reduce it and
can even result in a gradual population decline.
Again, this effect is determined by control, not
ownership.
Religious Tolerance’s Effect on
Country Relationships
The effect of your country’s religious toler-
ance preferences extends far beyond your own
borders. Your relationship with each and every
other country in the world receives a monthly
adjustment based on your respective settings.
Being tolerant of another country’s religion will
tend to improve your relationship, while being
intolerant will cause your relationship to erode.
It is quite common for two countries to have
different religious tolerance settings. It is their
combined effect that determines the monthly
change in their relationship. Countries that are
intolerant towards each others’ religions may
see their relationship deteriorate rapidly, which
can easily lead to war.
Converting Religion
At some point in the game, it is almost certain