1) The 4 main Christian branches (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Miaphysitism and Nesto rianism) should be equal in opportunities.

Mending the Schism is no longer a sin gle decision available to Catholics and Orthodox, but instead 3 decisions availa ble to each branch that mends their schism with each of the other branches. Each branch now has equal temporal power to call crusades, excommunicate, grant claims, divorces (anullments* if Catholic or Miaphysite), invasions, force peopl e to be monks and females can marry matrilineally. They differ in some fundament al ways: The Catholic Papacy (C) is headed by the Pope in Rome. He can hand out the honou rary title of Cardinal, which elect new popes when they die. Rulers can create a ntipopes and install them as the real Pope by pressing their claim. Popes can le nd money and grand indulgences for gold. Priests can not marry, and they pay the Pope if he's independant and they have higher opinion of them than of their lie ge. Has investiture laws: if Papal investiture then ruler gets +4 stewardship as "thanks" from the Pope; if free investiture then no stewardship bonus but you c an appoint your own bishops. The Miaphysite Papacy (M) is headed by the Pope, which is nominally the Patriarc h of Alexandria. This papacy is not as centralised as catholicism's: kingdoms ou tside the jurisdiction of the Pope have their own autocephalous patriarchs, howe ver the Pope is still first among equals and can excommunicate anybody regardles s of jurisdiction. This pope is not elected by the conclave. Carrying on the Ale xandrine scholastic tradition, Miaphysite rulers gain +4 learning and -15 opinio n towards Antiochene christians (Nestorians). Priests can not marry, and they pa y the Pope if he's independant and they have higher opinion of them than of thei r liege. Has vanilla investiture laws. The Orthodox Patriarchate (O) is headed by the 5 Pentarchs in equal measure. Ind ependant kingdoms have their own autocephalous patriarchs. Every patriatch has p ower over his own See, however all 5 Pentarchs can call crusades, and Orthodox l ieges of a Pentarch can call crusades themselves. Because they know their place, church vassals have +10 opinion with any christian liege and all orthodox vassa ls are exempt from the negative modifier from raising levies. Priests can marry and have children but they themselves cannot inherit titles. The Nestorian Patriarchate (N) is headed by the Patriarch of the East. The Patri arch isn't tied to a specific holding, and independant kingdoms have their own a utocephalous patriarchs. Despite the church's precarious position isolated in th e East, it has survived due to the strong diplomatic skill of its theologians, s o all Nestorians gain +4 to diplomacy. The teachings of Nestorius stand in oppos ition to the Alexandrine school of christology, so Nestorians have -15 opinion t owards Miaphysites. Priests can marry and have children, and can inherit titles in order to protect the church's integrity. *only allowed if spouse is Adulterous, Impotent, Infirm, Incapable, Chaste, Homo sex 2) Each heresy has their own unique mechanics which can vary dramatically. 2.1) The Dualist Continuum: Conveniently enough, Paradox gave every branch (this is a lie, I had to move Pau licianism from an Orthodox heresy to a Miaphysite one) a dualistic heresy, heres ies which historically migrated and evolved from the eastern edge of christendom all the way to southern France. What they all have in common is gender equality and the belief in the Demiurge creating the material world (this is why they al so hate making babies). This common understanding is reflected by gaining the Du alist trait automatically, which gives +20 opinion towards other Dualists (Catha rs, Bogomils, Paulicians, Messalians and even Manicheans despite not being chris

tian). Cathar (C) Can have Absolute Cognatic, no opinion penalty for having female lieges or heirs , females can hold temples and pregnancy gives a big piety hit for both spouses. They have no religious head (no crusades, no xcom, no claims), however they can award the honourary title of Perfect to anybody with over 1000 Piety and 12 Lea rning, which gives +10 opinion to other Cathars and allows granting divorces. Bogomil (O) Can have Absolute Cognatic, no opinion penalty for having female lieges or heirs , females can hold temples and pregnancy gives a big piety hit for both spouses. They have no religious head (no crusades, no xcom, no claims), however they can award the honourary title of Christos to anybody with over 1000 Piety and 12 Le arning, which gives +10 opinion to other Bogomils and allows granting divorces. Paulician (M) Can have Absolute Cognatic, no opinion penalty , females can hold temples and pregnancy gives They do have a hereditary religious head (the Asceticism is banned, so no monks or nuns, but for having female lieges or heirs a big piety hit for both spouses. Apostle) who can grant divorces. they can take up to 3 concubines.

Messalian (N) Can have Absolute Cognatic, no opinion penalty for having female lieges or heirs , females can hold temples and pregnancy gives a big piety hit for both spouses. Close relatives can also marry to improve vassal relations (like Zoroastrians) and have up to 3 concubines. They have no religious head (no crusades, no xcom, no claims), however they can award the honourary title of M'shiha to anybody wit h over 1000 Piety and 12 Learning, which gives +10 opinion to other Messalians a nd allows granting divorces. 2.2) The Fraticelli Papacy (C) The Fraticelli were extremist Franciscans who were against the lavishness of the Catholic church and promoted asceticism, although in two different ways: like M uslims have the Ashari/Mutazili trait choice, Fraticelli can choose between Zela ntus (piety gain, +20 church vassal opinion, gold capped at 400) and Relaxatus ( reduced build time modifier, +10 city vassal opinion, gold capped at 400). They work just like Catholics however the Pope may be vassalised by the Emperor and o nly monks/nuns can serve on the council. Monothelite (O) Monothelitism was a doctrine of compromise between the Orthodox and Miaphysite i nterpretations of the nature of Christ. It states that arguing whether Christ ha s two natures or one nature is pointless, because He has only one will and is th us not torn between his natures. Monothelites are a heresy in name only, as it w as specifically formulated to be acceptable for both Orthodox and Miaphysites so neither branch has an opinion penalty to/from Monothelitism. Also, the conversi on rate both to and from Orthodox, Iconoclast, Miaphysite or Monophysite is doub led. Waldensian (C) Peter Waldo was basically a protestant, and after the reformation they blatantly joined the Calvinists, so they are basically Calvinists. Waldensians believe pr iests should avoid holding temporal power, so they can't have county-level bisho prics or above. There is also an opinion bonus if you have under 100 gold since they loved poverty apparently. They have no religious hierarchy or holy sites an d therefore no pilgrimages. Lollard (C) Lollardy held the belief that the church should not hold property, and as religi

ous leaders had the duty of moving around the world shepherding the faithful and converting unbelievers. This means that any secular ruler can hold temples (lik e muslims) and they have +10% to conversion rate. They were also super tolerant and pacifistic, so they have reduced opinion penalty towards (but not from) othe r religions (capped at -10) and can intermarry freely, you gain piety for being at peace, however you cannot execute prisoners or send them to Oubliette. Also y ou can't have monks/nuns. Also you get some Iconoclast events. Eutychian (M) Formerly known as Monophysites. If you wanna play with Miaphysites but want to u se Catholic papacy rules, play this. Iconoclast (O) These guys hate veneration of icons, just like Islam. This is thought to be no c oincidence, as the movement was heavily inspired by pro-muslim sentiment in the Empire's easternmost lands. As such, they can intermarry with muslims and have r educed opinion penalty from and towards muslims. Converting a province means all former icons are phat lewt, so Iconoclasts gain 50 gold from converting non-Mus lim provinces. However, they have no monks, females cannot marry matrilineally, your dinasty suffers decadence, and the lack of artistic freedom inhibits cultur al tech research speed.