Samso-Paternalist

Samso-Paternalists, also referred to as "Samsonists," are followers of the various religions which emerged from the Heartlands after the disappearance of Samson the Great. This subgroup is derived from the Paternalist faith, which existed across the Heartlands, Pfilstein, and Rothringen in antiquity. Followers of Samso-Paternalist religions believe that Samson the Great has or had some divine connection to the Paternal Spirits, whether he is a merger of the spirits or otherwise associated with them.

Great Imperial Schism
In 401 AS, Theological debate as to the exact divine nature of Samson the Great caused a schism in the Samsonist faith, resulting in the formation of the Unitarian and Trinitarian schools of the Samsonist faith. Scholars and Theologians alike attempted to merge this schism over the next several centuries, however after the Empire entered a period of religious fanaticism on the behalf of the Unitarian doctrine in the 10th and 11th centuries, Trinitarians became strongly opposed to the Unitarian ideology and since then the two become completely distinct religions in their own right.

Reformation
In the 16th century, after the reign of Samson X, many citizens across the Empire began to protest against the Unitarian doctrine that the Kaiser had a divine right to wield supreme power over the Empire. Samson X had thrown the Empire into numerous wars, had been a violent and oppressive liege, and lived an incredibly scandalous life. These concerns led to the formation of the Reformation, which sought to remove the Kaiser from the position of head of the church, in favour of creating a separate religious hierarchy which would govern spiritual matters and keep the Kaiser in check by making sure they remained just and pious throughout their rule.

This movement gained much traction following the Crisis of the Imperial Succession when the Low-Lords of the land demanded to be given legislative powers in order to help manage the country throughout regencies and in the event of another succession crisis. This movement also sought to limit the Kaiser's own powers, and consequently many of the proponents of this movement adopted the Reformed faith. The Treaty of Karolingburg, signed in 1644, ultimately achieved the goals of both movements, resulting in the end of the Reformation and saw the Grand Archbishop of Muddah become the chief authority over the Unitarian faith. After this, most Reformed Samsonists returned to calling themselves Unitarians. However, a small percentage of the Empire's citizens, mostly isolated in the New Broeklands, continued to call themselves Reformed Samsonists, and eventually became their own religion.

Modern Reformed Samsonists have no official religious authority and consequently have a very diverse range of doctrines. Most of the denominations within the Reformed faith follow the Unitarian stance on Samson's divinity but follow Trinitarian doctrines on religious decentralisation and personal interpretation. The New Broeklands continues to have the largest population of Reformed Samsonists, and is the only nation in the world whose religious majority is Reformed.