Dragonnades

The Dragonnades were a Holy Levantine Empire government policy instituted by the Emperor Leo III to intimidate Protestants in Levantia to convert to Catholicism during the Great Confessional War by means of intimidation and force. Although the policy was originally limited to quartering dragoons in the homes of those suspected of religious non-compliance, it gradually escalated into a general allowance of government-sanctioned armed bands to unleash devestation in areas where Protestants lived. The policy culminated with the Holy League's victory in the War and subsequent declaration of outlaw status of all Protestants in the Empire on 10 August 1575. With Protestants now living outside the protection of the law, their lives and property were forfeit, beginning a wave of major violence. By 1600, it's estimated that fewer than 10,000 openly practicing Protestants remained in the Empire, the rest having been killed, converted, or having been deported abroad to a Pharisedom, though many underground adherents continued to exist in small cells.

Many modern scholars have described the Dragonnades as a "genocidal act." They are largely considered to be the chief tool used to implement the total Catholic victory during the Confessional War. The Dragonnades, combined with other events resulting from the War, combine to form one of the largest demographic events in human history, sending thousands of Levantine descended Protestants abroad while entrenching the Catholic identity and influence of the Church throughout Levantia.