Alstin loophole

The Alstin loophole was a method by which Protestants in Levantia were able to practice quasi-legally during most of the 1800s.

The Treaty of Lariana, signed in 1806, provided for limited religious toleration of merchants and ambassadors from Alstin within the Holy Levantine Empire as well as a limited amount of clerics of the Chantry of Alstin to provide for their spiritual needs. The Treaty's language provided that normally illegal religious proceedings attended by a protected official could not be prevented nor disrupted. This language allowed for many underground Protestant groups in Levantia to begin to worship semi-openly provided that an Alstinian national was present at their worship in an ad hoc basis. The Government of Alstin by 1820 decided to direct its embassies to make contact with local Protestant groups in order to have a rotation of officials in attendance of Protestant worship services, even if they were non-Chantric in nature. The decision to officialize the Alstin loophole greatly contributed to the survival and moderate growth of Levantine Protestantism in the 1800s and enhanced Alstin's global prestige among Protestants, being viewed as a protector of the faith.

The loophole largely ended when the Treaty of Lariana was superseded in the early 1900s with bilateral agreements between Alstin and the individual members of the Holy Levantine Empire; by this time, religious persecution of Protestants had largely ceased.

Kingdom of Dericania

The Alstin loophole was especially pervasive in the coastal cities of the Dericanian states of Marialanus, Martilles, and Bourgondi.The massive colonial empires that these coastal states had ammased through the practice of Pharisedoms and their subsequent collapse throughout the first third of the 19th century meant that these coastal states were awash with Protestants.

During the First Fratricide and the concurrent War for Burgoignesc Unification and Independence, the Burgoigniacs held a referendum to extend religious protection and citizenship to Protestants willing to fight for their cause. Upon the conclusion of the war and the drafting of a new constitution, these rights were guaranteed and in recognition for their bravery and service citizenship was pegged to service versus birthright in the newly formed Burgundie. For the remainder of the 19th century, to assuage the Catholic Church, land grants were still made to those practicing Protestantism in Burgundie's overseas territories (particularly in Equitorial Ostiecia), to limit the amount of Protestants in Levantia and the Burgoignesc Metropole.