I think somewhere between Roads to Power and the Wandering Nobles event pack, more opportunities were introduced for strong republics to rise to power. While I was messing around in the frozen wasteland of Sibirya, Germany somehow established itself as a Most Serene Republic and has been going strong for many generations. I just popped over to check on them and discovered that their current elected leader is both a nun and a Conqueror. She looks pretty badass with that sword.
Theres a neat bit of history of the catholic church called the pornocracy which is basically just rude fanfiction written by a hater to defame the women close to the church keadership of the time.
Fun fact, some Popes wrote erotic literature before becoming Popes. Pius 2 (yes, interesting name coincidence, I know) wrote a pretty erotic tale. Lots of people liked it as well, for the record...