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College of Levantine Churches: Difference between revisions
College of Levantine Churches (view source)
Revision as of 11:53, 19 September 2022
, 19 September 2022→Association of Old Believers
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==History== | ==History== | ||
===Constituent histories=== | ===Constituent histories=== | ||
==== | ====Old Believers==== | ||
"Old Believers", in the context of [[Levantia|Levantine]] {{wp|Protestantism}}, describes a varied number of beliefs and sects associated with descent from the [[Ænglish Church]], the Protestant state church of the [[Angla|Ænglish Kingdom]] prior to its destruction in the [[Nordmontaine War]]. The Ænglish Church established a moderate position between [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] practice and {{wp|Calvinism|Reformed}} teaching and beliefs. A hierarchical church, the Ænglish Church was established as a continuation of the established [[Catholic Church]] in Anglei prior to the reformation, and retained much of its structure and outward rituals. Accordingly, Ænglish Church adherents retained a sense of "{{wp|High Church|high}} liturgy}}" as opposed to many other reformed denominations. | |||
With the destruction of the Ænglish realm in the [[Nordmontaine War]], the vast majority of its adherents left [[Levantia]] for [[Pharisedom]]s such as [[Alstin]], either as refugees or being deported there. Many more were sent abroad by the [[Dragonnades]] or converted back to the [[Catholic Church]]. Only a very small number of Ænglish Church adherents remained in [[Anglei|the Ænglish duchies]] or [[Levantia]] as a whole by 1600. Of these, the vast majority publicly feigned adherence to the Catholic Church while meeting in secret to hold Ænglish-language liturgies according to the {{wp|Book of Common Prayer}}. A small minority departed organized society to live as small sects living in the mountains and hills, living in a manner closer to tribes. The so-called "Wild Old Believers" were probably never more than a few hundred, but stories of rabid {{wp|Protestant}}s living in the wild remained the subject of popular Levantine legends and as {{wp|bogeyman|bogeymen}} for centuries to come. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, the [[Imperial Inquisition]] managed to root out dozens of cells of Old Believers, with few remaining by the 1790s. The separate nature of these cells meant a divergence of beliefs, with many groups becoming more reformed and eventually drifting away to more outwardly reformed underground groups. Most of the clergy during the underground period were either non-ordained volunteers, Catholic priests who had fallen away, or a rare cleric from [[Alstin]]. | |||
Old Believers received a significant boon with the [[Treaty of Lariana]]. The Treaty of Lariana allowed for a significant influx of [[Chantry of Alstin|Chantric]] clergy whom could operate openly without the interference of the [[Imperial Inquisition]]; many Old Believers now partook in legal Chantric liturgies, which, although divergent from the Levantine practice, were preferable due to their legal status. Many faith leaders of the Old Believer community were also secretly ordained by Chantric clergy during this period. Like many other Protestant groups during the early 19th century, the Old Believers also benefitted greatly from the [[Alstin loophole]] | |||
In 1890, the the newly founded [[Anglei|United Angle States]] created a limited legal framework under which Old Believers could worship, streamlining the unenforced Inquisitorial laws, legal patchwork of Lariana-descended allowances, and other provisions. The legalization occurred within the context of {{wp|nation building}}, as the small country hoped to engage this previously persecuted Ænglish minority group. The legalization had the intention - and effect - of bringing some Old Believers back to Anglei and boosting the population and economy in the country. In late 1890, the Association of Old Believers was established out of a number of the most prominent Old Believer communities in with leadership under the Bishop of Stretton, the only bishopric legally allowed. This organization represented the first time Old Believers received legal recognition in [[Levantia]] or any former Ænglish territory since the destruction of the [[Ænglish Church]] in the 1540s. The Association had a contentious first two decades as divergent groups had wildly different liturgical and doctrinal practices, with most of its teachings still rooted in the 1520s ''Acts of Godwin'' supplemented with work done by [[Chantry of Alstin|Chantric theologians]] in the intervening time. The Association convened a Convocation in 1915 which streamlined its theology and reunited most of its constituent groups under a Doctrine of Fifty Points. By this time, the Association, though small, was growing, and had faith communities erected throughout the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] and [[Ultmar]]. By 1950, it's estimated that the Association had 125,000 adherents. | |||
====Chantric Christians in Levantia==== | ====Chantric Christians in Levantia==== | ||
====Lutheran Church of Dericania==== | ====Lutheran Church of Dericania==== | ||