Urcea: Difference between revisions

|religion =          [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholicism]]

Although Urcea's roots as a semi-[[Latinic people|Latinic]] nation stretch back to the early foundation of [[Adonerum|Adonerii]] settlements in the Urce river valley, a recognizable Urcean civilization came into being in the chaotic period following the collapse of [[Great Levantia]] and the coalescence of cities and areas into early medieval polities. It was during this period that the earliest roots of modern Urcean culture was established as a fusion between the settled Latins and native [[Gaelic people|Gaels]], a duality that defines Urcean national identity. It was a major part of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] from its foundation, and its history is shaped by that institution, and has its historical origins as unions of several of the Empire's constituent parts. At times, Urcea came to dominate the Empire, but ultimately played a major role in its downfall throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic faith]] has proved to be a major factor in the development of the Urcean state, and the Apostolic Kingdom played a pivotal role in the [[Great Confessional War]] and the entrenchment of Catholicism in Levantia. Urcea's closeness with Catholicism is one of its best known characteristics worldwide, and the [[Pope|Papacy]] resides in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] under Urcean temporal protection. The nation and its government are officially [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]], and much of the nation's policy decision-making revolves around {{wp|distributism|distributist}} and {{wp|Catholic social teaching|Catholic social}} principles, including {{wp|subsidiarity}} and its application with communal, local democracy. The Catholic faith proves to be one of the defining characteristics of the country; the great [[Kiravia|Kiravian]] scholar [[P. G. W. Gelema]] once stated that "if [[Caphiria]] is an army with a state, than it should very much be said Urcea is a Church with a state".

Coming up from the chaotic period following the destruction of [[Great Levantia]], power began to slowly accumulate in the Duchy and later Archduchy of Urceopolis, accelerated by the initial formation of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], which elevated Urceopolis to a duchy. Following the accumulation of Urceopolis, Harren, and some other lands, Urcea was elevated to a Kingdom in [[Golden Bull of 1098|1098]] by the [[Emperor of the Levantines]]. After its consolidation, several hundred years of dynastic turmoil would follow before [[House de Weluta]] solidified its reign at the end of the [[Great Confessional War]] and Protestant reformation. The de Weluta dynasty would rule over the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] intermittently until the beginning of the 19th century, after which time a period of increasing liberalization and reform changed Urcea from an amalgamation of personal territories and holdings to a unified and powerful nation-state. After a brief period of deposition before and during the [[Red Interregnum]], the de Welutas reestablished control and continued the shift of the country in a more [[Constitution of Urcea|constitutional]] direction. Urcea, a Constitutional Monarchy, participated in both [[Great Wars]] and the downfall of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], and has been an important world power in the period since. Throughout its entire history, [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholicism]] has played a critical political and social role in Urcea, and the association between Catholicism and Urcea is known throughout the world as one of the country's defining characteristics.

The various provinces, Crownlands, and states of Urcea are divided into dioceses which are coterminous with [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]] dioceses but have little function other than electoral and judicial organizing. The municipal level is where local government in Urcea is effectively exercised, and the most common kind of local government is that of the commune, where every citizen over the age of 21 can vote in a communal assembly on legislative and budgetary issues affecting the commune. There are also guild communes and more traditional mayor-council types of local governments, though these are rare and usually reserved only for the largest of cities. The prevalence of communes in Urcea have earned the nation both praise and condemnation for its commitment to what some have called "radical subsidiarian Christian democracy", a relatively uncommon philosophical persuasion even in [[Levantia]].

Over the course of its history, Urcea has had a diverse linguistic heritage spanning many different languages from different ethnic and regional backgrounds. Beginning in the late medieval period through the present, however, [[Julian Ænglish]] is the language spoken by the majority of people in Urcea. By 2010, census information suggested almost 90% of the population spoke Ænglish as a first language. It is an official language of the [[Government of Urcea]] and used in nearly every government document and meetings of government bodies, but it is not the only official language. [[Lebhan language|Lebhan]], the traditional language of the people of and around [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]], is an official language and was once believed to be the traditional language of the entire country, though that theory has since been disproven. It is still spoken as a first language today in isolated, rural parts of the country, such as some parts of the [[Ionian Mountains]], and according to the 2010 census and subsequent studies this Lebhan-speaking population amounts to 5% of Urceans. [[Gassavelian people]], the majority of whom speak Ænglish as a first language, also have a small population of individuals who retain their unique ancestral language. This population, which speaks a Latinized version of the ancient Audonian language, comprise no more than 3% of all Urceans. Least prominent as a primary language - but extremely prominent otherwise - is Latin, which is spoken by a minority of Urceans of [[Derian people|Derian]] descent in the eastern frontier of the country. Latin, however, is an official language of state and is the primary liturgical language of Urcea according to a 2014 study which stated that 78.4% of [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]] parishes use the traditional mass, which is said entirely in ecclesiastical Latin. Some documents of the [[Ministry for the Church in Urcea]] are propagated in ecclesiastical Latin.

Religion is considered a fundamental cornerstone of public and private Urcean life, and consequently the vast majority of Urceans identify as members of the [[Levantine Catholic Church]] according to census information, and the national average for weekly mass attendance is 66.45% according to a 2014 study. The Catholic Church, as the central institution of Urcean life, is embedded in state activity in addition to serving as the central organizing place of most communities and localities throughout the country. Catholicism is recognized as the official state faith, though non-adherents are under no legal obligation to be members of the Church since the early 19th century, and discrimination against non-Catholics is against the law. Despite this, [[Discrimination around the world|religious discrimination]] remains a common problem, and many of the small percentage of non-Catholic Urceans often don't reveal their true religious beliefs for fear of becoming social outcasts.

Urcean education is provided in public, private, and home schools and employs a K-12 system in addition to several different types of higher education. The public education system is based around the seven liberal arts, educating students with the trivium and quadrivium in two distinct periods of education known as "Sextets". Education is administered by the provincial and local authorities but is regulated by the [[Collegium Scientificum]]. Urcean public education is designed to instill in students the "foundations of self-regulation and self-governance in order to create higher ordered individuals" and is heavily influenced by [[Levantine Catholic Church|Catholic]] teaching and thought. Private schools, on the other hand, are usually secular and do not employ liberal arts-based education.