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Adherents of the [[Chantry of Alstin]] were first recorded in [[Levantia]] in 1670, though commerce from Alstin reached Levantia as early as 1579 and presumably Chantric beliefs may have been present among the merchants, with commercial activity continuing on an irregular basis until the [[Treaty of Lariana]] in [[1806]]. Chantric clergy arrived following the Treaty and were allowed to offer worship services, though initially these services were offered for the benefit of and mostly attended by Alstinian diplomatic personnel and merchants. By the late 1810s, it became local embassy policy for native Levantine Protestants to be allowed entry into these services, and by the 1820s it was encouraged alongside the embrace of the [[Alstin loophole]], allowing for diplomatic protection of Protestant services if an Alstinian official was present. While the official presence of Alstin within Levantia helped other groups find some legal protection, Chantric Christianity itself quickly became the most prevalent and widely accessible form of Protestantism in Levantia, with worship services being held in the open and clerics being able to operate publicly, if somewhat limited to their proximity to Alstinian activity. | Adherents of the [[Chantry of Alstin]] were first recorded in [[Levantia]] in 1670, though commerce from Alstin reached Levantia as early as 1579 and presumably Chantric beliefs may have been present among the merchants, with commercial activity continuing on an irregular basis until the [[Treaty of Lariana]] in [[1806]]. Chantric clergy arrived following the Treaty and were allowed to offer worship services, though initially these services were offered for the benefit of and mostly attended by Alstinian diplomatic personnel and merchants. By the late 1810s, it became local embassy policy for native Levantine Protestants to be allowed entry into these services, and by the 1820s it was encouraged alongside the embrace of the [[Alstin loophole]], allowing for diplomatic protection of Protestant services if an Alstinian official was present. While the official presence of Alstin within Levantia helped other groups find some legal protection, Chantric Christianity itself quickly became the most prevalent and widely accessible form of Protestantism in Levantia, with worship services being held in the open and clerics being able to operate publicly, if somewhat limited to their proximity to Alstinian activity. | ||
By 1845, there was a significant enough Chantric population in [[Levantia]] - possibly as high as 10,000 Levantines - to warrant a reorganization of Church function there. Previously, clerics associated with embassies or merchants were assigned largely on an ad hoc basis, serving very limited time abroad and returning to [[Alstin]] to their normal parish functions. In 1846, the [[Imperial Diet]] - in the midst of the [[Third Caroline War]] and needing to maintain good relations abroad - gave the government of Alstin, and by extension the Chantry, permission to organize a formal hierarchy in Levantia. This permission came with a strict prohibition on missionary activity and disallowance of "prosletyzing...in any manner". This had the effect of creating a less open method of joining the Chantric Church than had existed in decades prior as local clerics sought to avoid confrontations with the [[Imperial Inquisition]], but committed Protestants were still able to join with some commitment. Historians have uncovered specific episodes of Chantric clergy offering {{wp|bribes}} to local and Inquisitorial authorities in exchange for ignoring their growing populations, though it is unclear how widespread this practice was. The 1846 permission from the Diet lead to the adoption by the Chantry, in late 1846, of the Instrument of Organization in Levantia, which established a Bishop of Ericaner (in modern [[Lutsana]]) as head of the Chantry in Levantia, formally the ecclesiastical "Province of Dericania and the Vandarch". Along with a formal episcopate, the Chantry also assigned 25 permanent clerics to Levantia to serve under the Bishop, and gave the Bishop wide authority to ordain deacons and priests as needed. The Instrument of Organization created the first public-facing Protestant church organization in the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] since the end of the [[Great Confessional War]]. As was the case before, the public availability of the Chantry greatly increased its accessibility and desirability to local Protestants, with 50,000 adherents by 1900 and many native-born Chantric clergy being organized between 1846 and 1900. | By 1845, there was a significant enough Chantric population in [[Levantia]] - possibly as high as 10,000 Levantines - to warrant a reorganization of Church function there. Previously, clerics associated with embassies or merchants were assigned largely on an ad hoc basis, serving very limited time abroad and returning to [[Alstin]] to their normal parish functions. In 1846, the [[Imperial Diet]] - in the midst of the [[Third Caroline War]] and needing to maintain good relations abroad - gave the government of Alstin, and by extension the Chantry, permission to organize a formal hierarchy in Levantia. This permission came with a strict prohibition on missionary activity and disallowance of "prosletyzing...in any manner". This had the effect of creating a less open method of joining the Chantric Church than had existed in decades prior as local clerics sought to avoid confrontations with the [[Imperial Inquisition]], but committed Protestants were still able to join with some commitment. Historians have uncovered specific episodes of Chantric clergy offering {{wp|bribes}} to local and Inquisitorial authorities in exchange for ignoring their growing populations, though it is unclear how widespread this practice was. The 1846 permission from the Diet lead to the adoption by the Chantry, in late 1846, of the Instrument of Organization in Levantia, which established a Bishop of Ericaner (in modern [[Lutsana]]) as head of the Chantry in Levantia, formally the ecclesiastical "Province of Dericania and the Vandarch". As a result, the Chantry's local church in Levantia took the popular name the "Provincial Church", though this name was never used in any official capacity. Along with a formal episcopate, the Chantry also assigned 25 permanent clerics to Levantia to serve under the Bishop, and gave the Bishop wide authority to ordain deacons and priests as needed. The Instrument of Organization created the first public-facing Protestant church organization in the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] since the end of the [[Great Confessional War]]. As was the case before, the public availability of the Chantry greatly increased its accessibility and desirability to local Protestants, with 50,000 adherents by 1900 and many native-born Chantric clergy being organized between 1846 and 1900. | ||
As religious laws began to be eased by the end of the 19th century, the competitive advantage the Chantry in Levantia enjoyed declined, and accordingly its growth rate tapered off to begin the 20th century. While it remained the most prestigious Protestant Church in the Holy Levantine Empire, it began to lose ground to groups with localized influences and traditions. The Chantry's position of leadership among Protestant churches was enhanced by the Association of Old Believers, a Protestant group in [[Anglei]], deciding to join formal communion with the Chantry in 1922, bolstering both the local Chantry leadership as well as the Chantry's overall position in Levantia. | As religious laws began to be eased by the end of the 19th century, the competitive advantage the Chantry in Levantia enjoyed declined, and accordingly its growth rate tapered off to begin the 20th century. While it remained the most prestigious Protestant Church in the Holy Levantine Empire, it began to lose ground to groups with localized influences and traditions. The Chantry's position of leadership among Protestant churches was enhanced by the Association of Old Believers, a Protestant group in [[Anglei]], deciding to join formal communion with the Chantry in 1922, bolstering both the local Chantry leadership as well as the Chantry's overall position in Levantia. By 1950, it retained its position of prestige and influence over Levantine Protestantism, but had fallen behind in terms of having the most adherents, having about 85,000 members by that year. The hierarchy in Levantia and [[Alstin]] were reluctant to join the Church to the emerging College established in 1954, but the local adherents and even most clergy felt more of an affinity for Levantine interests than Alstinian ones. By the end of 1954, the Province of Dericania and the Vandarch was given permission to formally join the College of Levantine Churches. As a result, the Chantry's independent church in Levantia ceased to exist, but its two local churches - the Province as well as the Old Believers - were joined together, and the College as a result entered into partial communion with the [[Chantry of Alstin]] as a condition for the Provincial Church joining the College. | ||
====Lutheran Church of Dericania==== | ====Lutheran Church of Dericania==== | ||