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Christianity in Varshan: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
===First arrivals=== | ===First arrivals=== | ||
The earliest Christians to arrive on Varshani soil, not including any possible pre-Asterian shipwreck survivors, were traders who began to occasionally appear in [[Crona]] in the 1390s, just after [[Aster's expedition]] revealed the continent to the [[Occident]]. Occidental traders are known to have been present throughout the [[North Songun civilization]] in the early 15th century, including territory now part of [[Varshan]] and potentially even in contemporary Varshan itself. The arrival of Occidental traders and other Occidental interests necessarily meant the arrival of the first Occidental [[Culture_of_Varshan#Slavery|slaves in Varshan]], and the first permanent group of Christians within Varshan were almost certainly enslaved people. Renaissance era stories say that a dishonest trader named Mellifus and his party were imprisoned in modern [[Kelekona]] and sold into slavery in Varshan as a group in around [[1405]], making them the earliest documented Christian group in the country; many historians and scholars believe this story is legendary or a morality tale from a lost context. Christian missionaries also occasionally made the long and dangerous trip to Varshan beginning around 1405, with most being enslaved or killed. Evidence suggests some may have been successful, as a traveler to Varshan in [[1497]] reports encountering a village of Christian believers about a hundred and fifty miles southeast of Anzo; the report says that the community was generations removed from the missionary and any priest, and that the villagers prayed as often to the missionary, the so-called "Saint Lars", as much as the {{wp|Trinity}}. | |||
As Varshan turned decided anti-Occidental in the latter half of the [[Varshan#Chazxin_dynasty|Chazxin dynasty]], it closed its borders and instituted new punishments for Occidental travelers and missionaries especially. The [[Catholic Church]] consequently restricted missionary activity there for safety reasons, but some zealous individuals in the mid and late 16th century are documented as having made the trip and returned. Historians believe that the non-slave Christian population of Varshan in 1600 was "likely less than 1000." | |||
The aftermath of the [[Great Confessional War]] briefly changed the fortunes of Christianity in Varshan, as many {{wp|Protestant}} refugees sought homes abroad following their expulsion from [[Levantia]]. Many Protestants seeking to establish [[Pharisedom]]s in central and northern Crona were quickly enslaved, but some highly educated Protestants managed to attain status within Varshani society between 1610 and 1670. Their religious disaffiliation from the Occident, literate nature, and knowledge of the outside world made some of these individuals valuable to the later rulers of the Chazxin dynasty. By [[1650]], not including slaves, about 3,000 Christians are thought to have lived in Varshan, the overwhelming majority being Protestant. Decreasing outflow of refugees from Levantia, the differing views of different Zurgs, and domestic political concerns ended the decades of Protestant semi-toleration in [[1672]], as all Protestants were ordered to abjure their faith or face death. Some Occidental Protestants, especially those politically connected, had the opportunity to leave the country. Reports indicate that a handful of these Occidental families even decided to adopt [[Orthodox Arzalism]] and integrate within Varshani society, though historians are divided on the historicity of this story, as it may be a piece of anti-Protestant rhetoric devised by Catholic authors. | |||
===Long Persecution=== | ===Long Persecution=== | ||
===League occupation=== | ===League occupation=== | ||