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[[File:SultheyCathedral.jpg|230px|thumbnail|right|The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Laurence, commonly known as Sulthey Cathedral, is the seat of the Archbishop of Sulthey, the Primate of Erbonia.]]The '''Church of Nortend''' is the state church of [[Great Nortend]]. It is established under Royal Proclamation and Acts of Parliament, and is considered to be an integral part of the Government of Great Nortend. Though the Archbishop of Sulthey is the most senior clergyman of the church, and is considered to be the Primate of Erbonia, the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]] of Great Nortend is by law the Supreme Governour of the Church Mundane, holding the title of Vicar of Christ.
{{GNCN|child=gov|Church of Nortend<br><small>''Ecclesia Erbonica''</small>|WinchesterCathedral-north-wyrdlight.jpg|[[Lendert Cathedral]] in [[Lendert-with-Cadell]] is the seat of the Archbishop of Lendert.|||{{Infobox |child=yes
| headerstyle =  background-color:#ebb9b5;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;
| label1  = Religion
| data1 = Christian
| label2 = Theology
| data2 = Catholic and Reformed
| data3 = Episcopal
| label3= Polity
| label4 = Governour
| data4 = King [[Alexander II of Great Nortend|Alexander II]]
| label5 =  Primate
| data5 = Cardinal [[Sebastian Williams]],<br>Lord Archbishop of Lendert
| label6 = Liturgy
| data6 = [[Nortish Rite]]
| label11 = Members
| data11 = 10 million
}}
}}
 
The '''Church of Nortend''', in [[Court Latin|Latin]] the '''''Ecclesia Erbonica''''', is the {{wp|State religion#Other/Mixed|state church}} of [[Great Nortend]]. Christianity arrived in the kingdom in the 8th century under St. Laurence of Sulthey and quickly grew to become the dominant public religion. Since the Reformation, the Church has been established under the ''Statute of Supremacy''<ref>''Statute of Supremacy'', 2 Alex. I.</ref> whereby Alexander I rejected the Bishop of Rome's claims of authority and jurisdiction over the Church in Nortend.
 
Since the end of the 16th century, the Church has held in its Articles of Faith that the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]] of Great Nortend is sovereign over both Church and State, with both temporal and spiritual jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Church of Nortend claims to be the only full expression of the „One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church” within Great Nortend, maintaining {{wp|apostolic succession}} in both sees and orders. Spiritual power is primarily vested in the thirteen bishops. Of these, the Archbishop of Lendert as Metropolitan and Primate of Nortend has the highest ecclesial authority. Dioceses are divided into archdeaconries and parishes. English is used in parochial services, with Latin being used in cathedral chapters, monasteries and colleges.


==History==
==History==
===Early Christianity===
{{Main|History of the Church of Nortend}}
St Laurence is widely credited for the founding of the establishment of the church in Great Nortend in the 8th century. Though Christianity had arrived in the country around the 2nd century AD and converted much of the Ethlorek Hoebric people, the majority of the later influx of pagan Arlethians, the Nords, Sexers and Cardes, had not converted to the religion of the lands they now resided in.  
===Middle Ages===
[[File:St_Michael's,_Tidcombe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1436692.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|A typical late 12th century manor church. St Renwick's, in Culton, Southannering.]]
At the beginning of the 8th century, the Ethlorekoz natives of Great Nortend and the later migrant [[Arlethic peoples|Arlethians]] practised heathen religions.
 
The bishop St. Laurence (of Sulthey) is believed to have brought Christianity to Great Nortend in the 8th century. Laurence arrived on the shores of Nortend in AD 744 during the reign of King Egbert on a mission ordered by {{wp|Pope Zachary I}} and initially focussed his evangelisation on the ruling houses and especially Egbert, who is said to have been baptised ''in clinico'' in 753. After a period of instability, the young Murish Christian prince [[Hartmold the Great|Hartmold de Mure]] took the Nortish throne in 756. He had been baptised in 750, at the age of 30. During his reign, and the subsequent reigns of Æthelfrey, Erwin and Edmund the Good, the people across the Kingdom were converted and Christianity became the dominant religion.
 
The first known church in Great Nortend was founded by Laurence at Sulthey in 749, the year which is now generally considered the beginning of the Nortish Church. Two years afterwards in 751, Laurence founded a community of Benedictine monks at the cathedral, making it the first [[Nortish religious houses|monastery]] in Great Nortend. This church, dedicated to „Saint le Cross” and now known as Sulthey Cathedral Priory, remains the cathedral for the see of Sulthey. Laurence served at Sulthey for over thirty years as the first Archbishop and Abbot of Sulthey.
 
The Church in Nortend flourished in the Middle Ages, in a frenzy of religious piety. Gothic architecture was introduced during the late 12th century, supplanting the existing vernacular Nortish architecture which had dominated in the densely forested North above Golder's Line by wooden construction, and below by stone construction. By the 13th century, nearly every manor had at least one church and, across the country, numerous [[Nortish religious houses|monasteries]], colleges and chapels were founded. Within [[Lendert-with-Cadell]] alone, forty-two parishes had been established by the time the rebuilt [[Lendert Cathedral|Lendert Abbey]] was completed in 1272.
 
===Break with Rome===
Through the 16th century, the Church faced increasing conflict with the King over the exercise of temporal power by the Pope. Thomas de Akeep, who was Provost of Sulthey, preached against „ultramontanism” and avowed the temporal primacy of the King. He published the „Declaration of Sulthey” in 1530 containing four articles against the authority of the Pope. Though the Declaration did not necessarily amount to heresy, the anti-Papal articles offended Clement VII than in 1534 he refused to permit the appointment of Thomas de Akeep to the See of [[Chepingstow]], to hold political office as the Lord High Chancellour.
 
Clement's refusal resulted in the wide promulgation of the „Declaration” in print, despite it being thitherto a relatively obscure pamphlet, leading to the growth of stronger tensions throughout the Kingdom and calls for reform of the Church. Over the next few decades, various reformist parties within the Church developed, which advocated for more and more extreme reformation along Protestant lines. Nonetheless, both William IV and his son George I remained loyal to the Pope and resisted popular reform, being occupied with other matters.
 
From 1545 to 1563, Erbonian prelates attended the {{wp|Council of Trent}} but there was no effective changes which satisfied the growing opposition to the Papacy or stemmed the growing attacks on „popish doctrines”. The accession of the young and reform-minded Alexander I in 1566 led to the beginning of the real Reform of the Church in Nortend. Spurred on by his ministers and the controversy resulting from some actions of the Pope, the Proclamation of Manfarham was issued by the newly crowned Alexander in the January of 1567, which rejected the errors of Council of Trent and approved of the Declaration of Sulthey. This was compounded by the ''Statute of Supremacy'' in 1569, which asserted the supremacy of the King within his Realm, denied the continued authority of the Bishop of Rome and ''ipso facto'' established the independence of the Nortish Church. The King and Archbishop of Lendert, Richard de Cainmare, were formally excommunicated by the Pope on St. Lucy's Day, 1569.
 
Pius V had restricted the title of „Cardinal” to the cardinals of Rome in 1567. This had been seen as an offensive assertion of Papal and Roman supremacy by the Nortish Church, which had used the title for various priests holding certain benefices associated with the Crown. Soon after the ''Statute of Supremacy'' was enacted, Alexander I reinstated the title of „cardinal” for those former cardinals who recognised his supremacy, reversing the 1567 decree as his first formal act of supremacy. The cardinalate, and its royal associations, soon became a by-word for loyalty to the King and rejection of Rome.
 
Nonetheless, the ''Statute of Supremacy'' was opposed by many of the clergy and monastics who remained loyal to Rome, although public dissent was quickly quelled by the arrest and deposition of the Bishop of Limmes and the Bishop of Staithway, and the imprisonment of several more high-ranking churchmen in 1570. Meanwhile, the ''Statute'' was criticised by a more reformist party for failing to articulate the crucial doctrines of the Reformation. In 1572, Cainmare issued Injunctions to forbid preaching any new doctrines without authority, and the „Short Homilies” to be read at the main Sunday mass, „explicating the Statute lately enacted touching the Church of Christ in this Realm”. Shortly after, the ''Statute for the Obedience of Clerks'' was passed by Parliament which required beneficed clerks to take an Oath undertaking not to preach any doctrines without authority.


===Early Middle Ages===
The Injunctions presaged the Convocation of 1573 which produced the Canons General of 1573. ''Inter alia'', these demanded that beneficed clerks and curates renounce the Pope on pain of deprivation ''ex officio et beneficio''. Under the canons, it is believed over 500 clerks were deprived for refusing to take the prescribed Oath recognising the supremacy of the King and renouncing the authority of the Pope. Matters escalated with the trial and execution of the Six Heretics, six clergymen who allegedly plotted with the Pope to invade Great Nortend and restore the Church in 1575.  
An abbot, canonised as Laurence of Sulthey, was sent as a missionary in 774 by Pope Zachary I to convert Arlethian people from  paganism to Christianity. The reigning King of All Norts at the time, Egbert, desired the support of the military power of the Church, permitted Laurence to proselytise the Nords and Cardes of his kingdom though he himself was only baptised on his deathbed in 753 after being mortally wounded by an arrow during battle. Laurence founded Sulthey Cathedral on the Isle of Sulthey in 749, the year which is now generally considered the start of the Roman Catholic church in Great Nortend, and served for over thirty years as the Apostle to All Nortend. His mission was a great success and by the 10th century, most of the Arlethian and Hoebric population had converted to Roman Catholicism.


===High Middle Ages===
===Nortish Reformation===
[[File:St_Michael%27s_Church,_Tidcombe,_Wiltshire,_England.jpg|thumbnail|right|A typical late 12th century manor church. St Renwick's, in Culton, Southannering.]]The Church flourished in the High Middle Ages, with numerous churches and chapels being established. By the late 12th century, nearly every manor had at least one church. In [[Lendert-with-Cadell|Lendert]] alone, 52 churches had been built by the time the Cathedral of St Peter had been completed in 1272.
The increasingly Luther-influenced Cardinal Henry Frympell was consecrated Archbishop of Lendert in 1590. Though he had a moderate theology, Cardinal Frympell advocated strongly for a translation of the Bible into English. The „Douay-Rheims Bible” and „King James's Bible” had been published in English a few years prior to the Proclamation of Manfarham, and were seen as strong bases for a Nortish revision. After several draught versions, Frympell's translation of the Old and New Testments (including the so-called „Apocrypha”) was approved in 1599. It drew heavily from the King James's Bible and the older Great Bible and Douay-Rheims for the Apocrypha and Psalms. The [[University of Lendert|Aldesey]] was authorised to print the new edition and copies were disseminated to every church and school, leading to its widespread adoption.


===Independence from Rome===
Cardinal Frympell also spearheaded the major reform of theology and doctrine in his second year as Primate. While several „reformed” confessions and catechisms had been produced within the Church since the Declaration of Sulthey by the reformist parties, there had been little official change of position by the newly independent Church on many of the contentious doctrines of the wider Reformation and Counter-Reformation.  
The pivotal moment in the history of the Church was the declaration of independence from the Bishop of Rome. There had been simmering tensions in Erbonian society in the decades immediately preceeding, with controversy over the taxes payable to the Church and influence from Orthodox Christianity and Old Catholicism, which supported the principles of national autonomous churches.  


The Church of Nortend as an independent national church was formally established as the state church with the passing of the Statute of Limmes in 1614 by King Alexander I and the Declaration of Supremacy. This Statute was passed with the consent of the Privy Council and later ratified by the Parliament in 1632. A legend surrounding the declaration relates that the King and the then-Archbishop of Sulthey heard from the Holy Ghost a message prophesising that, “Thy church shall be cloven and set upon the rock of Laurence, and the King shall I make Governour and Vicar over my flock”. The King and Archbishop of Sulthey, after the public assent to the Statute, were excommunicated by the Pope.
The Bible translated into the „understanded tongue”, momentum within the Church turned to reform of doctrine and liturgy. After Cardinal Frympell's death in 1702, the even more strongly reformed Cardinal George Miers was appointed Archbishop of Lendert. Before he could be installed, William I unexpectedly died at the age of 44 and the young 22-year-old Edmund VI acceded to the throne, crowned by the Bishop of Rhise, Cardinal August Lewencort. Cardinal Miers finally was installed in 1704, as one of the first acts of Edmund's reign. However, with the powerful „broad-church” influences of William and especially Frympell gone, Edmund needed to satisfy both ends of his church.  


The establishment of the Church of Nortend, though widely popular amongst the general population, was not supported by much of the clergy and monastics, who felt it was heretical and ''contra scriptura''. Though loyalists were not initially legally persecuted for their support of the Roman Catholic church, the controversy was, in the early and mid 17th century, increasingly manifested through violence between both sides.
A „Commission for the Reform of the Divine Service”, headed by Sir Charles de Henfott, 7th Bart., presented its draughts for new liturgical books in English to Edmund the next year in 1705. However, it immediately proved much more controversial than Frympell's well-received Bible translation, involving severe pruning of the existing Latin services. It satisfied neither party—the so-called Frympellites argued that it remained too mediaeval and monastic, not suitable for Lutheran-style public prayer and worship. On the other hand, the so-called Akeepians, who now also rejected the Bishop of Rome's ordinary jurisdiction over anywhere but his own see, were in favour of only very minor reforms to the services and the retention of Latin wheresoever possible.


[[File:Tewkesbury_Abbey_2011.jpg|left|thumbnail|The Abbot and monks of the Abbey of Staithway captured and hanged the Duke of Cardenbridge in 1765 at the height of the Popish Wars.]]The Acts of Cleaving forming the combined Kingdom of Nortend, Cardoby and Hambria in 1642 established the Church of Nortend as the established church of Hambria as well. Matters came to a head when the 12th Duke of Cardenbridge was captured and hanged by the Abbot and monks of Staithway in 1765. The 13th Duke introduced a Bill into the House of Lords after the death of Alexander I, who had opposed criminalisation, to criminalise allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church, leading to the use of the term 'Cardican' to refer to the Church of Nortend. Under the Act, many clergymen, such as the Bishop of Chepingstow, were executed for refusing to renounce against the Pope and escalated with the trial and execution of the Six Heretics, six clergymen who plotted with the Roman Church to invade Great Nortend and restore the Church in 1670 during the first few years of King William I's reign.  
Owing to his young age, a compromise was brokered by Edmund between the two camps with assistance from the 13th Duke of Cardenbridge who was seen, despite his opposition to the papacy, to be otherwise theologically neutral. Under the proposal, the offices would be only conservatively simplified and reordered to make them more practical for public and private worship. In a concession to the Frympellites, and an increasingly large faction of the Akeepians, the use of Latin in the liturgy was suppressed except in cathedrals, chapters and chapels in favour of a translation into English. However, the authoritative and official documents and texts of the Church remained in Latin. The canon ''Quia solliciti'', issued by Edmund in 1711, formally authorised and prescribed ''inter alia'' the new books for all public and corporate worship.


William declared that 'whosoever shall renounce the lawful, established catholick and orthodox Church of this Realm shall be sentenced to hang as a heretic'. He noted in the ''Carta Ecclesiasticae'', or Charter of the Church, that the church before the split was little different to the Church afterwards, save for the removal of the Bishop of Rome as supreme head of the Church, and maintained the Alexanderian view that the Church was 'reformed, catholick and orthodox'.
===Conformity and Non-Conformity===
[[File:Maria_Amalia_of_Austriakaiserin.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|The „Olnish Matter” was a controversy over the marriage of Queen Mary to the Earl of Scode.]]
The dominant „small-l” Lutheranism in the Church of Nortend in the early 18th century soon began to be threatened by the increasing trade and improved diplomatic relations with the [[Empire of Exponent|Exponential Empire]] and its Occidentes Province (now the [[Aurora Confederacy]]) which begat a small but growing „Catholic” renaissance at Court and throughout high society.  


===Establishing a new identity===
In 1731, Augustus I of [[Aquitayne]] arrived in Great Nortend seeking support for Aquitaynian independence from the [[Empire of Exponent|Exponential Empire]]. He quickly arranged a marriage with Anne-Louise, 28, the youngest daughter of William I with the blessing of Edmund VI, who was desirous of counteracting the growing popish influence with support from another Lutheran realm.  
After the split, a new English bible translation and missal was proposed in Parliament as necessary for cementing the King's identity as the Supreme Mundane Governour of the Church as well as to keep more in-line with general Orthodox thinking which provided for the use of the vernacular. The King James's Bible had been published in 1611, a few years prior to the Declaration of Supremacy. The eventual Cardican authorised version of the Bible was dedicated to St Edmund in 1704 by King Henry V and drew heavily from King James's for inspiration and guidance and was widely accepted.


The publication of the Liturgy in English, however, proved controversial at the time, as the Latin rites of Chepingstow and Sulthey had been in use for many centuries prior and for nearly a century after Independence. A compromise was established between those supporting the vernacular and the more traditional minimalist advocates. The Latin text would be preserved side by side in the new English translations, and remain in use at the discretion of the minister. In practice, this meant that English was only used lessons, readings and chapters. Gradually however, Latin was supplanted by English in the other parts of the liturgy and nowadays only remains in widespread use at the Universities, at certain episcopal services, at ordinations and consistories, and on other certain special occasions occasioning great ceremony.  
After the death of Edmund VI in 1736, however, relations with the Exponential Empire improved dramatically. Immediately after his passing, Cardinal Archibald Lofthouse, then Lord Bishop of Rockingham, sensationally declared his allegiance to the Roman Church, revealing a underground network of papism hidden, albeit scattered under the pretence of Lutheranism. Mary's accession to the throne was seen as untimely by the notionally dominant Frympellites, who were highly concerned she would lack the authority to counteract this growing Catholic feeling. Thus, she was pressured by her Parliament into declaring the suspension of the initiation of any novices to religious establishments in 1737 and appointing more Frympellite bishops and clergy by passing the ''Abjuration Act'' in 1738.


===The Olnite Matter===
Unfortunately for the Frympellites, Mary announced in 1740 her intention to marry Charles de Oln, the 5th Earl of Scode, of the House of Oln in [[Albeinland]]. Charles was of an Akeepian and Catholic leaning churchmanship. The marriage was vigorously opposed by the Frympellites. In Parliament, two factions developed known as the „[[Company of Scodeliers|Scodeliers]]” and the „[[List of political parties in Great Nortend|Droughers]]”, which supported and wished to „draw asunder” (whence „drougher”) the marriage respectively. In the end, the Droughers were unable to stop the marriage, and Mary wed the Earl of Scode in 1742 at the age of 27.  
[[File:Marie_Clotilde_of_France,_queen_of_Sardinia.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|The Olnite Matter concerned the marriage of Queen Mary to the Cardo-Catholic Earl of Scode.]]Since the Establishment of the Church of Nortend, the doctrines of the church had officially little changed from the pre-Independence Catholic doctrines. Beginning in the 17th century, however, there was a growing popularity of Protestant concepts amongst portions of the country that sought to move the Church towards a more Protestant view.  


Queen Mary had through her youth and early reign displayed a Protestant leaning in her faith, declaring the suspension of the initiation of any novices to religious establishments and appointing more protestant bishops. She, however, desired to marry Stuart Oln, the 5th Earl of Scode, originating from the ruling House of Oln of [[Albeinland]], who was deposed in the Albish Revolution. Stuart was of the traditionalist branch of the Church of Nortend, and there sprung up two warring factions in Parliament, known as the '[[List of political parties in Great Nortend|Scodeliers]]' and the '[[List of political parties in Great Nortend|Droughers]]', which supported and opposed the marriage respectively. Ultimately, Mary I married the Earl in 1742 at the age of 27, and the Scodeliers grew to dominate the Church.
This apparent act of alliance with the Roman Catholic Exponential Empire, along with the almost next-day restoration of friendly ties with the Exponential Empire immediately drew costernation around the region. Notably, Mary disowned her aunt Anna-Louise after the latter condemned the marriage as a betrayal of Mary's late father, Edmund VI. Nonetheless, nothing could repair the damage wrought to the Frympellites, especially after the islands of St. Parth and Hastica were returned to Great Nortend. Thenceforth, following this ,,Akeepian Settlement”, the Akeepian faction grew to dominate the Church.


===Non-conformity===
==Polity and Organisation==
Despite an acceptance of the Church of Nortend as the established church of the realm, religious tensions still simmered under the surface and occasionally came to a boil. The Acts of Allowance in the 18th century permitted for the first time people to establish their own non-conformist 'chapels' for those dissatisfied with the traditionalist, Catholic practices of the Church, and have preachers and teachers so long as they did not proselytise, build buildings that looked like places of worship or threaten social stability. The last provision was used to quietly shut down non-conformist churches that were growing too large and popular, and ultimately resulted in their eventual decline in the 19th and 20th centuries.  
The Church of Nortend sees itself as part of the visible Catholick Church of Christ and by its claim to the historic episcopate, it asserts sole ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Great Nortend, explicitly rejecting the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome within the Realm. The ''Statute for Conformity'' continues to forbid the „maintenance” of parallel ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|King]] is reckoned as sovereign over both Church and State with both spiritual and temporal jurisdiction, as the anointed Vicar of God, with authority to rule the estates of both churchmen and laymen and to ordain both canon and civil laws. Just as the ministers of the Crown have the duties of preserving the King's peace and defending the Realm, the ministers of the Church are tasked with preaching the Word and ministering the Sacraments.


Today here are only a number of congregationalist or independent chapelries, each professing support of a particular denomination but otherwise having little national structure or hierarchy.
===Ministers===
The Church of Nortend recognises as being of apostolic institution the three degrees of ministry of bishop, priest and deacon, known as „Clerks in Holy Orders”. Only bishops, as the Pastors of the Church and Successors of the Apostles, have the authority to ordain a person to holy orders. Once ordained, it is not possible to relinquish the clerical state. Clerks in holy orders are generally permitted to marry.


==Structure==
In addition to the clerks in holy orders, the Church of Nortend admits lay clerks, which replaced the mediaeval orders of subdeacon and lector in 1582. The status of lay clerk is proper to each church and men are admitted thereto by the incumbent of the church.<ref>Lay members of the foundations of colleges are also lay clerks by matriculation.</ref> Lay clerks are varied in their duties, and may read the Epistle, bear a processional cross or tapers, carry a censer or incense-bowl, read lessons, sing or otherwise act in the place of a priest or deacon. As a clerk is not in orders, he can relinquish this status by abandonment or by deed.  
[[File:John_Thomas,_Bishop_of_Winchester.jpg|230px|thumbnail|right|The Archbishop of Limmes, the Most Reverend John Williams]]The Church of Nortend is split into three ecclesiastical provinces headed by an archbishop, not to be confused with [[Great Nortend#Administrative divisions|civil provinces]], and sixteen dioceses, each headed by an bishop. The Archbishop of Sulthey is considered to be the Primate of Erbonia, subordinate only to the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|Sovereign]].


'''Archdiocese of Rhise'''
===Dioceses===
* Diocese of Keys
[[File:GNDioceses.png|thumb|350px|right|[OLD] Map of the dioceses of the Church of Nortend.]]
* Diocese of Parrin and Fivewells
The Church of Nortend consists of a single Province of Nortend divided into twelve dioceses or sees, each headed by a bishop as Ordinary. Before 1382, Sulthey was the metropolitan see before Urban VI issued a bull to translate the primacy to Lendert, upon the supplication of Peter II. Since then, the Lord Archbishop of Lendert has been Metropolitan and Primate of Nortend. The See of Chepingstow has a bishop coadjutor who performs the spiritual duties of the Lord Bishop of Chepingstow, on account of the latter’s day-to-day responsibilites as ''ex officio'' Lord High Chancellour. There are a number of peculiars, which also are outside of the direct jurisdiction of the bishops of the dioceses wherein they are situate. These include many abbeys and some priories. There are exceptionally six abbeys ''nullius dioceseos'', the lands of which are considered entirely extra-diocesan.
* Diocese of Rhighton
* Diocese of Rhise and Hoole
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! | See
! | Cathedral
! | Founded
! | Ordinary
|-
| [[Lendert-with-Cadell|Lendert and Cadell]]
| [[Lendert Cathedral|Lendert Cathedral Priory]]
| 1284<ref>Became Metropolitan See in 1384.</ref>
| Lord Archbishop of Lendert, Cardinal Dr. [[Sebastian Williams]]
|-
| Sulthey
| Sulthey Cathedral Priory
| 749<ref>Lost Metropolitan status in 1384.</ref>
| Lord Bishop of Sulthey, Cardinal Dr. Ralph de Goulgham
|-
| rowspan=2| Chepingstow
| rowspan=2|Chepingstow Cathedral
| rowspan=2|801
| Lord Bishop of Chepingstow, Cardinal Dr. William Laseby, Lord High Chancellour
|-
| Bishop Coadjutor, Dr. Lochlan Riddel
|-
| Mast
| Mast Cathedral
| 823
| Lord Bishop of Mast, Cardinal Dr. Edmund Widow-Goddering
|-
| Staithway
| Staithway Cathedral<ref>Secularised in 1590.</ref>
| 832
| Lord Bishop of Staithway, Dr. James Hotham
|-
| Rhise
| Rhise Cathedral
| 932
| Lord Bishop of Rhise, Cardinal Dr. Edmund Widow-Goddering
|-
| Echester
| Echester Cathedral Priory
| 976
| Lord Bishop of Echester, Cardinal Dr. David Coke
|-
| Lanchester
| Lanchester Cathedral
| 1001
| Lord Bishop of Lanchester, Dr. Quentin Cecington
|-
| Tow and St. Cleaves
| Tow Cathedral
| 1045
| Lord Bishop of Tow, Cardinal Dr. Peter de Wylde, Lord High Almoner
|-
| Rhighton
| Rhighton Cathedral
| 1077
| Lord Bishop of Rhighton, Cardinal Dr. Crispin de Asper
|-
| Corring
| Rockleham Cathedral
| 1122<ref>Renamed from Rockleham in 1740.</ref>
| Lord Bishop of Corring, Dr. Simon Bickersleigh
|-
| Scode
| Scode Cathedral
| 1298
| Lord Bishop of Scode, Dr. Luke Mainthompson
|-
|}


'''Archdiocese of Sulthey'''
====Parishes====
* Diocese of Chepingstow
The parish is the lowest level of church administration and is held by a rector who is entrusted with the cure of souls in the parish, and is entitled to the tithes. A benefice can be appropriated by [[Nortish religious houses|religious foundations]] or non-resident clerks, in which case a vicar must be appointed to hold the cure of souls and to receive the altarage and small tithes. Most parishes, in addition to the rector or vicar, have at least one other priest as curate. Many parishes also have chaplains ministering in chantry chapels within the parish church, or chapels without.
* Diocese of Mast
* Diocese of Oxley
* Diocese of Polton
* Diocese of Staithway
* Diocese of Sulthey


'''Province of Limmes'''
The other parochial officers are the parish clerk (who typically reads the Epistle and lessons and is responsible for the parish registers and administration), the verger (responsible for keeping the sacred vessels, moveable furnishings and vestments and keeping order in the church) and the sexton (responsible for the keys to the church building, ringing the bells, and the physical upkeep of the church’s fixed furnishings and of the churchyard). The Vestry, comprising all parishioners on the Parish Roll, is run day-to-day by the Select Vestry, and is tasked with both civil and ecclesiastical responsibility. Two or more lay churchwardens are elected by the whole Vestry annually.
* Diocese of Scode
* Diocese of Echester
* Diocese of Lanchester
* Diocese of [[Lendert-with-Cadell|Lendert]]
* Diocese of Limmes
* Diocese of Tow and St Cleaves


A diocese is split further into archdeaconries, deaneries and parishes, administered by an archdeacon, a dean and a parish priest respectively. A parish is usually conterminous with a feudal manor, which are not to be confused with [[Peerage of Great Nortend#Baron|baronies]], whilst a deanery is coterminous with a hundred.
====Membership====
According to the Telling Poll of 2020, 94·9 per cent of the national population are members of the Church of Nortend, amounting to around 9·5 million people. A member is required habitually to attend Divine Service in the parish in which he lives. More than two thirds of parishioners attend church at least once a week. Double or even triple attendance on Sundays at Mattins, Holy Communion and Vespers is common. One reason for the high membership of the Church is that baptism is routinely conferred on newborns. Almost all members of the Church are confirmed by the age of 21, as it is considered a rite of passage. Along with taking the Oath of Liegance, Confirmation is necessary to become a [[Subjectship of Great Nortend|full Nortish subject]].


==Doctrine==
===Convocation===
The doctrine of the Church of Nortend was and is modelled on the traditional teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church, with modifications especially during the period of the Reformation. These tenets are encapsulated in the Carta Ecclesiasticae, which has forty main points. The main differences between the Catholic and Cardican churches are, the belief in the Holy Mysteries, of the requirement for private confession of sins, and of clerical chastity, and the requirement for all that is said to be able to be understood by the people. Other differences, as noted in other denominations such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, such as the rejection of the devotion to Mary, and of the sacraments of matrimony, communion, unction and holy orders, are not seen in the Church of Nortend. The Church adheres to the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus, however not to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
The Convocation of the Province of Nortend is the assembly convoked by the King represented by the Archbishop, with the prelates and proctors of the entire Church of Nortend. The Convocation has sole authority to pass canons affecting the Church's discipline, governance, liturgy, doctrine and order, and authority over clerks, marriages, wills and morals. Like Acts of Parliament, all Canons of Convocation must receive the King's royal assent.  


The Church of Nortend, unlike some more liberal churches, is highly conservative in social matters. It holds as doctrine that only husband shall carnally know only his wife, and vice versa. It prohibits the ordination of women, and of the presence of women behind the rood screen. Women are not permitted to speak in a church, except the Queen, and are only permitted to sing in the congregation and to say the responses.
The Convocation includes all prelates—the cardinals, bishops, abbots and the prelatial priors—as well as lesser church dignitaries such as archdeacons, deans and provosts, and a number of proctors representing the rectors of each diocese.


In relation to scientific fields, the Church is generally accepting of new ideas where they do not contradict scripture. The concept of evolution on the macro-scale, however, remains highly controversial. Whilst the story of creation is seen as literal, the Church officially does not completely find this repugnant to the general theory of evolution.  
==Beliefs==
The official doctrine of the Church was declared in 1567 in the Great Convocation in the ''Articles of Faith''<ref>''The Articles of Faith set forth by the whole Convocation of the Province of Nortend, holden at Lendert in 1567.''</ref> consisting of 42 doctrinal statements. ''Inter alia'', the Articles confirm the authority of the {{wp|Apostles' Creed}}, the {{wp|Nicene Creed}} and the {{wp|Athanasian Creed}} and beliefs in the virgin birth, the two natures of Christ, the Holy Trinity, rightening by grace through faith, eternal predestination by foreknowledge, the two Sacraments of the Gospel, the six Ceremonies of the Church, the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament, prayer for the dead and the supremacy of the Crown.  


===Language===
===Sacraments===
The official language of the Church of Nortend is Latin, insofar as the canons specify that it is the official language. Furthermore, the Books of Liturgy have side-by-side Latin and English texts. However, the main language of the day-to-day liturgy as conducted in normal churches, cathedrals and chapels is English, being the ''lingua franca'' of Erbonia. The use of Latin almost disappeared completely in the 18th and 19th centuries, and is only nowadays undergoing a minor resurgence with the making of Latin a compulsory subject for boys at school.  
The Church of Nortend recognises the two Sacraments of the Gospel, being Baptism and Communion, being „physical outward signs ordained by Christ of ghostly inward grace”. Furthermore, sacraments, when received with faith, are believed to be „generally necessary unto salvation” and the „effectual means whereby man receives the same, and a sign and pledge to assure him thereof”.<ref>''Articles of Faith''.</ref>


Despite the resurgence, most services, even in the cathedrals, are still conducted fully or mostly in English. Latin is nowadays most commonly used on ordinary days as part of the portions which are sung solely by the choir. These include the Anthem, which is part of lay Mattins and Vespers, as well as the Introit, Gradual, Tract, Offertory and Communion of the Mass, which are all sung by the ministres or choir only, even on ordinary days. Latin is usually sung by choirs in either ordinary plainchant or Cardican chant, or in festal settings.
* Baptism, also known as „christening”, is the sacrament whereby the inward graces of death unto sin and rebirth unto righteousness are effectually received, through faith, by the outward sign of washing with water, saying „N. I thee christen; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Man, through baptism, is spiritually received into Christ's Church. Baptism is followed by the giving of the Chrisom, the white christening robe, saying, „Receive the Token of thine Innocency, which by God's grace in this holy Sacrament is given unto thee, that thou shalt ever give thyself to innocency of living unto thy life's end. Amen.” {{wp|Infant baptism}} is practised and baptism by laymen is believed to be invalid.
* Communion, also known as the „Lord's Supper”, is the sacrament whereby the inward graces of the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ, and fellowship therein,<ref>I ''Corinthians'' x. 16.</ref> are effectually received, through faith, by the outward sign of bread and wine. Transubstantiation and the carnal presence of Christ are expressly rejected by the ''Articles of Faith'', which insist that the Real Presence of Christ is objectively present „in a heavenly manner”, „taken and received only by the soul through faith”. The words of administration are, „The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, keep thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Amen.” and „The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, keep thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Amen.”


The three universities and most common and independent schools maintain the sole use of Latin in their liturgy, as well as monastics and regulars celebrating Mass and the canonical offices.
In addition to the two Sacraments of the Gospel, the Church also recognises five Ceremonies of the Church—of Confirmation, Absolution, Unction, Matrimony and Ordination—lacking the fullness of sacramental character but nonetheless being outward signs of inward grace.


===Liturgy===
* Confirmation strengthens the soul by receiving the Holy Ghost, and commissions him as confessor of the faith.
The liturgical practice of the Church of Nortend is set out in four books, known as the Books of Liturgy. These are the Breviary, the Book of Hours, the Book of Mass and the Book of Offices. All four are used conjointly with the St Edmund's Version of the Bible and the Book of Hymns.
* Absolution forgives sins for a penitent with God after confession and resolution to amend one's life.  
* Unction heals the soul spiritually, and if it be God's will, restores bodily health.
* Matrimony joins together a man and woman in a holy estate. Without formal solemnisation, marriage is illegal and not recognised by the Church or State.<ref>''Clandestine and Informal Marriages Act''.</ref>
* Ordination commissions a man to ministry in the Church of God in Holy Orders, successively to the diaconate, priesthood or episcopacy.


===Canonical hours===
===Social teachings===
In accordance with the Canons of the Church, the Church of Nortend recognises and prescribes the eight canonical hours of Nocturns (Midnight prayer), Mattins (Early morning prayer, also known as Lauds), Prime (Morning prayer), Terce (Late morning prayer), Sext (Noon prayer), None (Afternoon prayer), Vespers (Evening prayer) and Compline (Retiring prayer).  
{{See also|Nationalist conservatism}}
The Church of Nortend has a close relationship with the Crown and State thanks to its privileged position as the established state church. This results in both state control of the Church, as well as Church influence on the State, for the mutual good and salvation of the people. The relationship since the 19th century has emphasised the national element of the Church of Nortend as being the only church and part of the universal Church Catholick especially suitable for Nortchmen. The Church’s domains lie mainly in the moral and to an extent, social, order of the nation, and since the 1950s, its social teachings have been required to be taught in all [[Education in Great Nortend|schools]].


Whilst all eight are mandated for daily recital for clergymen and monastics, by necessity the practice of secular clergy is vastly different to that of the monastics and regular clergy. Whereas all eight offices are separate in the Book of Hours, used by monastics and regular clergy in abbeys, priories and other religious communities, they are combined into three offices in the Book of Prayer, for use in public prayer in secular cathedrals, churches and chapels, and by secular clergymen.
In 1956, the Convocation approved four new homilies, authorised to be read in Church, which form the basis of the modern understanding of the Church’s teachings.


====Regular practice====
====''On Abortion, Suicide and Eugenics''====
Choir monastics, as well as the canons regular, are normally required to sing all eight canonical offices spread throughout the day, as provided in the Breviary. Indeed, the day of the choir monk or nun is structured around the canonical hours, which are sung in choir. Given the time-consuming labour required of lay brothers and sisters of the monastic orders, they are not generally required to sing all of the canonical offices. The important Mattins and Vespers are usually retained and sung in choir and the rest privately recited.
The ''Homily on Abortion and Eugenics'' condemns abortion, eugenics, suicide and euthanasia. The inducement of a miscarriage is allowed where the abortion is a side effect of primary medical treatment for the mother. Likewise, death as a side effect of medical treatment for alleviating pain, for instance, is not condemned as voluntary euthanasia. In both, the guiding principle is whether or not the death of the foetus or patient is desired or not. While the Church accepts some forms of „eugenic practices”, it notes that these are very dangerous to implement fairly. Post-conception eugenics is straitly condemned „for every formed human body, whether malformed or well formed, has a human soul capable of the salvation won by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus”.


====Secular practice====
====''On Carnal Relations and Whoredom''====
The secular prayer of the canonical hours, as ordered in the Book of Hours, are in the form of three offices known as Mattins, None, and Vespers. They are formed from the simplification and condensation of individual canonical offices; Nocturns, Mattins and Prime are merged into 'Mattins', Terce, Sext and None are merged into 'None', and Vespers and Compline are merged into 'Vespers'. These are ordered to be said at morning, noon, and evening respectively by all secular clergy, preferably publicly in their parish church or chapel.
In the ''Homily on Carnal Relations and Whoredom'', the Church discussed the „moral contraventions of the decadent order”, being sodomy, adultery, fornication, prostitution, and bestiality. The Church opposes the legalisation of the aforementioned practices and in short, all of them are condemned in the strongest terms. Only heterosexual vaginal carnal relations between a married wife and husband are allowed by the Church. Contraception is condemned by the Homily.


Very few parishes have the ability or need to celebrate publicly even all three combined offices daily, and only the largest parishes celebrate even one of Mattins, None or Vespers daily. Usually priests therefore say the offices privately, although they are obliged to do so publicly if any person asks them to. Of note are the university chapels, which say Mattins and Vespers daily during term time. In secular cathedrals, the secular canons are required to sing the three lay offices daily publicly.  
====''On Family and the Commonship''====
In the ''Homily on Family and the Commonship'', the Church discusses the nature of the family and the social order of the community. It emphasises the necessity of ensuring that the natural family is preserved with its natural hierarchy. The Church teaches against divorce, stating that marriage cannot be put asunder by any man, although the Church may decree a divorce for serious cases which strike at the heart of the marital bond. More broadly, the Homily treats on man's place in society. Anti-social or asocial activity is condemned, such as hiding away or lack of neighbourliness or comradeship between equals. Charity and almsgiving to the poor is promoted, as against selfishness and niggardliness, symptoms of social disorder. The Homily also enjoins care from the commons and God’s creation. This section of the Homily has been said to lend support to environmental movements in Great Nortend.


=====Order for Lay Mattins=====
====''On Right and Punishment''====
'''The Order for Lay Mattins daily throughout the Year'''
In the ''Homily on Right and Punishment'', the Church mainly discusses the importance of natural „divine right” as the foundation of the natural law as well as supporting the use of capital punishment by lawful authority. The Church enjoins obedience to lawful authority, and wilful rebellion against lawful order condemns. The Church teaches that by divine grace, the [[Monarchy of Great Nortend|monarch]] is set over his people to rule as the Vicar of God, to dispense justice and to ordain laws for the benefit of the people and the world. Thus, capital punishment is acceptable for the punishment of heinous and wicked crimes.


'''Opening Prayers:'''
==Divine Service==
''Upon the ringing of the bells or at the appointed time or immediately thereafter, the Ministre shall say privately the ''Aperi Domine'', the ''Pater noster'', the ''Ave Maria'' and the ''Credo'', in Latin. At the same time, every person present shall say the ''Pater noster'' and the ''Ave Maria'' quietly in his tongue.''
{{Main|Nortish Rite}}
[[File:GNMass.png|300px|thumb|right|A Service of Holy Communion celebrated in the Church of Nortend.]]
The Church of Nortend is a liturgical church with Divine Service ministered according to the [[Nortish Rite]]. Before the liturgical reforms, Divine Service was ministered according to the Uses of Sulthey, Lendert or Chepingstow. Since the Great Convocation, Divine Service has followed the form given in the ''Service Book''<ref>Full title, ''The Book of Divine Service according to the Reformed Use of the Church of Nortend''.</ref> produced by the Henfoot Committee. The full ''Service Book'' includes the complete form of Daily Prayer, the form of ministration of Holy Communion and the form of the other Manual Services.


'''Opening Versicles:'''
===Daily Services===
''At the beginning of Mattins, the Ministre shall sing or say in a loud voice the versicles; and the choir or congregation shall respond here, and wherever else there shall be versicles and responses.''
The prayer services of Mattins and Vespers form the mainstay of the Church of Nortend's Divine Service and are said daily in most churches every morning and evening throughout the year. Mattins or Morning Prayer consists of the ''Venite'', the psalms, a hymn, three lessons, the canticle ''Benedictus'' and the prayers. The final psalm is an Old Testament canticle.<ref>These are :— ''Benedicite omnia'', ''Confitebor tibi'', ''Ego dixi'', ''Exultavit cor'', ''Cantemus Domino'', ''Domine audivi'' and ''Audite celi''.</ref> On certain festivals, the ''Quicunque vult'' is said in lieu of this psalm-canticle. Like Mattins, Vespers or Evening Prayer consists of psalms, a hymn, three lessons, the canticle ''Magnificat'' and prayers.  
*℣: O Lord open thou my lips
*℟: And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
*℣: O God, make speed to save me.
*℟: O Lord, make haste to help me.
*℣: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
*℟: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
''Then all shall sing or say: ''Alleluia''; except it shall be from Septugesima Sunday until Easter Day wherein in lieu it shall be sung or said: ''Glory be to thee, O Lord, King of endless Majesty.


'''Invitatory:'''
===Communion Services===
''There shall be sung or said the appropriate Invitatory psalm and antiphon. The other Invitatories for the rest of the year are found in their proper places.''
The Communion Service is the primary sacramental service of the Church of Nortend (Baptism being occasional and contained among the Manual Services), and together with Mattins and Vespers may be said every day. However, it is more usual for Communion to be only said on Sundays and festivals, as frequent reception is not the custom in Great Nortend. The Communion Service consists, in order, principally of the ''Kyrie'', the collects, the Epistle, the Gospel, the Creed, a sermon, the Offertory, the Communion rite with ''Sanctus'' and ''Agnus Dei'', the Post-Communion anthem, the ''Gloria'' and prayers. Communion is distributed in both kinds and received kneeling.


''On Sundays:''
===Manual Services===
:''From the Sunday after the Octave of Epiphany until Sexagesima:''
The Manual Services<ref>„Manual” in reference to the pre-Reformation inclusion of most other services in the „''Manuale''”, although some were in the „''Pontificale''” or „''Processionale''”.</ref> include the rites for Baptism, Confirmation, Absolution, Matrimony, Churching of Women, Visitation of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, Ordination and Consecration, most of which are typically holden in conjunction with one of the Offices or Holy Communion, or both. The Manual also include forms for various blessings and occasional services for Sermons, Litanies, Processions and Thanksgivings.
:* Let us come before the presence of the Lord. And shew ourselves glad in him with psalms. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
:''From the Sunday after the Octave of Easter until Ascension Day:''
:*Alleluia. The Lord is risen verily. O come, let us worship, alleluia. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
:''From the Sunday after Trinity until August 28:''
:*Let us praise Jesus Christ. For he is the Redeemer of all the ages. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
:''From the Sunday after August 28 until the Sunday after September 27:''
:*Let us praise the Name of the Lord for he is gracious. Let us be glad in him with psalms, for he is the Lord our God. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
:''From the Sunday after September 27 until the Sunday after October 28:''
:*May the Lord open your hearts in his law. And in his commandments, and send you peace. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
:''From the Sunday after October 28 until the first Sunday of Advent:''
:*O God, King of heaven. Who sittest upon the throne, have mercy upon us. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On the ferias of Advent until the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, except on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the Ember Days:''
*The Lord, the King who is come. O come, let us worship. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On Mondays:''
*O Come, let us sing unto the Lord. Ps. Let us heartily… (95)
''On Tuesdays:''
*Let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On Wednesdays: ''
*In thy hand, O Lord, are all the corners of the earth. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On Thursdays: ''
*Let us worship the Lord. For it is he that hath made us. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On Fridays: ''
*The Lord our maker, O come, let us worship. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)
''On Saturdays: ''
*The Lord our God, O come, let us worship. Ps. O come, let us sing… (95)


'''Hymn:'''
===Language===
''One of the Hymns appointed for the day as the Ministre shall see fit shall be sung, except there shall be a proper Hymn assigned for that day.''
One of the changes sought by Cardinal Frympell was to replace Latin in divine service with an „understanded” tongue, ''i. e.'' English, for parochial uses. Thus, in the reformed Henfoot liturgy, the parochial form of Divine Service is always said or sung in English. However, in non-parochial services, such as in university or school chapels and monastic or collegiate chapters, Latin remains used, being understood by the members of the foundation. Therefore the [[University of Lendert]] publishes the ''Service Books'' in both English and Latin.


''On Sundays:''
===Calendar===
*Primo dierum omnium
The Church of Nortend, and Great Nortend, has used the Gregorian calendar since 1584 after the resolution of the Calendar Controversy. The liturgy is influenced by the church calendar, which begins on {{wp|Michaelmas}} every year gives the dates of the immovable [[Holidays in Great Nortend|festivals]] such as Christmas, Candlemas, St. John’s Day, and Martinmas. The moveable Easter cycle is based on the {{wp|computus|computation}} of Easter, setting the dates for Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Whitsun and the Sundays after Whitsun, ''inter alia''. Liturgical days are parted into double festivals, simple festivals, fairs and fasts.
*Nocte surgentes
*Æterne rerum conditor
*Ecce iam noctis
''On Mondays:''
*Somno refectis artubus
* Nocte surgentes
*Splendor Paternæ gloriæ
*Iam lucis orto sidere
''On Tuesdays:''
*Consors Paterni luminis
*Nocte surgentes
*Ales diei nuntius
*Iam lucis orto sidere
''On Wednesdays:''
*Rerum Creator optime
*Nocte surgentes
* Nox et tenebrae et nubila
*Iam lucis orto sidere
''On Thursdays:''
*Nox atra rerum contigit
*Nocte surgentes
*Lux ecce surgit aurea
*Iam lucis orto sidere
''On Fridays:''
*Tu Trinitatis Unitas
*Nocte surgentes
*Æterna cæli gloria
*Iam lucis orto sidere
''On Saturdays:''
*Summe Deus clementie
*Nocte surgentes
*Aurora iam spargit polum
*Iam lucis orto sidere


'''Psalter:'''
==Traditions==
''Thereafter shall be sung or said the other Psalms appointed for the day, with the following Antiphons as the Ministre shall see fit.''
===Music===
[[File:GNBOC.png|thumb|right|200px|The title page of the first edition of the Book of Chaunts.]]
Both choral and congregational music play a large part in Divine Service, which is typically sung daily, in part or fully. Polyphonic figured choral settings of the liturgy are the mainstay of the colleges, monasteries and cathedrals where the quiristers, clerks and lay clerks in the quire sing the entire service to the exclusion of any others outside, while in many ordinary churches, the clerks and congregation typically sing monophony or harmonised plainsong. The standard plainsong melodies are published in the noted edition of the ''Service Books'', performed in a {{wp|Mensural notation|mensural}} style, in contrast to the equal style promoted by the Roman Solesmes school. It is only rarely sung without accompaniment, and is often accompanied by organ and choral harmony.


''From the first Sunday of Advent until Christmas Day: ''
===Books===
*The sceptre* shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from his thigh, until he come that shall be sent.
There is a strong tradition of hand-engrossed religious manuscripts in the Church. After the advent of the printing press, the mediaeval tradition of scribing manuscripts on parchment or paper declined for ordinary use. However, expensive illuminated manuscripts, of liturgical books and other religious texts, continued to be created for the use of the nobility and Royal courts as a mark of prestige. Similarly, hand engrossed parchment, sometimes illuminated, is still used for deeds, statutes, charters, writs and other formal legal documents. All of these documents, as well as fully noted and hand-engrossed ''Service Books'', used on solemn feasts and special occasions, continue to be produced by [[Nortish religious houses|monasteries]] around the country.
*Unto him* shall be the expectation of the nations, he shall wash his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
*His eyes* are more beautiful than wine; and his teeth whiter than milk.
*Bethlehem*, thou art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my people Israel; for he shall save his people from their sins.
*Behold, a virgin* shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
*In his time* shall righteousness flourish; yea, and abundance of peace and all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall do him service.
*The night is far spent*, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
*How is the hour* for us to rise from sleep, and with our eyes open for us to arise unto Christ. For he is the true light gleaming in heaven.
*Rejoice* in the Lord always; let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand; be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer let your requests be make known unto God.
''From the Octave of the Epiphany until Passion Sunday:''
*Serve ye* the Lord in fear.
*O Lord* my God, in thee have I put my trust.
*Consider* and hear me, O Lord my God.
*My goods* are nothing unto thee; in thee have I put my trust, preserve me, O Lord.
*Incline, O Lord*, thine ear to me and hearken unto my word.
*The Lord* is my stony rock, and my defence.
*The commandment* of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes.
*The King* shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord.
''From Trinity Sunday until Advent:''
*As a reward* for faith he is rightly called blessed; for in the law of the Lord doth he meditate night and day.
*O righteous God*, strong judge, patient and kindly; in thee we trust, defend thou the faithful
*Arise*, and for ever safeguard us with holy protection, and by thy heavenly power watch over thy servants.
*Father* of all the world, preserve those redeemed from death; and make thy servants ever worthy of thy service.
*O Maker of the world*, set our hearts on fire for thee and with thy holy flame cleanse and prove us.
*The humble folk* thou hast saved from the enemy, O Redeemer, but the necks of the proud hast thou struck with thine arrow.
*As a bridegroom* from his chamber, Christ hath come into the world, descending from heaven with righteous salvation.
*Send forth upon us*, O Saviour, the help of salvation and may thou grant us in season life everlasting.
*O King, abiding* without end, spare thou the wretched from ruin; granting the reward, and ruling all that is thine.


'''Lessons and Canticles:'''
===Architecture===
''Then shall be read in a loud voice the first Lesson, taken out of the Old Testament as is appointed in the Lectionary, except there be proper Lessons assigned for that day. ; and after that, there shall be said or sung the Hymn ''Te Deum laudamus'' or the Psalm ''Jubilate Deo'', unless it be in Lent, in which case the ''Benedicite'' shall be sung instead.
Erbonian church architecture is predominantly {{wp|Gothic architecture|Gothic}}, although many churches have an older [[Arlethic peoples|Arlethic]] origin. An important difference with Roman church architecture is the focus on division of the church interior as marked by the alignment of seating. The congregation of a collegiate church, being their chapter, sit in stalls mostly aligned longitudinally along the quire, separated from a relatively empty nave by the quire screen (''pulpitum''). In 1593, this arrangement was extended to seating for the ''lay congregation'' of parochial churches such that the nave became filled with longitudinal pews arranged in „collegiate” style. It is said that such an arrangement encourages proper devotion to prayer, reduces the distinction between the chancel and the people in the nave, and naturally reduces the tendency to stare at the minister, or worse, the consecration of the Holy Communion.


''Then shall be read in like manner the Second Lesson taken out of the New Testament; and after that there shall be sung or said the Nicene Creed and thereafter, the Canticle of Zachary, the ''Benedictus''.
===Clerical dress===
{{See also|Nortish Rite#Vestments|Nortish dress codes|label1 = Liturgical clerical dress}}
[[File:GNFerm.jpg|thumb|right|200px||A deacon in his clerical dress.]]Ordained ministres in the Church of Nortend are required to wear the prescribed clerical dress at most times outside of the liturgy (the vestments for which are prescribed in the liturgical books). This is very strictly enforced, and clergymen are often brought before the ecclesiastical courts for this trangression. Per the canon ''In nova tempora'', non-liturgical clerical dress is divided into house dress, undress and full dress.


'''Versicles:'''
====House dress====
''Then, the Ministre shall say in a loud voice, with the choir and congregation responding:''
House dress is worn in informal or casual situations, such as at home or in the country or when doing menial labour. It consists of a suit or coat and trousers of dark, sombre colour worn a matching dark neck-height waistcoast. A starched clerical collar is still worn, but without bands. The coat is similar to a short frock coat and is usually designed to button up to the neck, and has a V-shaped collar cutout.
*℣: The Lord be with you.
*℟: And with thy spirit.
*℣: Let us pray.
''The Collect of the day shall be said, and the Memorial if there be one appropriate, each followed by the following versicles and responses:''
*℣: The Lord be with you.
*℟: And with thy spirit.
*℣: Let us bless the Lord.
*℟: Thanks be to God.


''Thereafter, there shall be said the ''Sursum corda'':''
No gown is worn, and secular hats are worn. When impractical, the clerical collar, jacket and even waistcoat may be dispensed with in favour of a shirt with soft open collar. The trousers may also be replaced with knees or short trousers where appropriate, such as when in the country or in hot climates.
*℣: Unto thee I lift up mine eyes.
*℟: O thou that dwellest in heaven.
*℣: Kyrie eleison.
*℟: Christe eleison.
*℣: Kyrie eleison.
*℣: Our Father (then inaudibly until) And lead us not into temptation.
*℟: But deliver us from evil. Amen.
''Then the Ministre shall say, the choir and congregation responding thus:''
*℣: O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
*℟: And grant us thy salvation.
*℣: O Lord, save the King.
*℟: And grant his people peace.
*℣: O Lord, save thy people.
*℟: And bless thine inheritance.
*℣: Hear my prayer, O Lord.
*℟: And let my cry come unto thee.
*℣: The Lord be with you.
*℟: And with thy spirit.
''An Anthem may be sung here, followed by the following prayers, except should the Litany followeth.''


'''Closing Prayers:'''
====Undress====
O Lord our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the only ruler of Princes, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth: most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our most gracious sovereign Lord King Alexander, and so replenish him with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that he may alway incline to thy will, and walk in thy way. Indue him plenteously with heavenly gifts; grant him in health, and wealth long to live; strengthen him that he may vanquish and overcome all his enemies; and finally after this life he may attain everlasting joy, and felicity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  
Undress is worn at semi-formal or formal non-liturgical situations. It is the ordinary „on duty” street dress of ordained ministres. It consists of the short frock, trousers, the gown and a hat. The short frock, or apron cassock, is a knee-length single-breasted frock worn with the cincture. A frock coat may also be worn over the short frock when thought wise.


Almighty and everlasting God, who alone workest great marvels, send down upon our Bishops and Curates, and all congregations committed to their charge the healthful spirit of thy grace: and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing: grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate, and Mediatour Jesus Christ. Amen.  
Starched standing collars with starched bands are always worn. The gown is only worn when in and around the church and when academic dress is worn. The gown worn is the undress gown, which is normally black. The traditional hat worn is the liturgical soft cap. When the gown is not worn, however, a brimmed round hat or top hat is more often worn. A cape may also be worn in such cases. Some archdeacons, cardinals and bishops wear wigs daily, but this is nowadays very uncommon.  


Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee, and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name, thou wilt grant their Requests: fulfil now, O Lord, the desires, and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them, granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
Evening undress is much the same, but silk is used for piping, buttons, the cincture, lining and cuffs rather than wool. Silk stockings and evening shoes are also usually worn, although patent leather is forbidden. A silken cape may also be worn, unless the gown is worn.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.


==Music==
====Full dress====
The Church of Nortend has a rich and long history of both choral and congregational singing and chants. Most parish churches maintain a vested choir of boys and men which provide choral singing and chant during services. This is typically accompanied by a pipe or reed organ, or sometimes a band of musicians, a quartet or orchestra.
Full dress is worn at non-liturgical state, ecclesiastical and legal occasions. It consists of the short frock worn with breeches. The gown worn is the full dress gown with hood. Most doctors wear scarlet gowns with coloured facings. Certain dignitaries wear a long train on their gowns. The soft cap is worn. Wigs are always worn by those entitled to them.


[[File:Ely_Cathedral_Choir,_Cambridgeshire,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg|230px|thumbnail|right|The quire of the Cathedral of St Peter, [[Lendert-with-Cadell]], looking towards the Chancel.]]It is the tradition that all services are sung through, except in Lent wherein on Sunday services are sung. Even in parishes without a choir, congregational singing is considered a very important skill, which is helped by weekly practice. In a traditional service in accordance with the Book of Liturgy, almost everything other than the sentences, prayers and readings are sung in either simple monophonic chant or the more complex harmonic Cardican chant. Each service has a set of traditional hymns proper to the day and office which are sung to chant. These may be supplemented or in some cases, replaced, by more modern hymns printed in hymnals, which are sung in a more typical hymnal fashion.
===Devotions===
There are several popular devotions practised in by members of the Church of Nortend. The most common perhaps is the bidding of beads. Beads are often used in Great Nortend for the purpose of personal prayer in lieu of praying the hours. A typical strand of beads consists of ten small beads with a cross attached at one end and a large bead at the other. To bid one’s beads, one begins on the cross, saying ''In nomine'' with the ''Signum crucis'', followed by the ''Pater noster'', ''Ave Maria'', ''Domine labia mea'' (or ''Converte nos''), ''Deus adjutorium meum'', and then the ''Gloria Patri'' and ''Alleluia'' or ''Laus tibi''. Then on each of the small beads one says the ''Pater noster'', followed by the ''Ave Maria'' and then the ''Gloria Patri''. On the final large bead, one says the ''Kyrie eleison'', the ''Pater noster'', the Apostle’s Creed, the ''Dignare Domine'', the ''Confiteor'', and then the Litany. The bidding is completed with a Blessing and the ''Signum crucis'' again.


Mattins and Vespers also both have provision for anthems, which are sung by the choir.
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}


{{Great Nortend}}
{{GNC}} [[Category:Religion in Astyria]]
[[Category:Great Nortend]][[Category:Astyria]]

Latest revision as of 11:58, 22 October 2024

Church of Nortend
Ecclesia Erbonica
WinchesterCathedral-north-wyrdlight.jpg
Lendert Cathedral in Lendert-with-Cadell is the seat of the Archbishop of Lendert.
ReligionChristian
TheologyCatholic and Reformed
PolityEpiscopal
GovernourKing Alexander II
PrimateCardinal Sebastian Williams,
Lord Archbishop of Lendert
LiturgyNortish Rite
Members10 million
Part of a series on the
Church of Nortend
LiturgyNortish Rite
Theology
Structure
Places
Churchmen
Art and Music
Part of a series on the
Government of Great Nortend
The CrownAlexander II
Departments
  • Exchequery
  • Clerk's Office
  • Trade Office

The Church of Nortend, in Latin the Ecclesia Erbonica, is the state church of Great Nortend. Christianity arrived in the kingdom in the 8th century under St. Laurence of Sulthey and quickly grew to become the dominant public religion. Since the Reformation, the Church has been established under the Statute of Supremacy[1] whereby Alexander I rejected the Bishop of Rome's claims of authority and jurisdiction over the Church in Nortend.

Since the end of the 16th century, the Church has held in its Articles of Faith that the Sovereign of Great Nortend is sovereign over both Church and State, with both temporal and spiritual jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Church of Nortend claims to be the only full expression of the „One Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church” within Great Nortend, maintaining apostolic succession in both sees and orders. Spiritual power is primarily vested in the thirteen bishops. Of these, the Archbishop of Lendert as Metropolitan and Primate of Nortend has the highest ecclesial authority. Dioceses are divided into archdeaconries and parishes. English is used in parochial services, with Latin being used in cathedral chapters, monasteries and colleges.

History

Main article: History of the Church of Nortend

Middle Ages

A typical late 12th century manor church. St Renwick's, in Culton, Southannering.

At the beginning of the 8th century, the Ethlorekoz natives of Great Nortend and the later migrant Arlethians practised heathen religions.

The bishop St. Laurence (of Sulthey) is believed to have brought Christianity to Great Nortend in the 8th century. Laurence arrived on the shores of Nortend in AD 744 during the reign of King Egbert on a mission ordered by Pope Zachary I and initially focussed his evangelisation on the ruling houses and especially Egbert, who is said to have been baptised in clinico in 753. After a period of instability, the young Murish Christian prince Hartmold de Mure took the Nortish throne in 756. He had been baptised in 750, at the age of 30. During his reign, and the subsequent reigns of Æthelfrey, Erwin and Edmund the Good, the people across the Kingdom were converted and Christianity became the dominant religion.

The first known church in Great Nortend was founded by Laurence at Sulthey in 749, the year which is now generally considered the beginning of the Nortish Church. Two years afterwards in 751, Laurence founded a community of Benedictine monks at the cathedral, making it the first monastery in Great Nortend. This church, dedicated to „Saint le Cross” and now known as Sulthey Cathedral Priory, remains the cathedral for the see of Sulthey. Laurence served at Sulthey for over thirty years as the first Archbishop and Abbot of Sulthey.

The Church in Nortend flourished in the Middle Ages, in a frenzy of religious piety. Gothic architecture was introduced during the late 12th century, supplanting the existing vernacular Nortish architecture which had dominated in the densely forested North above Golder's Line by wooden construction, and below by stone construction. By the 13th century, nearly every manor had at least one church and, across the country, numerous monasteries, colleges and chapels were founded. Within Lendert-with-Cadell alone, forty-two parishes had been established by the time the rebuilt Lendert Abbey was completed in 1272.

Break with Rome

Through the 16th century, the Church faced increasing conflict with the King over the exercise of temporal power by the Pope. Thomas de Akeep, who was Provost of Sulthey, preached against „ultramontanism” and avowed the temporal primacy of the King. He published the „Declaration of Sulthey” in 1530 containing four articles against the authority of the Pope. Though the Declaration did not necessarily amount to heresy, the anti-Papal articles offended Clement VII than in 1534 he refused to permit the appointment of Thomas de Akeep to the See of Chepingstow, to hold political office as the Lord High Chancellour.

Clement's refusal resulted in the wide promulgation of the „Declaration” in print, despite it being thitherto a relatively obscure pamphlet, leading to the growth of stronger tensions throughout the Kingdom and calls for reform of the Church. Over the next few decades, various reformist parties within the Church developed, which advocated for more and more extreme reformation along Protestant lines. Nonetheless, both William IV and his son George I remained loyal to the Pope and resisted popular reform, being occupied with other matters.

From 1545 to 1563, Erbonian prelates attended the Council of Trent but there was no effective changes which satisfied the growing opposition to the Papacy or stemmed the growing attacks on „popish doctrines”. The accession of the young and reform-minded Alexander I in 1566 led to the beginning of the real Reform of the Church in Nortend. Spurred on by his ministers and the controversy resulting from some actions of the Pope, the Proclamation of Manfarham was issued by the newly crowned Alexander in the January of 1567, which rejected the errors of Council of Trent and approved of the Declaration of Sulthey. This was compounded by the Statute of Supremacy in 1569, which asserted the supremacy of the King within his Realm, denied the continued authority of the Bishop of Rome and ipso facto established the independence of the Nortish Church. The King and Archbishop of Lendert, Richard de Cainmare, were formally excommunicated by the Pope on St. Lucy's Day, 1569.

Pius V had restricted the title of „Cardinal” to the cardinals of Rome in 1567. This had been seen as an offensive assertion of Papal and Roman supremacy by the Nortish Church, which had used the title for various priests holding certain benefices associated with the Crown. Soon after the Statute of Supremacy was enacted, Alexander I reinstated the title of „cardinal” for those former cardinals who recognised his supremacy, reversing the 1567 decree as his first formal act of supremacy. The cardinalate, and its royal associations, soon became a by-word for loyalty to the King and rejection of Rome.

Nonetheless, the Statute of Supremacy was opposed by many of the clergy and monastics who remained loyal to Rome, although public dissent was quickly quelled by the arrest and deposition of the Bishop of Limmes and the Bishop of Staithway, and the imprisonment of several more high-ranking churchmen in 1570. Meanwhile, the Statute was criticised by a more reformist party for failing to articulate the crucial doctrines of the Reformation. In 1572, Cainmare issued Injunctions to forbid preaching any new doctrines without authority, and the „Short Homilies” to be read at the main Sunday mass, „explicating the Statute lately enacted touching the Church of Christ in this Realm”. Shortly after, the Statute for the Obedience of Clerks was passed by Parliament which required beneficed clerks to take an Oath undertaking not to preach any doctrines without authority.

The Injunctions presaged the Convocation of 1573 which produced the Canons General of 1573. Inter alia, these demanded that beneficed clerks and curates renounce the Pope on pain of deprivation ex officio et beneficio. Under the canons, it is believed over 500 clerks were deprived for refusing to take the prescribed Oath recognising the supremacy of the King and renouncing the authority of the Pope. Matters escalated with the trial and execution of the Six Heretics, six clergymen who allegedly plotted with the Pope to invade Great Nortend and restore the Church in 1575.

Nortish Reformation

The increasingly Luther-influenced Cardinal Henry Frympell was consecrated Archbishop of Lendert in 1590. Though he had a moderate theology, Cardinal Frympell advocated strongly for a translation of the Bible into English. The „Douay-Rheims Bible” and „King James's Bible” had been published in English a few years prior to the Proclamation of Manfarham, and were seen as strong bases for a Nortish revision. After several draught versions, Frympell's translation of the Old and New Testments (including the so-called „Apocrypha”) was approved in 1599. It drew heavily from the King James's Bible and the older Great Bible and Douay-Rheims for the Apocrypha and Psalms. The Aldesey was authorised to print the new edition and copies were disseminated to every church and school, leading to its widespread adoption.

Cardinal Frympell also spearheaded the major reform of theology and doctrine in his second year as Primate. While several „reformed” confessions and catechisms had been produced within the Church since the Declaration of Sulthey by the reformist parties, there had been little official change of position by the newly independent Church on many of the contentious doctrines of the wider Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

The Bible translated into the „understanded tongue”, momentum within the Church turned to reform of doctrine and liturgy. After Cardinal Frympell's death in 1702, the even more strongly reformed Cardinal George Miers was appointed Archbishop of Lendert. Before he could be installed, William I unexpectedly died at the age of 44 and the young 22-year-old Edmund VI acceded to the throne, crowned by the Bishop of Rhise, Cardinal August Lewencort. Cardinal Miers finally was installed in 1704, as one of the first acts of Edmund's reign. However, with the powerful „broad-church” influences of William and especially Frympell gone, Edmund needed to satisfy both ends of his church.

A „Commission for the Reform of the Divine Service”, headed by Sir Charles de Henfott, 7th Bart., presented its draughts for new liturgical books in English to Edmund the next year in 1705. However, it immediately proved much more controversial than Frympell's well-received Bible translation, involving severe pruning of the existing Latin services. It satisfied neither party—the so-called Frympellites argued that it remained too mediaeval and monastic, not suitable for Lutheran-style public prayer and worship. On the other hand, the so-called Akeepians, who now also rejected the Bishop of Rome's ordinary jurisdiction over anywhere but his own see, were in favour of only very minor reforms to the services and the retention of Latin wheresoever possible.

Owing to his young age, a compromise was brokered by Edmund between the two camps with assistance from the 13th Duke of Cardenbridge who was seen, despite his opposition to the papacy, to be otherwise theologically neutral. Under the proposal, the offices would be only conservatively simplified and reordered to make them more practical for public and private worship. In a concession to the Frympellites, and an increasingly large faction of the Akeepians, the use of Latin in the liturgy was suppressed except in cathedrals, chapters and chapels in favour of a translation into English. However, the authoritative and official documents and texts of the Church remained in Latin. The canon Quia solliciti, issued by Edmund in 1711, formally authorised and prescribed inter alia the new books for all public and corporate worship.

Conformity and Non-Conformity

The „Olnish Matter” was a controversy over the marriage of Queen Mary to the Earl of Scode.

The dominant „small-l” Lutheranism in the Church of Nortend in the early 18th century soon began to be threatened by the increasing trade and improved diplomatic relations with the Exponential Empire and its Occidentes Province (now the Aurora Confederacy) which begat a small but growing „Catholic” renaissance at Court and throughout high society.

In 1731, Augustus I of Aquitayne arrived in Great Nortend seeking support for Aquitaynian independence from the Exponential Empire. He quickly arranged a marriage with Anne-Louise, 28, the youngest daughter of William I with the blessing of Edmund VI, who was desirous of counteracting the growing popish influence with support from another Lutheran realm.

After the death of Edmund VI in 1736, however, relations with the Exponential Empire improved dramatically. Immediately after his passing, Cardinal Archibald Lofthouse, then Lord Bishop of Rockingham, sensationally declared his allegiance to the Roman Church, revealing a underground network of papism hidden, albeit scattered under the pretence of Lutheranism. Mary's accession to the throne was seen as untimely by the notionally dominant Frympellites, who were highly concerned she would lack the authority to counteract this growing Catholic feeling. Thus, she was pressured by her Parliament into declaring the suspension of the initiation of any novices to religious establishments in 1737 and appointing more Frympellite bishops and clergy by passing the Abjuration Act in 1738.

Unfortunately for the Frympellites, Mary announced in 1740 her intention to marry Charles de Oln, the 5th Earl of Scode, of the House of Oln in Albeinland. Charles was of an Akeepian and Catholic leaning churchmanship. The marriage was vigorously opposed by the Frympellites. In Parliament, two factions developed known as the „Scodeliers” and the „Droughers”, which supported and wished to „draw asunder” (whence „drougher”) the marriage respectively. In the end, the Droughers were unable to stop the marriage, and Mary wed the Earl of Scode in 1742 at the age of 27.

This apparent act of alliance with the Roman Catholic Exponential Empire, along with the almost next-day restoration of friendly ties with the Exponential Empire immediately drew costernation around the region. Notably, Mary disowned her aunt Anna-Louise after the latter condemned the marriage as a betrayal of Mary's late father, Edmund VI. Nonetheless, nothing could repair the damage wrought to the Frympellites, especially after the islands of St. Parth and Hastica were returned to Great Nortend. Thenceforth, following this ,,Akeepian Settlement”, the Akeepian faction grew to dominate the Church.

Polity and Organisation

The Church of Nortend sees itself as part of the visible Catholick Church of Christ and by its claim to the historic episcopate, it asserts sole ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Great Nortend, explicitly rejecting the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome within the Realm. The Statute for Conformity continues to forbid the „maintenance” of parallel ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The King is reckoned as sovereign over both Church and State with both spiritual and temporal jurisdiction, as the anointed Vicar of God, with authority to rule the estates of both churchmen and laymen and to ordain both canon and civil laws. Just as the ministers of the Crown have the duties of preserving the King's peace and defending the Realm, the ministers of the Church are tasked with preaching the Word and ministering the Sacraments.

Ministers

The Church of Nortend recognises as being of apostolic institution the three degrees of ministry of bishop, priest and deacon, known as „Clerks in Holy Orders”. Only bishops, as the Pastors of the Church and Successors of the Apostles, have the authority to ordain a person to holy orders. Once ordained, it is not possible to relinquish the clerical state. Clerks in holy orders are generally permitted to marry.

In addition to the clerks in holy orders, the Church of Nortend admits lay clerks, which replaced the mediaeval orders of subdeacon and lector in 1582. The status of lay clerk is proper to each church and men are admitted thereto by the incumbent of the church.[2] Lay clerks are varied in their duties, and may read the Epistle, bear a processional cross or tapers, carry a censer or incense-bowl, read lessons, sing or otherwise act in the place of a priest or deacon. As a clerk is not in orders, he can relinquish this status by abandonment or by deed.

Dioceses

[OLD] Map of the dioceses of the Church of Nortend.

The Church of Nortend consists of a single Province of Nortend divided into twelve dioceses or sees, each headed by a bishop as Ordinary. Before 1382, Sulthey was the metropolitan see before Urban VI issued a bull to translate the primacy to Lendert, upon the supplication of Peter II. Since then, the Lord Archbishop of Lendert has been Metropolitan and Primate of Nortend. The See of Chepingstow has a bishop coadjutor who performs the spiritual duties of the Lord Bishop of Chepingstow, on account of the latter’s day-to-day responsibilites as ex officio Lord High Chancellour. There are a number of peculiars, which also are outside of the direct jurisdiction of the bishops of the dioceses wherein they are situate. These include many abbeys and some priories. There are exceptionally six abbeys nullius dioceseos, the lands of which are considered entirely extra-diocesan.

See Cathedral Founded Ordinary
Lendert and Cadell Lendert Cathedral Priory 1284[3] Lord Archbishop of Lendert, Cardinal Dr. Sebastian Williams
Sulthey Sulthey Cathedral Priory 749[4] Lord Bishop of Sulthey, Cardinal Dr. Ralph de Goulgham
Chepingstow Chepingstow Cathedral 801 Lord Bishop of Chepingstow, Cardinal Dr. William Laseby, Lord High Chancellour
Bishop Coadjutor, Dr. Lochlan Riddel
Mast Mast Cathedral 823 Lord Bishop of Mast, Cardinal Dr. Edmund Widow-Goddering
Staithway Staithway Cathedral[5] 832 Lord Bishop of Staithway, Dr. James Hotham
Rhise Rhise Cathedral 932 Lord Bishop of Rhise, Cardinal Dr. Edmund Widow-Goddering
Echester Echester Cathedral Priory 976 Lord Bishop of Echester, Cardinal Dr. David Coke
Lanchester Lanchester Cathedral 1001 Lord Bishop of Lanchester, Dr. Quentin Cecington
Tow and St. Cleaves Tow Cathedral 1045 Lord Bishop of Tow, Cardinal Dr. Peter de Wylde, Lord High Almoner
Rhighton Rhighton Cathedral 1077 Lord Bishop of Rhighton, Cardinal Dr. Crispin de Asper
Corring Rockleham Cathedral 1122[6] Lord Bishop of Corring, Dr. Simon Bickersleigh
Scode Scode Cathedral 1298 Lord Bishop of Scode, Dr. Luke Mainthompson

Parishes

The parish is the lowest level of church administration and is held by a rector who is entrusted with the cure of souls in the parish, and is entitled to the tithes. A benefice can be appropriated by religious foundations or non-resident clerks, in which case a vicar must be appointed to hold the cure of souls and to receive the altarage and small tithes. Most parishes, in addition to the rector or vicar, have at least one other priest as curate. Many parishes also have chaplains ministering in chantry chapels within the parish church, or chapels without.

The other parochial officers are the parish clerk (who typically reads the Epistle and lessons and is responsible for the parish registers and administration), the verger (responsible for keeping the sacred vessels, moveable furnishings and vestments and keeping order in the church) and the sexton (responsible for the keys to the church building, ringing the bells, and the physical upkeep of the church’s fixed furnishings and of the churchyard). The Vestry, comprising all parishioners on the Parish Roll, is run day-to-day by the Select Vestry, and is tasked with both civil and ecclesiastical responsibility. Two or more lay churchwardens are elected by the whole Vestry annually.

Membership

According to the Telling Poll of 2020, 94·9 per cent of the national population are members of the Church of Nortend, amounting to around 9·5 million people. A member is required habitually to attend Divine Service in the parish in which he lives. More than two thirds of parishioners attend church at least once a week. Double or even triple attendance on Sundays at Mattins, Holy Communion and Vespers is common. One reason for the high membership of the Church is that baptism is routinely conferred on newborns. Almost all members of the Church are confirmed by the age of 21, as it is considered a rite of passage. Along with taking the Oath of Liegance, Confirmation is necessary to become a full Nortish subject.

Convocation

The Convocation of the Province of Nortend is the assembly convoked by the King represented by the Archbishop, with the prelates and proctors of the entire Church of Nortend. The Convocation has sole authority to pass canons affecting the Church's discipline, governance, liturgy, doctrine and order, and authority over clerks, marriages, wills and morals. Like Acts of Parliament, all Canons of Convocation must receive the King's royal assent.

The Convocation includes all prelates—the cardinals, bishops, abbots and the prelatial priors—as well as lesser church dignitaries such as archdeacons, deans and provosts, and a number of proctors representing the rectors of each diocese.

Beliefs

The official doctrine of the Church was declared in 1567 in the Great Convocation in the Articles of Faith[7] consisting of 42 doctrinal statements. Inter alia, the Articles confirm the authority of the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed and beliefs in the virgin birth, the two natures of Christ, the Holy Trinity, rightening by grace through faith, eternal predestination by foreknowledge, the two Sacraments of the Gospel, the six Ceremonies of the Church, the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament, prayer for the dead and the supremacy of the Crown.

Sacraments

The Church of Nortend recognises the two Sacraments of the Gospel, being Baptism and Communion, being „physical outward signs ordained by Christ of ghostly inward grace”. Furthermore, sacraments, when received with faith, are believed to be „generally necessary unto salvation” and the „effectual means whereby man receives the same, and a sign and pledge to assure him thereof”.[8]

  • Baptism, also known as „christening”, is the sacrament whereby the inward graces of death unto sin and rebirth unto righteousness are effectually received, through faith, by the outward sign of washing with water, saying „N. I thee christen; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Man, through baptism, is spiritually received into Christ's Church. Baptism is followed by the giving of the Chrisom, the white christening robe, saying, „Receive the Token of thine Innocency, which by God's grace in this holy Sacrament is given unto thee, that thou shalt ever give thyself to innocency of living unto thy life's end. Amen.” Infant baptism is practised and baptism by laymen is believed to be invalid.
  • Communion, also known as the „Lord's Supper”, is the sacrament whereby the inward graces of the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ, and fellowship therein,[9] are effectually received, through faith, by the outward sign of bread and wine. Transubstantiation and the carnal presence of Christ are expressly rejected by the Articles of Faith, which insist that the Real Presence of Christ is objectively present „in a heavenly manner”, „taken and received only by the soul through faith”. The words of administration are, „The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, keep thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Amen.” and „The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, keep thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Amen.”

In addition to the two Sacraments of the Gospel, the Church also recognises five Ceremonies of the Church—of Confirmation, Absolution, Unction, Matrimony and Ordination—lacking the fullness of sacramental character but nonetheless being outward signs of inward grace.

  • Confirmation strengthens the soul by receiving the Holy Ghost, and commissions him as confessor of the faith.
  • Absolution forgives sins for a penitent with God after confession and resolution to amend one's life.
  • Unction heals the soul spiritually, and if it be God's will, restores bodily health.
  • Matrimony joins together a man and woman in a holy estate. Without formal solemnisation, marriage is illegal and not recognised by the Church or State.[10]
  • Ordination commissions a man to ministry in the Church of God in Holy Orders, successively to the diaconate, priesthood or episcopacy.

Social teachings

See also: Nationalist conservatism

The Church of Nortend has a close relationship with the Crown and State thanks to its privileged position as the established state church. This results in both state control of the Church, as well as Church influence on the State, for the mutual good and salvation of the people. The relationship since the 19th century has emphasised the national element of the Church of Nortend as being the only church and part of the universal Church Catholick especially suitable for Nortchmen. The Church’s domains lie mainly in the moral and to an extent, social, order of the nation, and since the 1950s, its social teachings have been required to be taught in all schools.

In 1956, the Convocation approved four new homilies, authorised to be read in Church, which form the basis of the modern understanding of the Church’s teachings.

On Abortion, Suicide and Eugenics

The Homily on Abortion and Eugenics condemns abortion, eugenics, suicide and euthanasia. The inducement of a miscarriage is allowed where the abortion is a side effect of primary medical treatment for the mother. Likewise, death as a side effect of medical treatment for alleviating pain, for instance, is not condemned as voluntary euthanasia. In both, the guiding principle is whether or not the death of the foetus or patient is desired or not. While the Church accepts some forms of „eugenic practices”, it notes that these are very dangerous to implement fairly. Post-conception eugenics is straitly condemned „for every formed human body, whether malformed or well formed, has a human soul capable of the salvation won by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus”.

On Carnal Relations and Whoredom

In the Homily on Carnal Relations and Whoredom, the Church discussed the „moral contraventions of the decadent order”, being sodomy, adultery, fornication, prostitution, and bestiality. The Church opposes the legalisation of the aforementioned practices and in short, all of them are condemned in the strongest terms. Only heterosexual vaginal carnal relations between a married wife and husband are allowed by the Church. Contraception is condemned by the Homily.

On Family and the Commonship

In the Homily on Family and the Commonship, the Church discusses the nature of the family and the social order of the community. It emphasises the necessity of ensuring that the natural family is preserved with its natural hierarchy. The Church teaches against divorce, stating that marriage cannot be put asunder by any man, although the Church may decree a divorce for serious cases which strike at the heart of the marital bond. More broadly, the Homily treats on man's place in society. Anti-social or asocial activity is condemned, such as hiding away or lack of neighbourliness or comradeship between equals. Charity and almsgiving to the poor is promoted, as against selfishness and niggardliness, symptoms of social disorder. The Homily also enjoins care from the commons and God’s creation. This section of the Homily has been said to lend support to environmental movements in Great Nortend.

On Right and Punishment

In the Homily on Right and Punishment, the Church mainly discusses the importance of natural „divine right” as the foundation of the natural law as well as supporting the use of capital punishment by lawful authority. The Church enjoins obedience to lawful authority, and wilful rebellion against lawful order condemns. The Church teaches that by divine grace, the monarch is set over his people to rule as the Vicar of God, to dispense justice and to ordain laws for the benefit of the people and the world. Thus, capital punishment is acceptable for the punishment of heinous and wicked crimes.

Divine Service

Main article: Nortish Rite
A Service of Holy Communion celebrated in the Church of Nortend.

The Church of Nortend is a liturgical church with Divine Service ministered according to the Nortish Rite. Before the liturgical reforms, Divine Service was ministered according to the Uses of Sulthey, Lendert or Chepingstow. Since the Great Convocation, Divine Service has followed the form given in the Service Book[11] produced by the Henfoot Committee. The full Service Book includes the complete form of Daily Prayer, the form of ministration of Holy Communion and the form of the other Manual Services.

Daily Services

The prayer services of Mattins and Vespers form the mainstay of the Church of Nortend's Divine Service and are said daily in most churches every morning and evening throughout the year. Mattins or Morning Prayer consists of the Venite, the psalms, a hymn, three lessons, the canticle Benedictus and the prayers. The final psalm is an Old Testament canticle.[12] On certain festivals, the Quicunque vult is said in lieu of this psalm-canticle. Like Mattins, Vespers or Evening Prayer consists of psalms, a hymn, three lessons, the canticle Magnificat and prayers.

Communion Services

The Communion Service is the primary sacramental service of the Church of Nortend (Baptism being occasional and contained among the Manual Services), and together with Mattins and Vespers may be said every day. However, it is more usual for Communion to be only said on Sundays and festivals, as frequent reception is not the custom in Great Nortend. The Communion Service consists, in order, principally of the Kyrie, the collects, the Epistle, the Gospel, the Creed, a sermon, the Offertory, the Communion rite with Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the Post-Communion anthem, the Gloria and prayers. Communion is distributed in both kinds and received kneeling.

Manual Services

The Manual Services[13] include the rites for Baptism, Confirmation, Absolution, Matrimony, Churching of Women, Visitation of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, Ordination and Consecration, most of which are typically holden in conjunction with one of the Offices or Holy Communion, or both. The Manual also include forms for various blessings and occasional services for Sermons, Litanies, Processions and Thanksgivings.

Language

One of the changes sought by Cardinal Frympell was to replace Latin in divine service with an „understanded” tongue, i. e. English, for parochial uses. Thus, in the reformed Henfoot liturgy, the parochial form of Divine Service is always said or sung in English. However, in non-parochial services, such as in university or school chapels and monastic or collegiate chapters, Latin remains used, being understood by the members of the foundation. Therefore the University of Lendert publishes the Service Books in both English and Latin.

Calendar

The Church of Nortend, and Great Nortend, has used the Gregorian calendar since 1584 after the resolution of the Calendar Controversy. The liturgy is influenced by the church calendar, which begins on Michaelmas every year gives the dates of the immovable festivals such as Christmas, Candlemas, St. John’s Day, and Martinmas. The moveable Easter cycle is based on the computation of Easter, setting the dates for Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Whitsun and the Sundays after Whitsun, inter alia. Liturgical days are parted into double festivals, simple festivals, fairs and fasts.

Traditions

Music

The title page of the first edition of the Book of Chaunts.

Both choral and congregational music play a large part in Divine Service, which is typically sung daily, in part or fully. Polyphonic figured choral settings of the liturgy are the mainstay of the colleges, monasteries and cathedrals where the quiristers, clerks and lay clerks in the quire sing the entire service to the exclusion of any others outside, while in many ordinary churches, the clerks and congregation typically sing monophony or harmonised plainsong. The standard plainsong melodies are published in the noted edition of the Service Books, performed in a mensural style, in contrast to the equal style promoted by the Roman Solesmes school. It is only rarely sung without accompaniment, and is often accompanied by organ and choral harmony.

Books

There is a strong tradition of hand-engrossed religious manuscripts in the Church. After the advent of the printing press, the mediaeval tradition of scribing manuscripts on parchment or paper declined for ordinary use. However, expensive illuminated manuscripts, of liturgical books and other religious texts, continued to be created for the use of the nobility and Royal courts as a mark of prestige. Similarly, hand engrossed parchment, sometimes illuminated, is still used for deeds, statutes, charters, writs and other formal legal documents. All of these documents, as well as fully noted and hand-engrossed Service Books, used on solemn feasts and special occasions, continue to be produced by monasteries around the country.

Architecture

Erbonian church architecture is predominantly Gothic, although many churches have an older Arlethic origin. An important difference with Roman church architecture is the focus on division of the church interior as marked by the alignment of seating. The congregation of a collegiate church, being their chapter, sit in stalls mostly aligned longitudinally along the quire, separated from a relatively empty nave by the quire screen (pulpitum). In 1593, this arrangement was extended to seating for the lay congregation of parochial churches such that the nave became filled with longitudinal pews arranged in „collegiate” style. It is said that such an arrangement encourages proper devotion to prayer, reduces the distinction between the chancel and the people in the nave, and naturally reduces the tendency to stare at the minister, or worse, the consecration of the Holy Communion.

Clerical dress

See also: Liturgical clerical dress and Nortish dress codes
A deacon in his clerical dress.

Ordained ministres in the Church of Nortend are required to wear the prescribed clerical dress at most times outside of the liturgy (the vestments for which are prescribed in the liturgical books). This is very strictly enforced, and clergymen are often brought before the ecclesiastical courts for this trangression. Per the canon In nova tempora, non-liturgical clerical dress is divided into house dress, undress and full dress.

House dress

House dress is worn in informal or casual situations, such as at home or in the country or when doing menial labour. It consists of a suit or coat and trousers of dark, sombre colour worn a matching dark neck-height waistcoast. A starched clerical collar is still worn, but without bands. The coat is similar to a short frock coat and is usually designed to button up to the neck, and has a V-shaped collar cutout.

No gown is worn, and secular hats are worn. When impractical, the clerical collar, jacket and even waistcoat may be dispensed with in favour of a shirt with soft open collar. The trousers may also be replaced with knees or short trousers where appropriate, such as when in the country or in hot climates.

Undress

Undress is worn at semi-formal or formal non-liturgical situations. It is the ordinary „on duty” street dress of ordained ministres. It consists of the short frock, trousers, the gown and a hat. The short frock, or apron cassock, is a knee-length single-breasted frock worn with the cincture. A frock coat may also be worn over the short frock when thought wise.

Starched standing collars with starched bands are always worn. The gown is only worn when in and around the church and when academic dress is worn. The gown worn is the undress gown, which is normally black. The traditional hat worn is the liturgical soft cap. When the gown is not worn, however, a brimmed round hat or top hat is more often worn. A cape may also be worn in such cases. Some archdeacons, cardinals and bishops wear wigs daily, but this is nowadays very uncommon.

Evening undress is much the same, but silk is used for piping, buttons, the cincture, lining and cuffs rather than wool. Silk stockings and evening shoes are also usually worn, although patent leather is forbidden. A silken cape may also be worn, unless the gown is worn.

Full dress

Full dress is worn at non-liturgical state, ecclesiastical and legal occasions. It consists of the short frock worn with breeches. The gown worn is the full dress gown with hood. Most doctors wear scarlet gowns with coloured facings. Certain dignitaries wear a long train on their gowns. The soft cap is worn. Wigs are always worn by those entitled to them.

Devotions

There are several popular devotions practised in by members of the Church of Nortend. The most common perhaps is the bidding of beads. Beads are often used in Great Nortend for the purpose of personal prayer in lieu of praying the hours. A typical strand of beads consists of ten small beads with a cross attached at one end and a large bead at the other. To bid one’s beads, one begins on the cross, saying In nomine with the Signum crucis, followed by the Pater noster, Ave Maria, Domine labia mea (or Converte nos), Deus adjutorium meum, and then the Gloria Patri and Alleluia or Laus tibi. Then on each of the small beads one says the Pater noster, followed by the Ave Maria and then the Gloria Patri. On the final large bead, one says the Kyrie eleison, the Pater noster, the Apostle’s Creed, the Dignare Domine, the Confiteor, and then the Litany. The bidding is completed with a Blessing and the Signum crucis again.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Statute of Supremacy, 2 Alex. I.
  2. ↑ Lay members of the foundations of colleges are also lay clerks by matriculation.
  3. ↑ Became Metropolitan See in 1384.
  4. ↑ Lost Metropolitan status in 1384.
  5. ↑ Secularised in 1590.
  6. ↑ Renamed from Rockleham in 1740.
  7. ↑ The Articles of Faith set forth by the whole Convocation of the Province of Nortend, holden at Lendert in 1567.
  8. ↑ Articles of Faith.
  9. ↑ I Corinthians x. 16.
  10. ↑ Clandestine and Informal Marriages Act.
  11. ↑ Full title, The Book of Divine Service according to the Reformed Use of the Church of Nortend.
  12. ↑ These are :— Benedicite omnia, Confitebor tibi, Ego dixi, Exultavit cor, Cantemus Domino, Domine audivi and Audite celi.
  13. ↑ „Manual” in reference to the pre-Reformation inclusion of most other services in the „Manuale”, although some were in the „Pontificale” or „Processionale”.

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