History of the Church of Nortend

Middle Ages

• 744: Arrival of Laurence of Sulthey
• 749: Founding of the church on the Isle of Sulthey
• 751: Refoundation as Sulthey Abbey
• 753: Egbert dies
• ~754: Edmund is martyred in Echester
• 756: Hartmold the Great takes the throne and begins the conversion of the Kingdom
• 870: Synod held dividing the Kingdom into the three dioceses of Sulthey, Chepingstow and Mast.
• Benedictine reforms in the 11th century
• Investiture controversy in the early 12th century
• Gothic architecture introduced in the late 12th century.
• Bishops of Chepingstow in the early 13th century become ex officio Lord Chancellour.
• 1225: First Dominicans arrive
• 1239: First Franciscans arrive
• 1256: University of Lendert charter issued
• 1272: Lendert Abbey completed
• 1284: Lendert elevated to bishopric
• 1382: Bishop of Lendert dies.
• 1382: Peter II obtains papal approval for Lendert to replace Sulthey as the metropolitan see, translating Silvester de Tongue from Sulthey to Lendert.

Reformation

• 1530: Declaration of Sulthey made by Thomas Akeep, Provost of Sulthey
• The four articles, briefly summarised, claimed :—

1. The Church only has Jurisdiction over Matters spiritual, and the King therefore is not subordinate to the Church in Matters temporal and cannot be deposed by the Church nor can his Vassals be freed from their Oaths.
2. The Judgment of the Holy Father is not absolute in Matters spiritual without the Consent of the Councils and Bishops.
3. The Powers of the Church are only exercised when in accordance with divine Law established through the received Customs and Traditions.
4. The King has the right to call Councils and with their Consent make laws concerning Matters spiritual and the Pope's Bulls and Letters may not be promulgated without their consent and that of the King.

• 1534: Clement VII intervenes to forbid Thomas Akeep becoming Bishop of Chepingstow
• William IV and George I remain loyal to the Pope
• 1545 to 1563: Nortish bishops attend Trent
• 1566: Accession of Alexander I
• 1567: Pius V abolishes the title of Cardinal
• 1567: Pius V sends the Decrees of the Council of Trent to Alexander for publication
• 1567: Proclamation of Manfarham by Alexander I rejecting the Council of Trent's errors and stating alternative propositions
• 1568: Statute concerning the Convocation, restricting the holding of the Convocation and the authority of canons to override the laws. Statute concerning Temporalities.
• 1568: Alexander replaces the Chancellour of the University of Lendert and orders the reform of the Aldesey
• 1569: Statute of Supremacy and Restoration of the Cardinalacy
• 1569: Arrest and deposition of two bishops, and imprisonment of three others who refused the Supremacy of the King
• 1569 to 1572: Various statutes as to licences, payments, appeals and the like
• 1572: Injunctions of Cainmare and the Short Homilies to be read in every parish church as touching the late reforms.
• 1572: Statute for the Obedience of Clerks to forbid the preaching of unauthorised doctrinal innovations and to secure oaths
• 1573: Convocation and issuance of the Canons General of 1573 establishing the reformed church order.
• 1575: Execution of the Six Hereticks
• 1575: By this time, nearly 100 houses have been dissolved for refusal to swear obedience to the King, as well as the secularisation of the Grey Friars with secular priests
• 1580: Death of Archbishop Cainmare and Consecration of Henry Frympell
• 1582: Abolition of the sub-diaconate and minor orders; condemnation of transubstantiation, indulgences, sacrifices of masses, &c.
• 1582: Order for Black Friars to have degrees and licensed, before preaching; choir monks to take degrees
• 1583: Parliament investigates the Gregorian calendar amid the Calendar Controversy
• 1584: Adoption of the Gregorian calendar and reduction of the number of saints' days by over half
• 1585: Nullification of vows and the dissolution of smaller religious houses
• 1586: Carmelite (White Friars) convents dissolved and dispersed
• 1589: Publication of Frympell's Bible
• 1590: By this date since 1582, establishment of the “Modern Halls” at Aldesey, of Mancourt Hall and Trinity Hall; expansion of Canonshall, Gosthall and Maudlynhall
• 1590: Death of Archbishop Frympell and Consecration of George Miers
• 1590: Secularisation of the canons regular
• 1591: Henfoot appointed to reform the liturgy
• 1593: First books of Masses and Hours presented, in Latin; rejected by the King
• 1593: Miers issues Injunctions forbidding the Chasuble, Stole and Maniple during the mass and other temporary directions for reforming the existing liturgy; and enjoining the reordering of parish churches in the „collegiate” style with pews
• 1594: Revised books presented, in Latin
• 1595: Great Convocation begins.
• 1597: Great Convocation ends; Canons General of 1597 issued; revised books authorised; monastic and mendicant reforms issued
• 1597: Immediate implementation of the new Canons and reforms

17th and 18th centuries

• 1612: Death of George Miers
• Development of reformed scholasticism in the Aldesey
• Doctrines of the Church clarified and the late Alexandrine orthodoxy develops
• 1634: Death of Alexander I; accession of Edmund V
• Pietism spreads to the Church of Nortend as a mostly clerical movement known as the Millerans
• The Aldesey battles against the Millerans, who reject elements of the pre-Reform heritage of the Church
• 1650: Millerans at Aldesey begin to refuse to wear the gown, cap and surplice
• By 1660, the so-called Undress party are dominant in some colleges
• 1663: New Bishop of Chepingstow and Chancellour, Harkin, issues the Harkinian Statutes to enforce the gown and cap
• 1663: Non-conformism is persecuted in the Church and they escape to found chapels
• 1664: Death of Edmund V; accession of Charles III
• 1666: Wearing of the surplice enjoined by Charles III
• 1669: Death of Charles III; accession of William III
• Non-conformist factions grow in prominence in parishes
• Statute of Conformity passed to deal with Protestant non-conformity
• Forcibly seizes chapels and imprisons non-conforming ministers
• Reincorporates majority of their worshippers into the Church, albeit as a more radical Protestant faction who refuse to obey the rubricks
• Standard of worship and divine service conformity declines
• 1690: Injunctions issued for conformity to the Rubricks; catechism of children taken more seriously
• 1694: Death of William III; accession of Edmund VI
• 1700 onward: increasing trade with Exponent and growing „Catholic” renaissance, leading now to Catholic non-conformity
• 1705: Abolition of the Statute of Obedience oath against the Pope
• 1731: Protestant Augustus I of Aquitayne arrives seeking support for independence from the Roman Exponent Empire
• 1736: Death of Edmund VI; accession of Mary
• 1737: Bishop Lofthouse defects to Rome and flees
• 1738: Statute of Abjuration passed to re-require the oath against the Pope
• 1740: Mary announces her intention to marry the Count of Scode
• Parliament and the Church factionalise into the Scodes and Droughers

19th and 20th centuries

• Recovery of religious piety as the Faith Movement revives the Church in the early 19th century
• Church music improves as literacy and musical education increases, and organs are installed throughout the 19th century
• Parishes open schools and quire knaves increase in the 19th century
• Bell-ringing becomes an art-form in the 19th century
• Romanticised mediaeval art and music becomes associated with the Church in the late 19th and early 20th century
• Monthly communion becomes the norm in the 20th century
• Nationalist conservative movement re-emphasises the links between Church and State, and the particular quality of the Church of Nortend as the church for Nortchmen
• Religious tolerance increases in the 20th century
• 1956: Four new homilies issued on the issues „of the day”, on abortion, eugenics, sexual relations, the family and justice, forming part of the school curriculum