Nortish religious houses

Camevole Abbey in Bissex is a Royal Cistercian convent.

A religious house in the Church of Nortend is any religious corporation where members take religious vows and live in common under a rule.

Great Nortend has a long and unbroken history of religious foundations which dates back to Sulthey Abbey founded in the 8th century by St. Laurence in 751, two years after the foundation of Sulthey Cathedral. There are currently as of 2020, 623 religious houses in Great Nortend under the auspices of the Church of Nortend, with a total of approximately 10,000 religious.

History

The gatehouse at Rundelset Priory which was dissolved in 1668 as a daughter house of Staithway Abbey. The house was re-established at the same site in 1822 by Edmund VII, the first renewed foundation in centuries.

After the promulgation of the Statute of Limmes and Statute of Supremacy which formally severed the Church of Nortend from the papal authority and placed Alexander I as head of the Church, the religious houses went into a period of decline, although there was no intention of their dissolution at the time.

As with secular clergy, members of religious houses were required to renounce allegiance to the Pope by taking the Oath of Supremacy. Those foundations who refused to take the oath forfeited their lands to the Crown, who appointed a Steward to administer them, though the members were usually allowed to stay on. Despite the threat of loss of income, many houses refused to take the oath and recognise Alexander as head of the Church. This led to the confiscation of nearly 100 houses before 1670.

In 1668, the 12th Duke of Cardenbridge, a well-known reformer, was captured and hanged by the Abbot and monks of Staithway Abbey on Cardoby. Alexander I had opposed the criminalisation of papal allegiance but upon his death at the end of 1668, William III acceded to the throne with a far stricter policy. Staithway Abbey, as well as its daughter houses at Rundelset and Eyock were dissolved almost immediately. Statutes were quickly passed which resulted in the immediately criminalisation of Roman papal allegiance and thenceforth, the penalty for such recusancy was to be death.

After the suppression and execution of the Six Heretics in 1670, numerous houses very quickly 'voluntarily' chose to recognise William and take the Oath.

Suppression

Even so, the perceived excesses of religious houses continued to cause controversy, especially between peasants and their monastic landlords. For centuries, the strict rules of the orders had been often ignored. The 13th Duke of Cardenbridge, now King's Clerk, aggresively advocated for the suppression and dissolution of the monasteries as he believed they would always bear allegiance to the Pope, and thus posed a dangerous subversive presence. It is likely that his father's hanging by the monks of Staithway influenced this zeal in this matter, despite his otherwise via media theology. Several smaller and indebted houses were indeed dissolved starting in 1675. The first and only big change came when the Carmelies were dissolved and dispersed in 1676. However, after the most perilous houses had been dissolved, the remaining houses were forced to abolish or alter their practices. Professions declined drastically after the Schism, and the population of religious dwindled in number.

Quia solliciti

Even so, reform was urgently needed, as the structure of religious life faltered and steadily decayed, and began to threaten the stability of the countryside. The canon Quia solliciti was enacted by Edmund VI in 1711 which, inter alia, provided for reform of the monastic orders. Cardinal Mier, Archbishop of Sulthey, revised the Rules of Saint Benedict and Saint Augustine, for use by religious houses. Notably, rules of cloister, stability and communication were relaxed, and sections obsolete for centuries updated. Another canon required that clergymen and religious dress only in black and white, unless “of dignity”, which led to the current black and white habits.

Furthermore, all convents were required to use the 1709 Book of Messes and 1710 Book of Offices, although minor variations were permitted. The new books cut the number of offices in the daily service to four. Each office was also simplified, reducing the number of psalms sung to five or three, which would be mostly fixed depending on the date in the month. The offices were to be said at “convenient times according to their nature” and not at “stubborn hours in the night time”.

De mendicis ordinibus

The mendicant orders did not escape reform either. Already in 1676, the Carmelite convents had been dispersed owing to their deemed inappropriate “mystical” spirituality. In 1678, an order was given to the effect that owing to the ease with which superstitious people were fooled by the preaching of unlearned friars, all friars would be required to gain a degree in divinity before they would be permitted to preach. In 1729, Edmund further promulgated De mendicis ordinibus to reform the remaining friars, culling their numbers to two orders.

The continual financial pressure on the struggling convents was mostly abated by carving out new parishes around friary churches and thus allowing friars to collect tithes, with the proviso that the vicar be provided by the house. Furthermore, friars were forbidden from wandering from town to town, begging, but rather enjoined to stay and reside at their convents unless ordered to move.

Later history

Since the Schism in the subsequent reformist atmosphere, there had been a marked decline in the number of religious professions, slightly improved by official recognition and reform in the 18th century. Despite the growing influence of the Akeepian faction, Mary's courtiers tended strongly Lutheran. Convinced by the Lord High Treasurer, she issued the canon In reformatione which suspended initiations and professions into religious life. However, after her wedding to the Earl of Scode and the success of the Company of Scodeliers, political life turned sharply in the Akeepians favour. Under the new Lord High Treasurer, the Earl of Lockon, In reformatione was revoked, prompting a flurry of donations and bequests to religious houses, followed by a sudden increase in novices. Religious houses grew steadily, until stabilising in the 20th century to about the current level, when the Steady State Policy was implemented by the Foide ministry.

Types

Religious houses are split between six different types, which include monastic, canonical, and mendiant houses.

Monastic houses

The Black Minchens of Hedghew Priory.

There are 324 monastic houses under the Church of Nortend, which follow the Rule of Saint Benedict as reformed by Cardinal Miers. The black monks and minchens, or Benedictines, wear entirely black habits whilst the white monks and minchens, or Cistercians, wear entirely white habits.

Houses under both rules have a simple hierarchy of dependent daughter priories under a mother abbey. Benedictine and Cistercian priories may be elevated to abbatial status by the Crown and become independent once the canonical requirement of twelve choir monks or minchens has been met. An abbey which has declined in size may also fall back into a priory. There are four royal Cistercian abbeys, two male and the two female. The Sovereign is the commendatory abbot of these abbeys.

Within a monastery, there are two types of religious — lay and choir. Choir monks and minchens are devoted to study and craftwork. Choir monks often are in holy orders and are titled “Dean”. Choir minchens, who are clearly cannot be ordained, are titled “Dame”. Lay brothers and sisters support the choir monks and minchens in their duties through manual labour, chores and study. Since the 18th century reforms, lay novices begin as lay brothers and sisters, and may progress to choir over time and with experience.

Mendiant houses

St. Martin's School is run by the Black Friars of Cireford Priory.

The Dominicans and Franciscans are the two remaining mendiant orders of the Church of Nortend since 1726, the other orders having been dissolved or absorbed thereinto. There are 111 Dominican houses and 137 Franciscan houses.

The Dominicans are dedicated to preaching and education, and are known for their many schools. The Augustinians were merged with the Dominicans. Dominicans wear a white habit with a black cloak, whence the name of Black Friars.

The Franciscans are dedicated to healing and serving the poor, providing healthcare and assistance to the poor. Most of the dispersed Carmelites entered Franciscan houses, which adopted the white cloak formally in 1734. Franciscans thus wear a black habit with a white cloak, and are known as White Friars.

After the Reform, the nuns and sisters of both the Dominicans and the Franciscans began to undertake apostolic works in the community like the friars, the Dominicanesses mainly in the care and education of young children and girls, and the Minoresses in nursing and midwifery.

Both orders have a national hierarchy, headed by a Prior General and Minister General respectively. The friars and sisters do not take vows of stability, and often move between individual convents. The Constitutions of the Dominicans and Franciscans were reformed by each order's hierarchies, and approved by the Archbishop of Sulthey in 1730 and 1731 respectively.

Canonical houses

The cloister garth at the Norbertine Handingham Priory.

The 51 canonical houses follow the Rule of Saint Augustine as reformed by Cardinal Miers. They too are separated into the 42 Austin and the 9 Norbertine houses, known respectively as the black canons and nuns, and white canons and nuns for the colour of their habits. The principal difference beween the two are that the white canons are stricter in rule than the black. Canons and nuns live in common, bound to sing divine service daily. They also undertake pastoral work.

Sufficiency

The abbey mill at Bassham Abbey.

Religious houses are expected to be self-sufficient. Most monastic houses are endowed with enough land to produce a sufficient income for the sustenance of the abbey or priory. An average abbey holds approximately 15,000 acres of land, roughly equivalent to around 8 to 9 medium-sized manors. Their properties usually include mills, cornhouses and tithe barns. The monasteries and canonries in total own 3,845 manors which make up roughly 15% of the total land of Great Nortend, although around half are owned by the fifty largest abbeys. Although mendiant houses traditionally relied upon begging, nowadays they rely on parochial tithes in addition to alms and government funding for their public services.

Legal status

Under the law of Great Nortend, religious houses have the legal status of corporations aggregate with their own common seal in the traditional almond shape for religious bodies. Religious houses are exempt from taxes and tithes.