Nortish religious houses/Reform

Nortish religious houses
Camevole Abbey in Bissex is a Royal Cistercian convent.
Part of a series on the Church of Nortend
Liturgy	Nortish Rite
Theology	Akeepian Frympellite
Structure Places Sulthey Cathedral Abbey Lendert Cathedral Priory Chepingstow Cathedral Minster Polton Cathedral Minster Allord Abbey University of Aldesey Nortish religious houses Churchmen Archbishop of Sulthey Archbishop of Limmes Archbishop of Rhise
Art and Music	Church music Illuminated manuscripts Architecture

A religious house in Great Nortend and the Church of Nortend is a religious corporation formed by charter and community of professed men or women who live according to a rule. Great Nortend has a long and unbroken history of religious life dating back to Sulthey Abbey founded in the 8th century by St. Laurence in 751, two years after the foundation of the church and See of Sulthey. 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 members.

In modern days, houses are divided between the monasteries and the convents, the former living a mostly enclosed life and the latter living „in the world”. Monastics and conventuals both have their principal daily duties to be attending to divine service and prayer, and otherwise dedicate themselves to alms-giving, charity, study and care-giving. As a result of the Church Reforms, Nortish religious make vows but may leave the religious life for just cause.

History

The gatehouse at Rundelset Abbey. It was dissolved in 1669. The house was refounded at the same site in 1822 by Edmund VII, the first new 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.

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 Count of Cardenbridge, a well-known reformer, was forstalled, allegedly on the orders of the Abbot of Rundelset. 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. Rundelset Abbey, as well as its daughter houses at Eyock and Hallyhill were dissolved almost immediately. Statutes were quickly passed which resulted in the immediately criminalisation of papal allegiance and thenceforth, the penalty for such recusancy was death. After the suppression and execution of the Six Heretics in 1670, numerous houses very quickly „voluntarily” chose to forsake the Bishop of Rome and take the Oath.

Suppression

Even so, the corruption of religious houses continued to make controversy. The new Count of Cardenbridge, now King’s Clerk, aggresively advocated for the suppression and dissolution of the monasteries as he believed their way of life implicitly acknowledged allegiance to the Bishop of Rome, and thus posed a dangerous subversive presence within the Kingdom. It is likely that his father's hanging on the alleged orders of the Abbot of Rundelset influenced this zeal in this matter against the monasteries. Several smaller and indebted houses were indeed dissolved starting in 1675. The first major change came when the Carmelites were entirely dissolved and dispersed in 1676, followed by the Franciscans and other minor maundant orders. Several houses of canons and canonesses regular were secularised soon after in 1679. Professions declined drastically after the Schism, and the population of religious dwindled in number. Several houses were reduced to only one or two remaining members, and were dissolved.

Quia solliciti

Action was urgently needed, as the framework of religious life 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 religious orders. Cardinal Mier, the Archbishop of Sulthey, revised the Rules of Saint Benedict and Saint Augustine then in use by religious houses. Notably, rules of cloister, stability and communication were much reformed „for the better service of the publick good”. Another canon requiring that clergymen and religious dress only in black and white led to the modern strictly black and white habits. The formal distinction between the Benedictines and Cistercians in their way of life was mostly lost at this time, as houses of both types were given the same rule to use.

Furthermore, all houses were required to use the revised liturgical books from 1711, without distinction between orders, albeit the religious houses maintained the Latin language (as did many of the non-parochial chapels and colleges). Importantly, the new Book of Hours cut the number of hours in the daily service to four — Mattins, Prime, Vespers and Compline. Each hour was also simplified, reducing the number of psalms sung to five or three, which at Mattins and Vespers were said consecutively through the month, whilst at Prime and Compline the psalms were mostly fixed. The hours were to be said at „convenient times according to their nature” and not at „small hours in the night”. Tierce, Sext and Nones were retained only in the Rule of Saint Benedict, which required the silent recitation of the Paternoster and Ave Maria at the beginning of each of the hours, a practice which still maintained to-day.

De mendicis ordinibus

The maundant orders would be subject to further reform. Already in 1676, the Carmelite convents had been dispersed owing to their deemed inappropriate „mystical” spirituality, followed by the Franciscans who were condemned for the alleged insanity and heresies of Francis of Assisi by Cardinal Mier. 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 and be ordained 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 Dominicans and the Augustines.

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. To emphasise their new-found condition, and to cast off the baggage the epithet of „friar” carried, the ancient designations of the Dominicans and Augustinians as canons regular were revived.

Akeepian Settlement

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 and opposed religious vows. 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, termed the Akeepian Settlement. 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 dramatic increase in novices.

Monastic houses

There are 324 monasteries in Great Nortend, where professed members are called monks and minchens. Each monastery has its own rule of life as given in its charter, all variants of the Rule of St. Benedict. They broadly fall into two branches, being the „Black” and the „White”, named for the colour of the woollen habits of the monks and minchens. The monks take vows of poverty, chastity, stability and obedience upon profession.

Conventual houses

The conventual houses include the descendents of the non-monastic religious houses, where members are called canons and nuns.

Secular houses

Masters and fellows...