Christianity in Astyria

JESUS, EVERYONE. JESUS EVERYWHERE.

History

Arrival in Hesperidesia

In 64 AD, the Great Fire of Rome caused the Christian population of the city to become the targets of horrific attacks, having become the scapegoats of the Emperor Nero. In 66AD, after two years of intense persecution, a large fleet of refugees took to the the seas, hoping to find a safe haven beyond the pillars of Hercules. After two years at sea, stopping sporadically to pick up fresh food and water, the refugee fleet finally made landfall in a a land they proclaimed as "Hesperidesia", or the Land of the Hesperides. the initial landing was made around the area of modern day Paradise City, and it is here and in the surrounding areas that some of the oldest Roman ruins can be found.

Westward expansion

Southern Teudallum

Christianity arrived in Cadenza before it reached the rest of Trellin, brought by Roman refugees from Hesperidesia in 69 or 70 AD. The new religion was popular among the Cadenzans, and it became the island's majority religion no later than 85 AD. Christian missionaries from Cadenza, such as Saint Misrav, journeyed to Kur'zhet and the Trellinese and Hyseran mainland over the following centuries. In 122, the first Trellinese monarch - King Duder - converted to Christianity, though the faith did not achieve the same traction it had in Cadenza.

In 308, Christian missionaries arrived at the court of Duke Josev of Harimat. Although many of his people had already converted, it was his first encounter with missionaries, and they read him passages from the Gospels as they attempted to convert him. When they came to Matthew 27:57, Josev reportedly sat in stunned silence at the introduction of Joseph of Arimathea. The duke was struck by the similarity of his own name that of his duchy to this biblical figure and, inspired, he agreed to be baptised.

Eastward expansion

Hindia Belanda

A statue of Jesus Christ as an Anjanian King, circa 1489. The fusion of local cultural element in Christian missionary efforts helped accelerate the spread of Christianity in Hindia Belanda.

Christianity first reached the islands that make up modern-day Hindia Belanda in the early 15th century, when Exponential expeditions moored their ships for the first time at Anjani, a port city and capital of the Anjani Empire. Following an agreement between the Anjanian King and the Exponential expedition, the first Catholic mission was built within Fort Tolokko, one of the first Exponential forts in the archipelago. Initial Christianisation efforts were feeble and hindered by frequent incursions of Hyangist militias who defended small settlements from Christian influence.

The first Hindia Belandan ruler who converted to Christianity was Raden Kalu'awardana, the petty king of Bawah Raung, a vassal state of the Anjani Empire. He took the name of Bawakristus following his baptism in 1518 and formally supported the construction of Catholic missions in his petty kingdom, from where Exponential missionaries began to spread Catholicism to the rest of the Anjani Island. By the 1540s, almost thirty years after the Anjani Revolts, there were as many as 11,000 Catholics on the island of Anjani. Whilst missionary efforts proved successful on the island of Anjani, Exponential missionaries faced difficulties in spreading the religion to other islands, where Hyangism remained very strong even as late as the early 1600s. Despite instensified efforts by Exponential Catholic missionaries to bring Catholicism to the rest of the archipelago, it was Noordenstaater missionaries who were successful in Christianising the other islands after the defeat of the Exponents at the hands of the Noordenstaater Trading Company.

Crusades

Hesperidesian Crusades

Main article: Hesperidesian Crusades

Kur'zheti Crusades

Main article: Kur'zheti Crusades

Azmiri Crusade

Main article: Azmiri Crusade