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Overview : The Faiths of the Christian Religion, at 1300 AD
The Christian religion by the year 1300 AD is most widespread in the world. Spanning from Vinland to Cathay, there are actually more people in the world that did hear something about Jesus Christ than those that did not (not saying that all of them are Christians). By the year 1300 AD, Christianity has become very divergent, and here again it is time to present the different branches:
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Catholicism
The Catholic Church is the prevailing current in much of western Europe, as well as Tamasga and Vinland. The Catholic Church is organized in a rather centralized manner, with the Pope, the Latin Patriarch of Rome being the religious head. Rome is not necessarily the permanent seat of the Popes; many have enjoyed the rural towns such as Viterbo and Orvieto as their residences, free from the political turmoil and the machinations and intrigue present in Rome. The Pope himself however is not the sole person within the Catholic Church with the title of the "Patriarch"; other archbishops with the title of the "Patriarch" reside in Aquilea and Carthage. While the Patriarch of Aquilea exerts no real influence outside of his archdiocese, and the title of the Patriarch continues to exist as a mere honorific, this is not the case of the Patriarch of Carthage, whose influence extends to influence all Catholic communities in the Tamasga region.
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(An ecclasiastical map of the Catholic world. Due to Cathar presence, the Archbishopric of Narbonne was demoted to a mere bishopric, and its terriotry was attached to neighbouring ecclasiastical provinces
The Catholic Church is experiencing a crisis during this time, as the office of the Pope was becoming more and more subject to political games, with important Catholic countries seeking to install their own protegées as Popes. In response to the emergence of the heresies such as Catharism and Waldensianism, the Catholic Church has created new monastic societies of wandering preachers (although, needless to say, many of these were actually inspired by the wandering preachers of the Cathars.
The concept of a "Crusade" remains rather unknown in the Catholic world, and while the Danish were spreading the Chrstian faith by both trade and sword in the Baltics, the Pope has not called for an armed pilgrimage against infidels.
While Latin Rite remains as the most widespread liturgical form, it is not the sole liturgical form in the western world. Both Aquilea and Carthage have their own liturgical rites, as does Hispany and the British Isles
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Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church has split from the Catholic Church during a schism, which was caused politically by the Rhomaic Emperor seeking to Hellenize southern Italy, theological disputes arose mainly because of filioque dispute. Nevertheless, the relation of Church and state is very much different in the East and the West. With the Rhomaic Emperor being present as an arbiter in theological disputes and having authority to call church councils, the Emperor is still in a position very similar to Constantine - being above the Patriarchs, who have little political influence .
Geographically speaking, the Orthodox can be found mainly in the Eastern Mediterranean basin and eastern Europe. Eastern Euope appears to be the area where this faith can expand - the recent conversion of the khan of the Golden Horde to Orthodox Christianity can be attributed not only to the Merya and Russian vassals of the khan, who undoubtedly made an important factor while considering, but also the attractivity of Constantinople itself
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The metropolitan provinces of the Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church is faithful to the ancient idea of the Pentarchy; however there is no Greek Patriarch of Rome. While there are Greek Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem are in place the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria was forced to flee the city, as the Copts declared that there ought to be only one Patriarch of Alexandria - the Coptic one. A Greek bishop was allowed to stay in the city, but with the tile " Bishop of the Greeks in Brucheum and Canopus ". The Patriarch of Alexandria has changed his residence to Cyrene.
The head of the Orthodox communion is of course the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
The authority of the See of Antioch has had to compromise throughout the centuries; as a result autonomous churches for Georgia (Mtskheta), Cyprus and Lebanon (Bkerke) have been established. The compromises here can be dated several centuries back, and speak of local nationalism or regionalism (especial regarding Lebanon).
The Serbs are calling for autocephaly as well, and should they not achieve it, it remains likely that they could turn to Paulicianism, initially a Gnostic heresy in Armenian, once reaching the Balkans it has spread like wildfire among the Slavs and Albanians there.
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Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
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Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Communion encompasses a number of national churches, each with their own Patriarchs or Catholici , with the Coptic Pope in Alexandria acting merely as a primus inter pares. The Oriental Orthodox consist of the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Aghbanian and Himyaritic Churches.
The jurisdictions of the Coptic Pope are depicted in pink, and covers practically the entire Nile Valley. With Kemet´s recent conquest of Alexandria (Rakote), the Patriarch was able to effectively end the schism regarding the successor of St. Mark, and sent the Greek Patriarch to exile, while allowing the presence of a Greek bishop in the city. This event affirmed the importance of Kemet in the wider world.
The Syriac Orthodox Church is in deep crisis, with its patriarchs residing in Mardin. Much of Syria by now has converted either to become Orthodox or Nestorian, and the Maphrianate of the East has been reduced to become largely irrelevant. Meanwhile, the Himyaritic Church has been able to take advantage of the decline of the Syriac Orthodox and assumes autocephaly.
As for the Armenians Church, it has been able to expand westwards, into much of Anatolia. While relations between Armenians and Greeks are ambivalent, the Armenians and Turks have historically found a way to get together.
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Nestorian
The Church of the East is perhpas the geographically most widespread churches, reaching from Mesopotamia to China. For centuries, it has been able to maintain a centralized position, comparable to that of the Roman Papacy, and the Patriarchs of Ctesiphon (Qtespon) have become arbiters in many of the disputes in the wider region. However, with the Naiman Empire on its height, things have changed significantly. Firstly, the Great Khans themselves compete with the Patriarch of the East over influence. For many centuries, the Church has supplemented many functions of the state along the Silk Road, especially by building monastic complexes equipped with inns, libraries, schools and hospitals. This infrastructural network has allowed the Nestorian Church to become a stabilizing factor and institution in the often chaotic and disunited steppe environment. With the emergence of the powerful Naiman Empire, the khans were inspired by this level of organization and were eager to create their own infrastructure of such communication
View attachment 537481
The Church of the East is covering much of Asia
Secondly, and this is more important, is that the church has become overstretched. It has become very impractical to organize the church from one place in Mesopotamia, all the while the Naiman Empire has been divided into a number of successor states. These successor states are corresponding to three of the ancient civilizational spheres of Asia: Persia, Sogdia and China. The khans in the latter two are now seeking that the Church within their realm is not to be subject to a higher authority abroad - perhaps the beginning of an early notion of state sovereignty
The Church of the East has been having three other companions in Asia. In the west, it coexists with Zoroastrianism. In the east, it coexists with Buddhism. Along the entirety of the length of the Silk Road, Nestorian communities were living side-by-side with Manichean neighbours. While Nestorianism has gained eventually the higher ground in places like Sogdia, prolonged contact means also a great degree of influence of ideas. Many in the west have been long suspecting the Church of the East to not be "truly Christian", and have identified some "Manichean" tendencies and elements within the Church.
Nevertheless, the monks and scholars of the Church of the East are the worlds best astronomers, mathematicians and medics.
Donatism
The believers of the Donatist brand of Christianity are mostly Berbers or folks living on the other side of the Teneré desert. Early Christian beliefs of martyrdom have been further elaborated, and the concept of a Holy War emerged in the area. In fact, the Donatists have established a monastic state of the Brotherhood of the Warriors of Faith in Tripolitania.
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More on Donatist theology could be found in Chapter 116. As for now, suffice to say that apart from the concept of martyrdom and holy wars, another distinct feature is equation of luxury with sin. Essentially the religion has adapted to the understandings of nomadic desert people, with little to have and little to lose. Important are the oral preachers, claiming to recieve divine inspiration, rather than erudite theologians. While Donatism has reached as far south as Mali, I would expect the local practice to become so divergent, as to expect to branch of Christianity to emerge.
As for the major centres of faith, these be Mzab, Gao, Koumbi Saleh and Njimi.
View attachment 537418
Catholicism
The Catholic Church is the prevailing current in much of western Europe, as well as Tamasga and Vinland. The Catholic Church is organized in a rather centralized manner, with the Pope, the Latin Patriarch of Rome being the religious head. Rome is not necessarily the permanent seat of the Popes; many have enjoyed the rural towns such as Viterbo and Orvieto as their residences, free from the political turmoil and the machinations and intrigue present in Rome. The Pope himself however is not the sole person within the Catholic Church with the title of the "Patriarch"; other archbishops with the title of the "Patriarch" reside in Aquilea and Carthage. While the Patriarch of Aquilea exerts no real influence outside of his archdiocese, and the title of the Patriarch continues to exist as a mere honorific, this is not the case of the Patriarch of Carthage, whose influence extends to influence all Catholic communities in the Tamasga region.
View attachment 537423
(An ecclasiastical map of the Catholic world. Due to Cathar presence, the Archbishopric of Narbonne was demoted to a mere bishopric, and its terriotry was attached to neighbouring ecclasiastical provinces
The Catholic Church is experiencing a crisis during this time, as the office of the Pope was becoming more and more subject to political games, with important Catholic countries seeking to install their own protegées as Popes. In response to the emergence of the heresies such as Catharism and Waldensianism, the Catholic Church has created new monastic societies of wandering preachers (although, needless to say, many of these were actually inspired by the wandering preachers of the Cathars.
The concept of a "Crusade" remains rather unknown in the Catholic world, and while the Danish were spreading the Chrstian faith by both trade and sword in the Baltics, the Pope has not called for an armed pilgrimage against infidels.
While Latin Rite remains as the most widespread liturgical form, it is not the sole liturgical form in the western world. Both Aquilea and Carthage have their own liturgical rites, as does Hispany and the British Isles
View attachment 537427
Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church has split from the Catholic Church during a schism, which was caused politically by the Rhomaic Emperor seeking to Hellenize southern Italy, theological disputes arose mainly because of filioque dispute. Nevertheless, the relation of Church and state is very much different in the East and the West. With the Rhomaic Emperor being present as an arbiter in theological disputes and having authority to call church councils, the Emperor is still in a position very similar to Constantine - being above the Patriarchs, who have little political influence .
Geographically speaking, the Orthodox can be found mainly in the Eastern Mediterranean basin and eastern Europe. Eastern Euope appears to be the area where this faith can expand - the recent conversion of the khan of the Golden Horde to Orthodox Christianity can be attributed not only to the Merya and Russian vassals of the khan, who undoubtedly made an important factor while considering, but also the attractivity of Constantinople itself
View attachment 537436
The metropolitan provinces of the Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church is faithful to the ancient idea of the Pentarchy; however there is no Greek Patriarch of Rome. While there are Greek Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem are in place the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria was forced to flee the city, as the Copts declared that there ought to be only one Patriarch of Alexandria - the Coptic one. A Greek bishop was allowed to stay in the city, but with the tile " Bishop of the Greeks in Brucheum and Canopus ". The Patriarch of Alexandria has changed his residence to Cyrene.
The head of the Orthodox communion is of course the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
The authority of the See of Antioch has had to compromise throughout the centuries; as a result autonomous churches for Georgia (Mtskheta), Cyprus and Lebanon (Bkerke) have been established. The compromises here can be dated several centuries back, and speak of local nationalism or regionalism (especial regarding Lebanon).
The Serbs are calling for autocephaly as well, and should they not achieve it, it remains likely that they could turn to Paulicianism, initially a Gnostic heresy in Armenian, once reaching the Balkans it has spread like wildfire among the Slavs and Albanians there.
View attachment 537442
Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
View attachment 537443
Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Communion encompasses a number of national churches, each with their own Patriarchs or Catholici , with the Coptic Pope in Alexandria acting merely as a primus inter pares. The Oriental Orthodox consist of the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Aghbanian and Himyaritic Churches.
The jurisdictions of the Coptic Pope are depicted in pink, and covers practically the entire Nile Valley. With Kemet´s recent conquest of Alexandria (Rakote), the Patriarch was able to effectively end the schism regarding the successor of St. Mark, and sent the Greek Patriarch to exile, while allowing the presence of a Greek bishop in the city. This event affirmed the importance of Kemet in the wider world.
The Syriac Orthodox Church is in deep crisis, with its patriarchs residing in Mardin. Much of Syria by now has converted either to become Orthodox or Nestorian, and the Maphrianate of the East has been reduced to become largely irrelevant. Meanwhile, the Himyaritic Church has been able to take advantage of the decline of the Syriac Orthodox and assumes autocephaly.
As for the Armenians Church, it has been able to expand westwards, into much of Anatolia. While relations between Armenians and Greeks are ambivalent, the Armenians and Turks have historically found a way to get together.
View attachment 537473
Nestorian
The Church of the East is perhpas the geographically most widespread churches, reaching from Mesopotamia to China. For centuries, it has been able to maintain a centralized position, comparable to that of the Roman Papacy, and the Patriarchs of Ctesiphon (Qtespon) have become arbiters in many of the disputes in the wider region. However, with the Naiman Empire on its height, things have changed significantly. Firstly, the Great Khans themselves compete with the Patriarch of the East over influence. For many centuries, the Church has supplemented many functions of the state along the Silk Road, especially by building monastic complexes equipped with inns, libraries, schools and hospitals. This infrastructural network has allowed the Nestorian Church to become a stabilizing factor and institution in the often chaotic and disunited steppe environment. With the emergence of the powerful Naiman Empire, the khans were inspired by this level of organization and were eager to create their own infrastructure of such communication
View attachment 537481
The Church of the East is covering much of Asia
Secondly, and this is more important, is that the church has become overstretched. It has become very impractical to organize the church from one place in Mesopotamia, all the while the Naiman Empire has been divided into a number of successor states. These successor states are corresponding to three of the ancient civilizational spheres of Asia: Persia, Sogdia and China. The khans in the latter two are now seeking that the Church within their realm is not to be subject to a higher authority abroad - perhaps the beginning of an early notion of state sovereignty
The Church of the East has been having three other companions in Asia. In the west, it coexists with Zoroastrianism. In the east, it coexists with Buddhism. Along the entirety of the length of the Silk Road, Nestorian communities were living side-by-side with Manichean neighbours. While Nestorianism has gained eventually the higher ground in places like Sogdia, prolonged contact means also a great degree of influence of ideas. Many in the west have been long suspecting the Church of the East to not be "truly Christian", and have identified some "Manichean" tendencies and elements within the Church.
Nevertheless, the monks and scholars of the Church of the East are the worlds best astronomers, mathematicians and medics.
Donatism
The believers of the Donatist brand of Christianity are mostly Berbers or folks living on the other side of the Teneré desert. Early Christian beliefs of martyrdom have been further elaborated, and the concept of a Holy War emerged in the area. In fact, the Donatists have established a monastic state of the Brotherhood of the Warriors of Faith in Tripolitania.
View attachment 537487
More on Donatist theology could be found in Chapter 116. As for now, suffice to say that apart from the concept of martyrdom and holy wars, another distinct feature is equation of luxury with sin. Essentially the religion has adapted to the understandings of nomadic desert people, with little to have and little to lose. Important are the oral preachers, claiming to recieve divine inspiration, rather than erudite theologians. While Donatism has reached as far south as Mali, I would expect the local practice to become so divergent, as to expect to branch of Christianity to emerge.
As for the major centres of faith, these be Mzab, Gao, Koumbi Saleh and Njimi.
- Tomislav Addai
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