Union of 2987

From Almeopedia

The Union of 2987 (so anát i 2987) was the formal act uniting the Arašei and the Elenicoi into a new religion, Eleďát. It's also used to refer to the Council of Avéla (soa cuncorë Avéle) where the union was hammered out.

Context

The Council was the brainchild of the patriarch of Avéla, Nëron Cefa 2e, and Bar Šautom, the chief Knower of the Arašei of Érenat. The Elenicoi and Arašei in Avéla had effectively merged already: as early as Nëron Mihel's day, they had accepted that they worshipped the same god, and that Iesu was an incarnation of Eleď. The religions remained formally distinct, with separate hierarchies, but congregations were usually mixed.

Outside Érenat, however, the two religions remained separate, sometimes interested in each other, sometimes aloof, and in some places actually hostile to each other.

The council itself

Cefa and Šautom issued their call for a council in Avéla in 2984, inviting the leaders and scholars of both religions from all of Eretald, the littoral, and Sarnáe. (They even grandly invited the iliu, but none came.)

The representatives began arriving the next year, and the council continued for nearly three years (with some rotation of attendees). It began with a lengthy exposition of the history and doctrines of both religions, then progressed to the question of union.

The chief naysayers were Muror of Barakhún— the Numícoro (prophet) of Ilad, the leader of all the Arašei— and Naṫanel Laavenum, the patriarch of Kebropol. Muror was in his '90s, irascible and stubborn, and resistant to anything from outside the mountains, to say nothing of other planets; it didn't make things any easier that he spoke neither Verdurian nor Caďinor. Laavenum's predecessor Sevasto had separated from Avéla in 2910, and he suspected a plot to subject the Kebreni church once again to Avéla.

The first problem was solved by the death of Muror; the new Numícoro, Enach— named by the Knowers at the Council itself— was much better disposed to the Elenicoi. He and Laavenum were largely won over by an informal agreement that they would each be confirmed as patriarchs, the primacy of Avéla being understood to be nominal.

The council spent its last year coming to agreements on doctrine, scripture (the relatively new Book of Mihel was included; the Elenico Ivroi Oikumenei (Old Testament) was not), and terminology. The latter category actually generated the most arguments: the Arašei naturally wanted to use Cuêzi terms, the Avélans Greek. Here the numbers of the Council mattered: the Avélans were a minority, and even their converts generally preferred the more familiar Cuêzi terms. (The most important ramification was that Eleď was used in the Book of Iesu to translate 'Christ', and of course the name of the religion is Eleďát.)

Aftermath

The Council succeeded in reducing animosity, but only partly succeeded in unifying the two religions. In the patriarchate of Avéla the hierarchies were consolidated-- indeed, Šautom succeeded Cefa as patriarch in 3002. Kebropol had not had much of an Arašei presence anyway. In both areas, however, the practice and doctrine of the church were largely Elenico in inspiration, and the Book of Eleď was not much read.

Despite Enach's support, the Eärdur region was slow to accept the Union. The Knowers objected that Enach and the other Knowers who had travelled to Avéla could not speak for the Arašei as a whole, and refused to accept that the patriarchate of Avéla could be placed above their own Prophet, even symbolically. Unusually, Enach's elevation as Numícoro was revoked, in favor of another old man, Alôda.

The independence of the Benécians in 2988 was another complication: they refused to follow Alôda, and declared their acceptance of the Union in 3020. The anorul (cardinal) of Nëron Pavel was named a patriarch in 3072. This only solidified the resistance of the Barakhinei. Opposition only softened after the Dhekhnami-sponsored rebellion of Mútkün (3182), which produced a common enemy to rally against. The Union was finally accepted in Barakhún in 3225.

In both areas, however, practice remained largely Arašei; the main religious impact of the Union was the addition of a yearly communion meal recounting the story of Iesu. Culturally, however, Eleďát has encouraged literacy, printing, and scholarship, and produced a greater sense of cultural connection to the Verdurian-speaking states.

Elsewhere in Eretald, the Union was taken more seriously, and the syncretistic religion envisioned by Cefa and Šautom was able to emerge.