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Difference between revisions of "Hierocracy"
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|era=[[Era of Solitude]]
|date=circa 673{{book ref|sa1|26}}
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|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}{{exemplary|date=2018-07-11
{{quote
|The church tried to seize control. The priests tried to conquer the world—for its own good, they claimed.
== History ==
=== Rise of the Church ===
The main goal of the Hierocracy was to unite the world in the Vorin faith; under the rule of the ardents.{{book ref|sa1|26}} Claiming a divine mandate from the Almighty, the Vorin church seized control of the government.{{book ref|sa3|34}} By the zenith of its power, the Hierocracy controlled nearly all of eastern Roshar,{{book ref|sa2|3}} but it never managed to conquer the entire continent.{{book ref|sa3|2}} It is uncertain what nations aside from [[Alethela]]{{book ref|sa1|18}} were controlled by the Hierocracy, but as it was a united Vorin coalition,{{book ref|sa3|59}} it is likely that the other primarily Vorin eastern nations of [[Kharbranth]], [[Natanatan]] and [[Jah Keved]] also fell under the Church's influence.{{book ref|sa1|8}} The Church tried to conquer the world and control the people for their own good.{{book ref|sa1|18}} The most powerful ardents claimed to be receiving visions from the [[Almighty]] himself. These visions, which only the priests could receive helped to further solidify their control. They
One of the other primary goals of the Hierocracy was to expunge knowledge of [[Shadesmar]], the [[Knights Radiant]] and the [[Recreance]],{{book ref|sa2|3}} the first failure of Vorinism,{{book ref|sa1|45}} from the records as best as they could.{{book ref|sa2|3}} Many primary sources and other historical documents were tampered with and altered by the ardents in their attempts to repress history. They suppressed knowledge of the abilities of the Knights Radiant, as well as subjects related to them, such as their home city, the lost
=== War of Loss ===
The ramifications of the Hierocracy's attempt at global control were still felt centuries after its collapse. The Hierocracy, along with the [[Recreance]] are considered the main two failings of Old Vorinism and are a persistent embarrassment to modern day ardents.{{book ref|sa1|45}} They prefer not to speak of these past events, and focus on teaching doctrine such as the Ten Divine Attributes or the Ten Human Failings. The ardents are technically slaves,{{book ref|sa1|45}} owned by and bound to serve powerful and wealthy lighteyes that are charged to ensure that the priests never rise above their station again.{{book ref|sa1|18}} Much of the pomp and wealth of the priests was also stripped away at the fall of the Hierocracy.{{book ref|sa3|100}} It is now the duty of the Church to simply teach morals, enforcing them is the job of the lighteyes.{{book ref|sa1|36}} The ardents and the devotaries are also forbidden from owning land or property,{{book ref|sa1|59}} and may not participate in politics of any sort.{{book ref|sa1|54}} Despite this rule, the reality of the relationship between lighteyes and ardents means that the ardents are increasingly drawn into political situations by their owners. In addition, as time has gone on, at least some of the wealth has returned to Vorinism, particularly among the senior members of the ardentia.{{book ref|sa3|100}}
The method by which doctrine was taught also changed greatly after the fall of the Hierocracy. Instead of obfuscating the beliefs of the Vorin Church, each and every follower is now encouraged to understand the religion and develop their own relationship with the Almighty.{{book ref|sa1|18}} Ardents guide the faithful to their Glory,{{book ref|sa1|3}} and help them progress further in their Calling throughout their lives.{{book ref|sa1|18}} Some of the mysticism remained though, for instance in the use of [[Soulcaster]]s.{{book ref|sa1|42}} The Church still hides how easy the fabrials are to operate. The Vorin aversion to prophecy continued, and was likely only strengthened by the revelation that the visions from the Church had been fabrications.{{book ref|sa1|i|6}} Anything that appears to guess at the future, even simple games remained taboo. The memories of the Hierocracy and its attempts to unify the world made Brightlord Dalinar Kholin concerned about the origin and authenticity of his own visions with their messages of unity.{{book ref|sa1|26}}
The revisions of history perpetuated by the Church are still difficult to avoid, especially for those that study pre-Hierocracy history or the [[Knights Radiant]].{{book ref|sa2|3}} Some ancient texts were highly revised to remove perceived contradictions, making it difficult to differentiate fact from fiction. This alteration is one of Brightlady [[Jasnah Kholin]]'s frustrations with Vorinism and a major component to her interest in the city of Urithiru, where she hoped to find original ancient texts, unaltered by the ardentia.{{book ref|sa2|6}}
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