It is said that the first faith of the Maker belongs to Andraste; and you may call this Chantry's real belief solely Andrastrian; with Andraste's death in -170 Ancient, the Chantry was created more than 70 years later, culminating the Ages. The First Age known as the Divine Age.
The Chant is the song of our own histories–sometimes conflicting, sometimes imagined–changing with each voice that takes up the tale, in many diverse lands, for many reasons. It is political, spiritual, personal, visionary, manipulative, exultant, and tragic all at once. It is a work with many purposes and interpretations, and it is my hope that this edition will help future readers discover their own within its verses.
—Divine Justinia V
Yeah yeah, I get it, the Maker is a spiritual experience, blah blah blah, let's just cut to the chase—You and I both know the Dragon Age Chantry is a major problem throughout Thedosian history, and here's why:
Andraste's Identity
Andraste is frequently discussed in Dragon Age lore; there's even a 20-page entry dedicated to the Chant in World of Thedas Vol. 2. However, not much of her identity is accurately preserved. For example, the Chant of Light in Orlais and the Tevinter Imperium have quite different perspectives on Andraste.
According to Dorian,
“It’s not my field of expertise, but the Imperium believes Andraste was a mortal woman. A mage. Down South, they say, 'No, she's the Bride of the Maker! Ascended to His side, Divine Providence..."
So let's go through some of these statements again. Most players, including you and me, learned of the Chantry's teachings about Andraste from the south. So here is the truth regarding the life of this prophet:
The prophet Andraste is born in Ferelden. The exact year of her birth is hotly contested by scholars. Many historians assume she was born in the year -203 Ancient, which was also the year the Archdemon Dumat was slain, ending the First Blight.
The other academics argued that because she was of Alamarri descent, her real origin was in Southern Thedas, particularly Ferelden. Scholars determined that her birthplace was near Denerim, hence Denerim is recognized as Andraste's birthplace.
I'd also want to point out that, like another person I'll discuss in a moment, parallels to this might be the result of a lack of maintaining history intact throughout Thedas, primarily because her year and site of birth are fiercely questioned. After all, if we calculated the time from her birth to the Dragon Age, it would be about 1000 years.
Moving on because her story is quite long let's skip to the imagery of Andraste. The Tevinter Imperium claims Andraste is a mage, while the South heavily disagrees and claims her to be a warrior with no magical component.
It's quite clear with the oppression of the mages in the South with the Circle, which could be very true in this case. However, claiming someone a mage while the other is not, leads us to believe that the Chantry has a huge problem, and now is seen to portray an image of erasing her potential identity as a mage. Not surprising, but it leads us to all believe that the Southern Chantry is up to no good...
To continue with the imagery of Andraste, she is closely linked to two historical figures Jesus and Joan of Arc. I would primarily say her story is literally the historical story of Joan of Arc rather than Jesus, but I digress.
When it came to Her slavery, it was well recorded across the South and even in the Imperium. According to the Southern Chant, Andraste spent her childhood as a slave and she 'escapes' and marries the wife of a general, who we know as Maferath. Although this narrative seems triumphant, it is not the true story.
In truth, Maferath, already wedlock with Andraste, was the one who freed her from slavery,
"Andraste's father, Elderath, was killed when soldiers and mages seized an Alamarri settlement to the ground.."
Following her father's death, the land was descended upon Andraste and Maferath. However, the Tevinters seized over the region, killing individuals who refused to submit to their threats. They seized Andraste and burned the town to the ground. However, because the region was largely made up of Elderath supporters, most sided with Andraste rather than Maferath. He would command the war against Tevinter if he could only arrange Andraste's release from the Tevinter slavers who had her. As a result, Maferath freed Andraste from full servitude of Tevene slavery. (WoT Vol. 2)
Is Tevinter truly to blame? Or was it the desire for power that corrupted all of these figures? Maferath, for example, betrayed his whole family by collaborating with Arcon Hessarian, and with Andraste, her liberty and confidence in the Maker may have taken her too far away from the human cause she began against Tevinter.
With her crucifixion in Minrathous, she is burnt on a pyre, the Alamarri armies cried for her martyr, but she did not weep. Archon Hessarian took pity, ending the final blow to his blade, taking her pain out of misery. If the Maker truly exists, His actions were of wind and storm after her death on that pyre. Guilt was felt throughout the Imperium's walls.
With this, the Andrastian faith was born, and the Maker's call had come upon many, expanding his faith upon the people. Maybe the Imperium was the evil people, after all, Tevinter was responsible for the deliverance of a seemingly innocent cause. And this remorse lingered for a long time throughout the ages, spawning two Chantries and two Thedosian Divines. But with this next subject, maybe you'll start to realize that Tevinter isn't all to blame:
The Chantry (Imperial V. Orlesian)
The Chantry was one of many cults that emerged from the account of Andraste's martyrdom. The Cult of the Maker had no central leadership and its devotees were persecuted. Clerics had to use ciphers and encoded scrolls to keep their knowledge hidden from the Tevinter magisters. Cult practitioners incorporated Andraste's teachings into hymns in -130 Ancient, resulting in the Chant of Light, which expanded in popularity.
As stated before, the Chantry is split in two. The Southern Chantry was formalized by Olesian emperor Kordillius Drakon in -3 Ancient. They set up a Divine four years later, known as Divine Justinia I. Though her nomination angered Tevinter, which had been organizing Andrastianism long before Orlais had begun their campaign of religious unification and believed their country to be the Holy Land, as Andraste had lived and died there. they originally sought to pacify the newly formed Orlesian Chantry by moving control over the faith from the Archon to the great clerics.
The Divines are known as the head of the Chantry, like a Pope is the head for Catholicism:
However, the Orlesian Chantry & their Divine was not happy with Tevinter's progress in Andrastianism. The grand clerics of Tevinter repeatedly petitioned for recognition by the Orlesian Chantry, and were refused on the grounds that the Imperial Chantry admitted men into the priesthood. But the Orlesians were still not satisfied:
The Orlesians organized an Exalted March against Starkhaven in 2:80 Glory to liberate the Marcher city-state from Tevinter tyranny. They did so to prevent Tevinter from regaining ground in the crucial region. Following the Third Blight, the Chantry in Orlais fostered the legend that it was the ancient magisters of Tevinter's heresy that delivered the Blights to the earth.
Anti-Tevinter and anti-mage sentiment grew along with the divide between the two powerful nations. It was ultimately the interpretation of the Maker's second commandment, "Magic must serve man, not rule over him,"that split the Imperial and Orlesian Chantries. The Tevinters claimed that the commandment only meant that magic should not be used to control the minds of others. They said the best way for magic to serve man was to serve the rulers of man.
When Tevinter's clerics changed the Chant of Light to reflect this interpretation of the commandment, the Divine in Val Royeaux ordered them to return to the old Chant. The Tevinter temples declined, stating that Val Royeaux was corrupted. Divine Joyous II proclaimed all of them heretics, prompting the Archon to nominate Grand Cleric Valhail, a man and Circle magician, to the position of Imperial Divine.
With Tevinter's rebellion, the Chant's belief was split in two. This is a huge problem in Thedas because now two groups centered on Andrastianism had been formed and had very different imagery of the Maker and Andraste as a whole. As a result, they are referred to as the White Chantry and the Black Chantry within Thedas. (WoT Vol. 1)
The Maker's Identity
If I can be honest, the long reign of the Chantry has made
the recording of reality at times a trial.
Most common histories have been rewritten
through the filter of my religion.
Everything has meaning as it pertains to the Maker.
— Brother Genetivi, In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar
The Maker is a supreme being, if not the supreme being. A God who sat on the throne of the Golden City. A creator who bestowed gifts upon spirits and man alike.
From the waters of the Fade, you made the world.
As the Fade had been fluid, so was the world fixed.
— Threnodies 1:4
This Maker, as we understand, was not given this name until the emergence of the Chantry. To be honest, following the formation of the Veil, most of the inhabitants of Thedas were seeking for an explanation, of course some knew like the elvhen, but primarily the Neromenians who voyaged to Thedas needed an answer. We would expect the Evanuris to be closest to the Maker, yet we know that the Evanuris were simply great mages who couldn't make things out of thin air as the Maker is described to.
Let's start at the beginning, which is a problem, we don't know the beginning.
The universe began as nothing, much like the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, with the Maker having only the green waters of the Fade. Nevertheless, everything was formed by the Maker's Word:
There was no word
For heaven or for earth, for sea or sky.
All that existed was silence.
Then the Voice of the Maker rang out,
The first Word,
And His Word became all that might be:
Dream and idea, hope and fear,
Endless possibilities. — Threnodies 5
In most circumstances, how will this religion redeem itself to be true? For one thing, we now know the Elvhen Pantheon is genuine, but the Dalish have a habit of only knowing half the truth and filling in the gaps with their exaggerations and myths to get them through their years.
As for the Maker, I feel that this is Dragon Age's problem: a god who refuses to redeem himself. The only time we were privy to this action is with Andraste and her dedicated followers, and as I previously stated, the revolt itself was a failure, therefore Andraste's treachery was handed to her more readily than ever before; she was unstoppable until her betrayal commenced.
So here we are, abandoned in the dust by a God who hardly knows his people; he observes and somehow knows what's to come, but for the time being, a redeemer is not this God, which is a dilemma for Thedas' present and past. In terms of the future of the Maker in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can't say much will be added to this God...
This all falls into so many theories, so many beliefs, and so many codices surrounding the Maker. He has no identity, he is himself. He is not a Titan, not Solas, and certainly not Sandal...
So, sure, the issue with the Maker is that his identity is as enigmatic as the Void itself, and hence we cannot establish or refute his existence. It's disappointing because he appears to be more impartial in Thedas. Despite this, we deny his activity in every mission in the Dragon Age series. The best example of this is Inquisition; we are not a Herald of Andraste, we are a Herald of our own circumstances, and potentially a Herald of a new Age to come.
The Maker is a problem in itself, and with it leads to very dangerous acts such as the:
Political Aspect
the Chantry works to earn the Maker's forgiveness so that one day He will return and transform the world into the paradise it was always meant to be.
—The History of the Chantry: Chapter 4
To briefly put this in a manner that doesn't anger me so much (mainly because Andrastianism reflects Catholicism & even Christianity itself). The Chantry does involve itself in politics within Thedas whether races within the world agree with them or not. Because of this, it has led to many harsh realities to either 'liberate' a nation, to oppress an ideal upon others.
Specifically, the Orlesian Emperor with the help of the Chantry and the first Inquisition created the Nevarran Accord. The Nevarran Accord was signed in 1:20 Divine, and the Inquisition pledged to lay down its banner and surrender to the authority of the Chantry. The mage hunters shifted their concentration from hunting to defending mages, and the Templar Order was established as the wardens for the newly formed Circle of Magi. Senior members of the Inquisition became Seekers of Truth, templar overseers, and Divine special agents.
It is evident that believing this Accord could bring good intentions, the primary bias of thinking magic was evil in Orlais could never become undone. Orlais and the Chantry saw the mages as useful tools to have like the threat of the Blight, but kept them locked in these Circles, creating hostility between non-mages & mages. Thus creating a political outcome of a new reality for Southern Thedas, mages are and always will be inherently dangerous, and must be kept in check.
As for the Imperial Chantry, much is contrasted for mages, while Circle Mages exist, they are not locked up, and are relatively used as universities of magic. The Tevinter priests altered the Chant to reflect that magic must be used in the service of all mankind for their prosperity. This allowed the magisters to reclaim their ancient authority and once again rule the Imperium. And with still little to truly know about the Black Chantry, I am confident we will learn more about them in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and even in Dragon Age: Absolution.
But with that, we are going to wrap up, you and I know a little more about the Chantry, and it has a major problem... What are your opinions on Andrastianism, and does your character believe in it? Let me know in the comments down below, and if you don't comment, I will force you to read all of the Chant of Light to Sister Petrice. My least favorite sister, anyways, thank you for watching, and I will see you in the next video.
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