The Church of
St. Olwyn formally came into being in 313 after the
Convocation of Brimmingstone. It was
St. James who started the practice of consecrating female priests
in the Church of Pelor and after the death of
St. Olwyn in the year 80 it became the normal custom for such
priests to dedicate their lives to her memory. The Convocation formalised that practice and decided to
segregate the clergy; St. Olwyn's priests were to be female and those in the other to churches male.
A further controversy which was not resolved at the Convocation was whether her priests had to be celibate.
A vow of celibacy had been popular amongst her followers but fully two thirds of her clergy were
married.
The clergy of St. Olwyn were, however, not very happy with the outcome of the Brimmingstone Convocation
as they felt it limited the role of women within the wider church. In 401 they held their own Convocation
at their Abbey in Wendbury and made two important decisions. Firstly that in future men could be clergy
in the Church if they wished and secondly that celibacy should not be a condition of the priesthood. At
the same time they founded a seperate order of Nuns, the
Sisters of Mercy, who did take an oath of celibacy.
The Church has been dependent on voluntary donations throughout its existence but has the patronage
of many of the leading Ladies of the realm. Further both the Abbess of Wendbury and the Abbess of the
Sisters of Mercy have by tradition tended to be formidable figures who have not been slow to twist
the arms of the rich and powerful when their projects needed funding. Grants of land to the Church
have provided a regular income which supports the order's two Abbeys, the church buildings it has in every major town and city and the
hospitals it runs in
Pell's Hold and
Ragenstone. The order also runs a number of schools in major
towns and cities. In the villages, however, it has favoured persuading the
Church of St. James to set up and fund schools.
As a result of its efforts it is believed that 70% of both sexes of the population of Cambria
can read and write.
It is known that the
King's Men
are particularly critical of female clerics but it has to be said that this
mainly occurs behind their backs.
The Church are also known to be concerned by the activities of the
Geogoths.