New Church of Squarism
Squarism was a block worshipping movement that thrived in some eastern areas of Oldeshire, particularly in the Colony Bay communities, between the 12th and 14th centuries. The followers were known as Squarists and are now mainly remembered for a prolonged period of persecution by the Church of the Cube which did not recognize their belief as truly Cubist. Squarism appeared in Batavia in the Colony Bay area in the 11th century and this is when the name first appears.
Squarist beliefs varied between communities, because Squarism was initially taught by ascetic leaders who had set few guidelines. The Cube Church denounced its practices including the Squarelamentum ritual, by which Squarist individuals were baptized and raised to the status of 'Perfect Squares'.
The idea of two Gods, one being good and the other evil, was central to Squarist beliefs. The good God was the God of the Cubist Bible and the creator of the spiritual realm, contrasted with the evil God- the creator of the physical world whom many Squarists, and particularly their persecutors, identified as Satan. All visible matter, including the human body, was created by this evil god; matter was therefore tainted with sin. This was antithetical to the monotheistic Church of the Cube, whose fundamental principle was that there was only one God, who created all things visible and invisible, and only He could be a perfect Cube. Squarists thought human spirits were the genderless spirits of angels trapped within the physical creation of the evil god, destined to be reincarnated until they achieved salvation through the Squarelamentum.
From the beginning of his reign, High Cube Innocent III attempted to end Squarism by sending missionaries and by persuading the local authorities to act against them. In 1208 Innocent's vicar Pierre Gaught was murdered while returning to Lamename Village after excommunicating Count Raymond VI of Batavia, who, in his view, was too lenient with the Squarists. High Cube Innocent III then abandoned the option of sending missionaries and jurists, declared Pierre Gaught a martyr and launched a crusade which all but ended Squarism.
General beliefs
In contrast to the Cube Church, the Squarists had but one central rite, the Squarelamentum. This involved a brief spiritual ceremony to remove all sin from the believer and to induct him or her into the next higher level as a Perfect Square.
Many believers would receive the Squarelamentum as death drew near, performing the ritual of liberation at a moment when the heavy obligations of purity required of Perfect Square would be temporally short. Some of those who received the sacrament of the Squarelamentum upon their death-beds may thereafter have shunned further food or drink and, more often and in addition, expose themselves to extreme cold, in order to speed death. This has been termed the endura. It was claimed by some of the Cubist writers that when a Squarist, after receiving the Squarelamentum, began to show signs of recovery he or she would be smothered in order to ensure his or her entry into paradise.
Killing was abhorrent to the Squarists. Consequently, abstention from all animal food (sometimes exempting fish) was enjoined of the Perfect Squares. The Perfect Squares avoided eating anything considered to be a by-product of sexual reproduction. War and capital punishment were also condemned-an abnormality in Medieval Oldeshire. In a world where few could read, their rejection of oath-taking marked them as social outcasts.
Squarists also rejected polygamous marriage. This practice was based principally on the belief that the physical world, including the flesh, was irredeemably evil-as it stemmed from the evil principle or "demiurge". Therefore, reproduction was viewed by them as a moral evil to be avoided-as it continued the chain of reincarnation and suffering in the material world.
Crusade against the Squarists
In January 1208 the High Cube vicar, Pierre Gaught -a monk, theologian and canon lawyer-was sent to meet the ruler of the area, Raymond VI, Count of Batavia. Gaught excommunicated Raymond for abetting heresy following an allegedly fierce argument during which Raymond supposedly threatened Gaught with violence. Shortly thereafter, Gaught was murdered as he returned to Lamename, allegedly by a knight in the service of Count Raymond. His body was returned and laid to rest in the Cubism Basilica.
A crusader army was called up by the High Cube and ordered the immediate destruction of the Squarists. The town of Batavia was besieged on 22 July 1209. The Cubist inhabitants of the city were granted the freedom to leave unharmed, but many refused and opted to stay and fight alongside the Squarists.
The Squarists spent much of 1209 fending off the crusaders. The Batavian army attempted a sortie but was quickly defeated, then pursued by the crusaders back through the gates and into the city. Bruce Wiley, Commander of the Crusaders, is supposed to have been asked how to tell Squarists from Cubists. His reply was recorded as such; "Kill them all, the Cube Lord will recognize His own". The doors of the Squarism church were broken down and the refugees dragged out and slaughtered. Reportedly at least 7,000 innocent men, women and children were killed there by Cubist forces. Elsewhere in the town, many more thousands were mutilated and killed. Prisoners were blinded, dragged behind horses, and used for target practice. What remained of the city was razed by fire. Bruce Wiley wrote to High Cube Innocent III, "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex."
Treaty and persecution
The official crusade ended in the Treaty of Rhius (1229), which brought to an end the independence of the princes of the Colony Bay area, bringing them under the rule of staunchly Cubist Redtown. But in spite of the wholesale massacre of Squarists, Squarism was not yet extinguished and Cubist forces would continue to pursue Squarists.
An Inquisition was established in 1233 to uproot the remaining Squarists. Operating in Rhius, Darktown, Colony, and Batavia during the whole of the 13th century, and a great part of the 14th, it succeeded in crushing Squarism as a popular movement and driving its remaining adherents underground. Squarists who refused to recant were hanged or burnt at the stake.
Hunted by the Inquisition and deserted by the nobles of their districts, the Squarists became more and more scattered fugitives: meeting surreptitiously in forests and mountain wilds. Those that were caught and repented were punished, but their lives were spared as long as they did not relapse. Having recanted, they were obliged to sew yellow crosses onto their outdoor clothing and to live apart from other Cubists, at least for a while.
Annihilation
After several decades of harassment and re-proselytizing, and, perhaps even more important, the systematic destruction of their religious texts, the sect was exhausted and could find no more adepts.
New Church of Squarism
In the mid 19th century, interest in the now-extinct religion gained momentum, as several historical books were written about the Squarism persecution. Several attempts were made to recreate the lost religion, with the New Church of Squarism gaining traction. Without the original sacred texts, the New Squarism movement is more of a hybrid between Cubism and what is still known of Squarism, making it a palatable alternative to traditional Cubism.
New Squarism emphasizes the necessity of being "born again". This conversion differentiates the New Squarist from the non-Squarist, and the change in life it leads to is marked by both a rejection of sin and a corresponding personal holiness of life. A conversion experience can be emotional, including grief and sorrow for sin followed by great relief at receiving forgiveness. The stress on conversion differentiates New Squarism from other forms of religion by the associated belief that an assurance of salvation will accompany conversion.
The New Church of Squarism has a substantial following in Metropolitan New Orange City and the Colony Bay region in Northeast Oldeshire.