No one group in recorded history has impacted life in Thedas more than the Chantry. The influence of this church of the Maker prevails across most of the continent's kingdoms, and the bulk of humanity at least pays lip service to its tenets. Belief in the Maker has started wars and forced those outside the Chantry to the fringes of society. Even the most common calendar in Thedas, which breaks time into ages, is kept by the Chantry.
At the heart of this monotheistic religion are the teachings of Andraste, collected in the Chantry's holy book, The Chant of Light. Chantry faithful believe in the divine authority of the Maker and worship him in temples called chantries.
Their faith is rooted in four core principles:
Magic is a corrupting influence in the world.
Humankind's sin of pride destroyed the Golden City and created the darkspawn, terrible embodiments of that sin.
Andraste was the bride of the Maker, a prophet and martyr who's ultimate sacrifice must be honored.
Humankind has sinned and must seek penance to earn the Makers forgiveness. When all peoples unite to praise the Maker, he will return to the world, and make it a paradise.
It is said that the Maker's prophet, so revered by class obsessed Orlais, wasn't born to Val Royeaux nobility, or even Navarran royals, but barbarians in a fractured land of dog lords. Prevailing wisdom says Andraste came into the world in the small village of Denerim, now a bustling capital. Her father was chief of one of the largest Alamarri tribes in what is presently Ferelden.
From an early age, Andraste suffered troubling dreams of a then obscure god known as the Maker. Slowly she began to make sense of these dreams, and came to interpret them as answers to the questions that plagued her. The Maker was a supreme being, the supreme being, who had abandoned the world and the people he created when they took up worship of the Old Gods.
According to the Chant of Light, the Maker emerged from his retreat after falling in love with Andraste and the beautiful song she sang for him. The Maker came to Andraste and offered to take her away from the flawed mortal world as his divine bride. Reluctant to leave her life and new husband Maferath, she begged the Maker to instead return to his people and create a new paradise in Thedas. The Maker agreed to this only if Andraste convinced his people to destroy their false idols. To aid her in this task, the Maker promised to use his power against her enemies. Andraste thus became the Makers betrothed.
Andraste began to preach openly of the Maker as the true creator of all things. Among his commandments was that magic must serve man, not rule over him. The idea proved attractive to the oppressed people of Tevinter occupied nations in southern Thedas. They had long suffered under the power of sorcerer kings who used the teachings of the Old Gods to justify their rule. Andraste taught that it was one of these Old Gods that turned on the world, wreaking havoc as an Archdemon of the First Blight. This only discouraged worship of the Old Gods further, and any remaining confidence in the ruling magisters dwindled. Upon hearing of the miracles and victories that followed Andraste on her quest, belief in the one true god who fought by her side swept across Thedas like wildfire. With Maferath as general, Andraste's army grew, expanding north and brining rebellion.
Together Andraste and Maferath carved a path into the very heart of the Imperium: the capital Minrathous. West of the city, at the Battle of Valarian Fields, they won a hard-fought victory to prove the Makers might.
Not all was well however. Maferath as valiantly as he fought on behalf of the Maker, was believed to be gripped by jealousy of his wife's betrothal to their god. Her superior power and influence may also have vexed him. Following the Battle of Valarian Fields, he made a secret pact with Hessarian, then the embattled Archon of the Imperium, declaring a truce in exchange for Andraste's capture. Imperium forces caught up with Andraste as she traveled to a stronghold in Nevarra. At the time Maferath's betrayal was not made public, and he feigned outrage at the capture.
At the command of the Archon, they burned Andraste alive in front of a grand Minrathous crowd. The death was meant to be a message to anyone who would dare wage war on the Imperium. It is written that Hessarian took pity on Andraste in her last moments tied to that burning stake, and put an end to her suffering with one thrust of his sword. Later the Archon claimed that the voice of the Maker ordered him to do it. When he saw her blood spill, they say he became a faithful servant of her god. Others alleged that Hessarian only converted to the faith when he realized he could not fight the influence of her cult on his people.
A band of Andraste's followers smuggled her ashes out of Minrathous to bury them in Ferelden, near the place of her birth, but the ashes were famously lost along the way.
Maferath took charge of the lands conquered in Andraste's name, and ruled them for the better part of a decade. His support waned when he refused to go to war with the Imperium to avenge his wife's death. When Hessarian publicly processed his conversation to belief in the Maker, he also exposed Maferath's betrayal. Maferath's own sons overthrew him, and divided his lands to form the nations today known as Orlais, Nevarra, and Ferelden. What became of Maferath is a mystery but his name is now synonymous with betrayal.
It is written that the Maker once again abandoned his people after Andraste's execution. Andraste is said to have ascended to his side, where she continues to watch over Thedas.
After Andraste's death her cult had no central leadership, and believers carried on her teachings in fragmented pockets. It took Kordillus Drakon, the legendary first Emporer of Orlais, to centralize the movement and solidify its power under the organization known as the Chantry. Drakon was a fervent believer in the Maker, often claiming the god had personally charged him with ministering the Chant of Light. He used the Second Blight to extend the Orlesian Empire, and by extension the influence of the Chantry.
At the time of Drakon's death, the Chantry had spread far and wide, and Drakon was declared "Anointed". The emporer's image is now as prominent in Orlesian chantries as Andraste's. The Chantry continues actively to spread Andraste's teachings, believing that the Maker will only return to Thedas if people from all corners of the world praise him.
The Chant of Light is the primary religious text of the Chantry, a holy book that contains the core teachings of Andraste. Her followers wrote the Chant, though portions are said to be transcribed directly from the songs she sang of the Maker. A written copy can be found in every chantry. Because many Theodosians are illiterate, copies outside chantries are uncommon and usually owned only by the very ritch.
The Chant of Light was first sung sexteen years after Andraste's execution. The full text lengthy and only sung regularly at the Grand Chatherdral in Val Royeaux.
Beyond prayers and songs of praise, it covers history from the perspective of the faith: the Maker's creation of the world, the rise of Old God worship and subsequent abandonment of the Maker, the life and death of Andraste, the First Blight, and the prophecy of the Makers return.
There are also some dissonant verses removed from the wider text because they reference controversial topics, such as Andraste's elven disciple Shartan. All faithful must recite the Chant at least once a week.