Two central systems of everyday civilisation in Cross. Both reflect the paradox of the continent: enormous knowledge concentrated, distributed selectively. The war absorbs resources that in another world would go to health and teaching.
I. Medicine in Cross
General principle
Lagging because of the war. The institutional focus of the continent (the Order + the Kingdoms) is combat against Hell. Civil medicine suffers from the diversion of resources, talent and attention. The Republics are slightly more advanced because they are less militarily involved. The Order has the deepest knowledge but distributes it restrictively.
Technological state (1890)
- Full anaesthesia (chloroform + ether — discovered in the middle of the century).
- Antisepsis (the Lister-analogue, 1865) already mastered in clerical and cantonal hospitals.
- Early microbiology (the Pasteur and Koch analogues): the germ of disease discovered in the 1870s, but clinical application still partial.
- Surgery exists for amputation, excision, sutures. Deep internal surgery is still primitive.
- Vaccination: rudimentary. Only the variola-analogue (smallpox) is vaccinated against systematically.
- Antibiotics: non-existent. Treatment of an infection = cleaning + amputation.
- X-rays: NOT discovered in 1890 in this universe (they will be discovered in the 1895 analogue).
Canonical diseases
Common diseases
- The consumption-analogue (tuberculosis): it kills in great numbers. Sanatoriums in the Solar Range and the Massif of Kal'arn.
- The cholera-analogue: periodic urban outbreaks. Aurum Roma had a grave outbreak in 1854.
- The syphilis-analogue: common among sailors and the urban classes.
- The yellow-fever-analogue: warm coastal regions (Meridia + the south of Velinia).
- Pulmonary plague: rare outbreaks. The last in 1872 (Brytonia).
Canonical diseases unique to the universe
- The Miner's Stain (Hashmalite toxicity): black lung, shortness of breath, death within 5-10 years of exposure. It affects the Broken Glass.
- Pactuary Fever (after contact with a pactuary man in Stage 2-3): symptoms close to malaria but with disturbing religious hallucinations. Treatment: exorcism + forced rest.
- Hashmal Blindness (in frequent illuminated clerics): a gradual loss of sight from prolonged exposure to angelic light.
- Incubated Possession (latent): pactuary men in Stage 1-2 with vague symptoms (insomnia, melancholy, altered taste). Not detected by standard medicine; only by inquisitorial tests.
Institutional system by bloc
The Clerical Order
- The hospitals of the Hospitallers of the Hashmal: a continental network. The Greater Hospital of the Hashmal in Aurum Roma is the flagship.
- Concentrated knowledge: the Hospitallers have modern medical knowledge + a unique medicine against possession (nobody else knows how to treat Incubated Possession).
- Restricted access: the Hospitaller hospitals treat free of charge only members of the clergy and knights on active service. Civilians pay a high fee or are treated by limited charity (annual quotas).
- Orthodox civil physicians exist in the cities — trained at the Schola Coronata, but in insufficient numbers.
The Republics
- Velinia: urban public hospitals. Medium-good quality.
- The Kantonal Confederation: the best health system on the continent. Every canton finances a cantonal hospital. Cantonal medicine has less deep knowledge than the Hospitallers, more universal access.
- Private physicians are numerous in both Republics. Competition raises quality.
The Kingdoms
- Königsmark: military hospitals predominate. The ordinary citizen goes to a village doctor with a modest training.
- Vykhradia: hospitals are all but non-existent outside Vykhrad. Peasants resort to folk healers ("babas" — herbalist women).
- Brytonia: good industrial hospitals in the great cities (Brithon, Manchaster). The countryside is unserved.
- Meridia: moderate coastal hospitals. A tradition of canon-physicians of the Riti Meridionali with a healthy mixture of medicine and Ardentine.
The Pacted
- Not applicable. The Pacted do not cultivate medicine; the body is disposable. Demonic healing exists by way of a pact (Buer, a lesser demon of 50 legions — see the demonic bestiary).
Famous canonical physicians
- Dr Heinrich Vogel (Kantonal, 1820-1885): the pioneer of cantonal antisepsis. He applied Lister before the Curia made it official.
- Dr Lucia della Croce (Aurum Roma, 1845-present): a Hospitaller of the Hashmal. The first woman to head a ward.
- Dr Adam Vyk (Vykhradia, 1830-1880): a medical folklorist, he systematised the Vykhradian herbs in Materia Medica Slavica (1865).
II. Education in Cross
General principle
Three radically different models by bloc. Unequal access generates a cultural cleavage between regions.
The Kingdoms — Restricted Noble Education
Königsmark
- A rigorous aristocratic education. The sons of Junkers go to military schools from the age of 8. The curriculum: Latin + the national language + mathematics + national history + military training.
- The University of Königsburg (1786): reserved for aristocrats + a few rich bourgeois.
- Peasants and workers: rudimentary literacy by way of the parish, or nothing.
Vykhradia
- A magnate education: the sons of magnates have private tutors at home + an educational journey to the continent.
- Serf peasants: illiteracy in the majority. The local parish teaches some rudimentary literacy where there is priest enough.
- The University of Vykhrad: small, attended by the aristocracy + a few urban bourgeois.
Brytonia
- The best stratified system among the Kingdoms. Public schools (elite private schools) for the aristocracy + the high industrial bourgeoisie. Grammar schools for the middle classes. Sunday school for the workers (rudimentary literacy by way of the Solar Church).
- Universities: the Cambridge-analogue + the Oxford-analogue + the University of Brithon — all largely reserved for the elite, but with competitive scholarships for brilliant humble students.
Meridia
- A competing ecclesiastical education: the Roman Curia opens some schools; the Riti Meridionali open others. Peasants receive basic parish literacy.
- The University of Stromakra: small, focused on civil law + medicine + navigation.
The Republics — Universal Public Education
Velinia the Most Serene
- Urban public schools financed by the Doge. Children of 6-12 have obligatory basic education. The curriculum: Latin + Velinian + mercantile mathematics + history + religion (a moderate Schism of the Sea).
- Technical schools for artisans, sailors, merchants.
- The University of Velinia (1801): open to whoever passes the entrance examination. Scholarships for the middle classes. Women admitted since 1865 (controversial — Lucia Veneto-Doro was the first to graduate).
The Kantonal Confederation
- The most advanced system on the continent. Obligatory education from 6 to 14. Every canton administers its own schools.
- Universities: the Academia Helvetum + the University of Bernkanton + the Polytechnic of Zürikanton. Accessible to whoever passes an examination.
- Industrial technical education well developed.
The Clerical Order — Private Elite Education
- Parish schools for rudimentary literacy (free, but obligatorily with doctrine + Latin).
- Seminaries for an ecclesiastical vocation (an estimated 1,500 students per generation).
- The Schola Coronata (the universities): academic excellence, but restricted access to the sons of traditional ecclesiastical families + cardinal-patrons.
- The University of Aurum Roma: absolute prestige. The diploma is worth more than that of any other university on the continent.
- Cost: a clerical elite education is very expensive. The common peasant has no access.
- Result: the Order produces the best intellectual elite on the continent, but in small numbers, leaving the masses badly educated.
The canonical universities of the continent
| University | Location | Founded | Speciality | Prestige |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UniversityThe University of the Choir (Aurum Roma) | Locationthe Order | Founded1788 | SpecialityTheology, philosophy, canonology | PrestigeAbsolute |
| UniversitySchola Maior (Schola Coronata) | Locationthe Order | Founded1820 | SpecialityTechnical university + applied theology | PrestigeVery high |
| UniversityThe University of Velinia | LocationVelinia | Founded1801 | SpecialityLaw, commerce, navigation | PrestigeHigh (Enlightenment) |
| UniversityAcademia Helvetum | LocationKantonal | Founded1812 | SpecialityNatural philosophy, banking | PrestigeHigh |
| UniversityThe Polytechnic of Zürikanton | LocationKantonal | Founded1854 | SpecialityIndustrial engineering | PrestigeHigh |
| UniversityThe University of Königsburg | LocationKönigsmark | Founded1786 | SpecialityRomantic and military philosophy | PrestigeMedium-high |
| UniversityThe Cambridge-analogue (Brytonia) | LocationBrytonia | Foundedthe 1230-analogue | SpecialityLetters, sciences, history | PrestigeHigh |
| UniversityThe Oxford-analogue (Brytonia) | LocationBrytonia | Foundedthe 1220-analogue | SpecialityLetters, Anglican theology | PrestigeHigh |
| UniversityThe University of Vykhrad | LocationVykhradia | Founded1820 | SpecialitySlavic literature, history, agriculture | PrestigeMedium |
| UniversityThe University of Stromakra | LocationMeridia | Founded1840 | SpecialityLaw, medicine, navigation | PrestigeMedium |
| UniversityThe University of Brithon | LocationBrytonia | Founded1872 | SpecialityIndustrial, commercial | PrestigeGrowing |
Notable canonical intellectuals
- Cardinal Vincenzo della Stella (Aurum Roma, the Order): a crusading philosopher (see What each bloc believes).
- Heinrich Goldberg (Bernkanton): a banking economist (see the philosophy page).
- Lucia Veneto-Doro (Velinia): a pioneering feminist philosopher.
- Friedrich von Reichmann (Königsburg): a romantic philosopher.
- Dr Heinrich Vogel (Bernkanton): a medical pioneer of antisepsis.
Canonical literacy (an estimate in 1890)
| Bloc | Adult literacy rate |
|---|---|
| BlocKantonal Confederation | Adult literacy rate~88% |
| BlocVelinia the Most Serene | Adult literacy rate~75% |
| BlocBrytonia | Adult literacy rate~70% |
| BlocClerical Order (average of the 7 States) | Adult literacy rate~55% |
| BlocMeridia | Adult literacy rate~50% |
| BlocKönigsmark | Adult literacy rate~45% |
| BlocVykhradia | Adult literacy rate~25% |
| BlocThe Pacted | Adult literacy rate~10% (a specialised pactuary literacy) |