In the Kingdom's holy land/the ancient city of Reims, solemn hymns and hymns vaguely resounded through the streets and alleys, as if they had not been affected by the rebels approaching outside the city. Except on the streets
There are endless patrols of armored soldiers and armed monks leading the troops.
As one of the recognized religious holy places in the Western Continent, it is the fourth largest pilgrimage site after Jerusalem in the east, Rome in Italy, and Santiago in the Iberian Peninsula; in the San Antonio Cross Palace, Archbishop Giovanni of the Northwest has just finished his work for several hours
morning prayers.
Sunlight shines through multiple colorful mosaic skylights painted with religious stories, like a colorful halo, converging on Giovanni in front of the high altar, which looks quite sacred. His face is covered with ravines like a knife and axe, and his body is thin and gray with disheveled beard and hair.
Only his eyes are bright and wise.
Although he only wore a thin linen robe, which had already been soaked by the morning dew and sweat, it was not shaken or affected in the slightest, and he uttered the last prayers word by word. Even during the sacrament that lasted for several months,
Among them, Giorgino still couldn't get any revelation or sign.
However, years of step-by-step living habits and the experience of reading church classics and historical documents have made his heart as firm as a rock and his faith as stable as a majestic mountain. In fact, Giocchino's background is also similar to that of others.
Several archbishops of the kingdom are different.
Among them, as the candidate for the archbishop of the Capital Region, according to the default political rules of the kingdom, he must come from the royal family or a member closely related to the royal family, such as the "terrible minister" who has assisted three generations of the royal family as a teacher and has been in power for decades.
Li Xingke is a typical example.
When his authority was at its peak, he could even directly remove clergy at all levels below the other four archbishops at the exclusive Kingdom Religious Council; or he could question a certain kingdom archbishop at the Royal Council and ask the king to remove him.
And restart the Holy Selection Ceremony.
The influence of the Roman Universal Church in the kingdom for a long time was gradually excluded and disintegrated under his leadership; finally, after an intervention war against the succession rights of the princes of Northern Italy, after the Battle of Turin, the Universal Church was forced to
The Holy See of the Church reached a compromise.
In the transfer of church personnel below the Archbishop of the Kingdom, the Holy See has only the final symbolic authority left; that is, as a witness and supervisor of the Holy Election Ceremony of the Kingdom Church. Theoretically, objections and questions can be raised, but in most cases
Most of the time, I am just a spectator.
Usually it is to endorse and prove with the Roman Holy See envoy that the universal church and the rule of the kingdom are always one and the same. Of course, as compensation, after each election ceremony is completed, in the name of the church of the kingdom, the city of Rome will
The Holy See makes donations and gifts.
But at this time, the last political trend of radical reform in the last dynasty broke out. In order to expand the scope of financial resources and the scope of selling officials and titles, out of hatred for the former Cardinal "Changer" Arend, he began to secretly sell church gods in disguise.
the angry counterattacks of character and priesthood;
Giovanni, who had a good daily conduct and reputation, was also promoted by the swearers and was regarded as one of the models set by the church; he was specially named and recommended by the royal family to become the Metropolitan of the Diocese of the Central Province/Archbishop of Bourges;
And with the help of the Declarants, they began to organize the parish.
As a result, various jokes about the number of mistresses and illegitimate children of the upper echelons of the church, the fornication of priests and nuns, and the drunkenness and lies of clergy began to become popular in the streets and alleys along with various popular folk books and rumors; they even became a recognized chronic disease in the kingdom.
cancer.
Then, all kinds of greed for pleasure, corruption and decadence quickly spread among the middle and upper classes of the church. Although, before this, corruption, violation of precepts, and nepotism were also common in the Roman universal church. However, the nobles of the kingdom
Make it public.
As a result, he became a member of the Vocational Church and took the initiative to come to the local diocese; from an unknown country priest, he became a county bishop; and then his divine status was limited to this. Because he wanted to become a province
Metropolitan, not an auxiliary bishop in name only.
It is not enough to have a respected reputation and prestige. You must also have the support of a minister of the kingdom as a backer and one of the local nobles, and give the other party a corresponding report. So he was transferred to a monastery somewhere.
As a vice-dean, the best choice is to survive the death of the old dean.
After the Terrifying Lord, the candidates for the kingdom's five archbishops and their affiliated dioceses, major monasteries and branches have long been controlled by candidates recommended and supported by nobles or royal families; this is also the case.
This gave rise to the Swearers in the church who hated this deeply.
At the Federation of Bishops' Conferences of the Northwestern Region, Giovanni, who had impeccable divine qualities and qualifications, became the acting archbishop of the northwest diocese of the Kingdom through a special election ceremony. Immediately afterwards, the charter government in power in the capital began.
He could not wait to recognize him as the Archbishop of the Northwest.
Without any screening and testimony from the Holy See of Rome, you dare to proclaim someone as a walking saint in this world; what a crazy blasphemy! This is all the Arianism, Catharism, and Niece in the south.
The Polis faction is a super heretic who is inferior to all of them.
When the Blood Moon Incident broke out, the five Dukes' brief joint governance turned into a melee due to intensified internal and external conflicts. The republican government formed by the various forces that worked together to repel him also invited him to take over the capital.
region, and use this to rectify the church.
Even the sworn sect from which Giovanni came, advocates purging the church internally to purify the system from top to bottom and return to piety. Rather than letting a group of people stink of copper or have feet stained with dirt.
The secular councilors of the clay come to judge and decide the merits and sins of the church.
There have been occasional exceptions in history, but such questions and objections from representatives of the Holy See have basically had little substantive impact on the Church of the Kingdom; instead, they have become the next foreign war of the Kingdom, or the feud between the royal family and the princes.
The trigger for the outbreak of a domestic religious war in Chen.
After the result of the Battle of Dijon came, he decisively abandoned the provincial city of Chalon, which was not conducive to defense, and called on many followers, along with a large amount of inventory, to move to the Holy Land/Reims, which has more believers. When Giovanni
After slowly reflecting and recalling, I walked out of this place of worship.
In the subsequent ruling cardinals, some may have encouraged the royal family to show favor to the Holy See, and reopened some church restrictions, and even recognized some honorary priesthoods appointed by Rome; however, the influence of the Holy See in the universal church in the Kingdom has not been established.
But it's far from what it used to be.
And Giovanni is such a priest who advocates a return to the simple and clean tradition of the past, with a pietistic background; at the same time, he is also a member of another religious legal group in the church, the Holy News Society; but he himself is just a priest from
Descendants of prosperous fishermen in the Netherlands.
Therefore, under his continuous call and influence, the Northwest Archdiocese has become de facto independent in the territory of the kingdom; even the priests sent by the previous capital governments cannot truly perform their duties. When the Burgundy family came to
When marching to the capital, they also tried to win over him.
The result of the secular localization of the church has also brought about another trend, which is the penetration and influence of the princes and nobles of the kingdom on the church; or it can be said that the "terrible minister" used war to seize the church from the Holy See of Rome.
The consecration and diocesan mandate came to unite and bribe the nobility.
However, a series of political events in the capital also completely disrupted and undermined the upper echelons of the Kingdom's church; as the archbishop of the capital who was qualified to attend the Royal Council fled abroad, several other archbishops were either hanged on the streets or in riots.
Missing or imprisoned.
It is even more impossible for him to make peace or compromise with them. As a sworn sect in the universal church, the religious tolerance claimed by the rebels is one thing, but it would be unreasonable to allow those heretical factions banned by the universal church to be openly active.
That's another story; not to mention that they dare to be sanctified because of righteousness.
However, Giovanni's response was to avoid seeing him. At the same time, he mobilized the materials and wealth of various monasteries to carry out local self-protection weaponization; he continued to maintain the neutrality and aloofness of the northwest parish. Until the heretics reappeared in the south of the kingdom,
The rebels he supported moved north.
Finally, a few years before the royal family announced its abdication, he was transferred by the royal family to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of the Northwest because of his major actions in central government and serious conflicts with local nobles and some church members.
Became the assistant to the Archbishop/Secretary-General of the Federation of Bishops.
In comparison, these rebels appointed themselves as a child's play, and the absent archbishops of the Southwest and Southeast regions were insignificant. Therefore, Giovanni secretly instructed the church members to prepare for the Confucius who was defending the city of Dijon.
Prince Tai provided a considerable degree of help.
He was sent to the church when he was young, and then started to practice as a waiter step by step. After becoming a trainee priest, he studied in the seminary for many years and followed many mentors from different factions; he also witnessed with his own eyes the invasion from within the church.
Fighting and fighting, and even wanton and wanton evil behavior.
But it also caused a great schism in the Kingdom Church from the central to the local areas; and for Giovanni, it was even more unacceptable. He had sworn allegiance to the royal family, but he had never heard of any illusory people, let alone secular people.
The power comes to force the church and destroy the unity of the church.
Giovanni also hesitated and was excited for a short time. This seemed to be only one step away from the career he expected in his heart. However, the church swearing movement that followed broke his only expectations. Although,
Only a few clergy took part in the oath.
What happened later made him even more estranged from the capital government. Because they actually confiscated and searched the real estate and property belonging to the church in the name of rectifying the church; and then sold it to the reformists/new aristocrats and wealthy businessmen at low prices.
And so on, just to enrich the finances.
I saw many priests who had been waiting here for a long time, and they gathered around him and put on him a reddish-brown holy garment with gorgeous patterns and embroidery, a high brown crown decorated with gold and silver, and a ring and necklace with precious stones.
When he left the auditorium, he had a different appearance holding a cross and a scepter.
Although Giovanni insisted on living a simple life in his daily life and despised the extravagant and comparison style of the church; what made him helpless was that under the influence of long-term inertia, the vast majority of the kingdom's subjects still liked to respect a priest with gorgeous clothes and a high-sounding priest.
people, not simple ascetics.
It was rare for him to put on such a grand outfit, and it was also to preside over a public trial, to target the public executions and publicity of spies sent by the southern heretics/rebels. At the same time, it was also to combat and shock, there may be potential evil spirits in the city of Reims.
Complicity and accomplice, sympathizer.
Thinking of this, he confirmed again: "Has he not confessed yet and signed an affidavit of repentance?"