The king looked at the old priest before him.
Dean Anil was dressed in a simple black robe, with no other decorations except the cross hanging around his neck, and his eyes were deep. Compared with what is recorded in the information, he is much older. When he left the Holy Spirit Bay for more than 20 years, Father Anil was still a theological genius of the Holy Court, the star of hope, and it can be said that he was in his prime. But the relentless cold wind and loneliness of the North had dyed his hair white.
He is the exact opposite of the Archbishop of St. Weiss.
You know, red wine and food fill the stomach of the Archbishop of St. Weiss very round. In terms of body size alone, the stout body of the Archbishop of St. Weiss is comparable to that of the two Fathers Anil.
Dean Anil is also looking at the king, wanting to find out if he is about to bloody all the shrines in the country as rumored. The king was seated in a high-backed chair, and for the death of the Duke of Buckingham, he was wearing a dark mourning dress, which, as far as his identity was concerned, showed no more respect for his uncles. Apart from that, his expression was extremely calm and hard to guess.
Dean Anil sighed in his heart.
Even if it is not a king, it is a sin to take away such a young child's beloved elder in a humble way.
"Please take a seat." The king said, "Mr. Anil."
A seat had already been prepared for Dean Anil in the room. Dean Anil bowed and said that he did not have the qualifications. The king smiled and said slowly: "Please don't be cautious, after all, the priest who presides over my uncle's funeral will not even get a seat."
Dean Anil looked at the king in surprise, which was beyond his expectations: "You..."
The king interrupted Dean Anil, who tapped on the armrest of the chair with his fingers: "You participated in the Holy Spirit Bay congregation in 1411, and you remember the eleven arguments you made at that time. I'm curious about your essay "On the Existence or Not of Purgatory", would you mind introducing me?"
Dean Anil vaguely understood some of the reasons why the king invited him.
"After death, the soul should be in a state of sleep. This state lasts until the arrival of the final judgment, during which the soul does not need to undergo any purification by the fire of purgatory. The world of the living and the dead are completely separated, and neither can happen. Any connection." Dean Anil replied slowly, "In addition, the prayers, thanksgivings, and purchase of indulgences that the living make for the dead cannot save the souls of the dead. Forgiveness and judgment are all owned by the Holy Lord, the kingdom of God. The keys to the door were never in the hands of any clergyman."[1]
The Eucharist is an important ritual performed by the clergy at a funeral and is considered to be the most effective way of saving souls of all intercessory prayers.
The Holy See claimed that chanting prayers would correspondingly shorten the time of the deceased's suffering in purgatory, and because of this, donations to the Holy See in high society were often purposeful. When Blasey's previous king, Ferry II, made a donation to the capital's cathedral, he clearly stated that "the grant was first used to pay the clergyman's salary so that he could pray for Ferry II every day."
"In your opinion, what mortals want to be saved has nothing to do with the Pope. Faith and holy books are what believers should return to, and even the Pope can do nothing in salvation. Is that so, right?" the king asked gently.
But on the contrary there is another meaning in his words.
He asked Abbot Anil to confirm that the Pope did not have authority over souls, and asked Abbot Anil to veto all the Holy See's rights in redemption.
At the beginning, Dean Anil was almost burned at the stake because of his protest at the meeting, and he is still expelled to this day. Now on the other side of the Abyss Strait, the Holy Court's heresy has taken root everywhere. As long as he affirms, he will step out and stand on the cusp of the storm.
The Holy See, which is building the kingdom of God, will not tolerate any opposition.
The king's icy blue eyes stared sharply at Dean Anil.
"Yes." Dean Anil raised his hand and held the cross around his neck. He nodded, "The piety of faith is higher than the decree of the Holy See."
The king smiled and handed an investigation file to the dean: "Mr. Anil, please take a look at it."
Dean Anil took over the file and read it. As he read page by page, Dean Anil's face gradually became more and more solemn.
It was a statistic of the Legrand Parish indulgence issuance.
Before the expedition to the north, the king had ordered his chancellor of the exchequer to do so. The officials who compiled the doomsday books of dozens of sheriffs went back to their old business, this time counting the issuance of indulgences in each county in Legrand.
As early as 1312, the Holy See began to issue indulgences in the name of "Amnesty" in order to obtain more financial revenue. The original Jubilee should be once every hundred years, but it didn't take long for this time limit to be repeated again and again. It has been shortened, and during the last Pope's reign, he completely abolished this line.
In addition to prestige and an army, it takes a steady stream of money to build a kingdom of God on the ground. For the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the Holy See began to sell huge amounts of indulgences in the name of "Kingdom of God" before the Blasey Incident. Its distribution is not limited to the other side of the Abyss Strait, and all parishes have the right to sell indulgences - as long as they pay a fortune to the Holy See.
While the King and the Duke of Buckingham were leading their troops to the North, many parishes in Legrand were turning over the money they had obtained from the sale of indulgences across the Strait of the Abyss.
The rebellion in the Northland was still unsettled. At that time, the king suppressed it and did not take any action, but only let people start counting.
"The money obtained in the name of redemption finances the rebellion in the North." The king said lightly, "Mr. Anil, why does redemption fuel war and sin instead?"
"This is not atonement." Dean Anil looked down at the unimaginable amount of the ordinary people, the corpses everywhere, the charred houses, the people's grief and crying in front of him, he closed his eyes in pain, "This It's... original sin."
"I would like to transcribe and distribute your "On the Existence or Not of Purgatory"." The king paused. "And, I would like you to preside over my uncle's funeral. There is no need for a Eucharist."
There is no need for the Eucharist, no need for anyone to absolve the Duke of Buckingham.
No need for redemption from anyone.
"The Lord is above."
Dean Anil stood up, and he saluted the king.
"Thank you for your kindness."
Before Dean Anil was led out of the study by the house chief, he stopped and looked back at the king: "Are you worried that if purgatory really exists, the unsaved Mr. Duke will go to hell?"
Dean Anil can understand people's support for the Holy See purgatory... Who would want their relatives to suffer in purgatory? When he refuted the purgatory theory, he also received a lot of ridicule and cold eyes from people. Now that the king has canceled the Eucharist at the Duke of Buckingham's funeral, there is nothing more apt to draw the king's infamy.
He could almost think of all the accusations people made against the king.
All reformers have always been infamous people.
The king did not speak and lowered his head to look at the document in his hand, and the chief of the interior closed the door.
The sun fell on the document held in the king's hand, which was a conference call just drawn up. A new meeting will be held after the Duke's funeral.
The king took the pen and signed his name on the writ.
"I wish he could go to hell."
In the room where the king was alone, he suddenly whispered to himself. The king turned his head to look out the window, and blinked to hide the wetness that appeared for a moment.
…
All shops in Metzl are closed today.
No singing, no laughter.
Someone spontaneously stood on the streets of the city, handing out black ribbons to passers-by. The clown who used to stand on the street throwing oranges replaced the paint on his smile, painted his face frosty white, and smeared black tears heavily under his eyes. With tears in the eyes of the ladies and ladies, people gathered in a long street, waiting for a procession to arrive.
A gray-haired old man on crutches stood in the crowd at the side of the street, his grandson supporting him.
The old man came from another province and walked for nearly a week.
"The Duke of Buckingham... The Duke is a very good adult."
The old man grabbed his grandson's hand and read it over and over.
All Legrands know the story of the Duke of Buckingham.
Unlike William III, the Duke of Buckingham was knighted on the battlefield when he was only sixteen years old. On the day he was awarded the knighthood, he swore that he would defend the empire with his sword and shield throughout his life, defeat the enemy with the sword, and protect the people with the shield.
an oath.
An oath that he would spend his entire life fulfilling.
After his father's death, he followed his brother William III to conquer thirty-six states, and led his troops to defeat Blasey's expedition three times. After the sudden death of William III, he became the backbone of the entire kingdom. In a long time, people are used to having that figure standing on Legrand's territory, and are used to the straight spine that has not changed from youth to old age.
"Who else can be called the lion of the empire except him? Who else can guard this country so faithfully, so bravely, so selflessly?"
When news of the Duke of Buckingham's death came back, a court poet called it "an unbearable grief for the Empire".
A shield shattered suddenly, and a long sword shattered suddenly.
Legrand lost her favorite knight.
The death knell finally sounded.
The moment the bell rang, the funeral procession appeared in front of people.
In the crowd, the old man who had been talking to his grandson repeatedly, suddenly let go and slumped on the ground.
- It seemed that he didn't finally understand that the Duke of Buckingham had really left until he saw the coffin coming from afar. That noble lord had been buried forever in the ground and could never come back.
The author has something to say: Those who protect a country are ultimately loved by this country.
[1] Father Anil's views are combined with Luther's "The Breaking of Purgatory", Zwingli's "Memorial Theory", and the views of John Wycliffe in England.