At this time, the coffin of the Duke of Buckingham was parked in St. Weiss Cathedral.
The funeral will be held four days later. Before that, representatives of various states and counties had come to the Rose Palace from all over the world. The Duke of Buckingham was almost the last imperial symbol of the previous era, and his funeral meant far more than any of his contemporaries.
General John stood by his father's coffin as he waited for those who attended the funeral to arrive.
This was probably the time General John spent the most time with the Duke of Buckingham. When he was young, the Duke of Buckingham led his troops on many expeditions, and when he grew up, he took over the task of garrisoning the battlefield from his father. The Duke of Buckingham was accompanied by General John, as well as the Duke's old friends[1].
First mate Charles also arrived at Metzl Castle on the day of the king's return. He entered the palace to meet the king and handed a sword to the king.
"This is the sword he used."
Charles looked at the ruby-encrusted longsword with some recollection.
"He left it on the boat at the time, and now it's back to its original owner."
When the young Duke of Buckingham left the Wolves, he asked them if they needed some material support. At that time, the pirates on the ship threw him off the ship, shouting that if they wanted to rob the great nobles, they would always have a chance. As a result, after the Duke of Buckingham left, they found the sword in the room where he was staying.
This sword should have been a gift from the Duke's father, Charles the Lion, to him when he became a knight.
When the Duke of Buckingham left the sword that meant so much to him to the pirates of Walway, the pirates of Walway recognized him as one of the brothers.
"Let it stay with him," Charles said, smiling.
When a knight with status is buried, his descendants will be buried with his sword. That is the symbol of his faithful performance as a knight who fought bravely, guarding the territory and protecting the weak. But everything of the Duke of Buckingham was turned to terracotta, and neither the armor nor the sword could remain. [2]
Charles knew this, and he came this time to bring the Duke's sword.
If it is according to the normal practice of the Holy See, the person who presides over the entire funeral ceremony of the Duke of Buckingham should be the Archbishop of St. Weiss Cathedral, who is the head of the bishops of the entire Legrand region.
However, the Archbishop of St. Weiss, who was supposed to be one of the most important figures at the funeral, was forgotten by the king.
Perhaps, it should not be called forgetting.
However, this time the funeral, the king did not intend to let the Archbishop of St. Weiss participate.
"Father Anil has arrived."
The home chief reports to the king.
…
Father Anil waits for the king's reception outside the Rose Palace.
He reached out and gently held the cross on his chest, whispering the passages of the holy book in his heart.
At the invitation of the king, he came to Metzl Castle, the capital of Legrand, under the protection of several rose knights - or "guardians".
"Dean."
The young Father Lemmy looked at his mentor worriedly, and from time to time he swept his gaze over the supporting swords on the waists of the several rose knights in front of them, hesitating to say anything.
Logically, as an ordinary abbot in a remote place, it should be an honor to be summoned by the king. but…
Father Lemmy couldn't help but think of the saying that has been spreading more and more these days—
It is said that the rebellion in the Northland was provoked by the Holy Court, and the death of the Duke of Buckingham was directly related to the Holy Court, which made the young king an unprecedented rage. The always ruthless monarch was determined to instigate a bloody revenge for his uncle against all the clergy in Legrand.
Those who talked privately only used this as a post-dinner talk, but Father Lemmy had to be especially alarmed.
He is different from ordinary priests. Before following Father Anil to leave the Holy Court, he also came into contact with some forces in the Holy Court and knew some things that ordinary people did not know.
Father Lemmy felt that the death of the Duke of Buckingham might actually have something to do with the Holy See.
If the Duke of Buckingham really died at the hands of the Holy See, then the king, who has always done amazing things, is likely to launch a bloody revenge against the Holy See power in Legrand.
At such a time, Dean Anil received an invitation from the king, and it was difficult for Father Lemmy to restrain himself from not wanting more.
After persuading to no avail, Father Lemmy was worried that his mentor came alone to the murderous palace, so he followed Father Anil here again. Along the way, he clearly felt the indifference and hostility from the Rose Knights - which made him more and more uneasy.
In the eyes of Father Lemmy, the magnificent and majestic Rose Palace is a huge execution ground.
"It's okay, kid."
Father Anil opened his eyes, and he gently reassured his student.
Father Anil raised his head and looked at the huge cross at the top of St. Weiss Cathedral in the distance, as if through it he could see another country on the west bank of the Abyss Strait, as well as the Holy Court where the crosses were lined up.
The news of the Holy Court of Blaise came day by day, the war in the north subsided day by day, and the pain in Dean Anil's heart increased day by day.
The Holy Court really intervened in the rebellion in the North. In the name of the Holy Lord, countless lives were drawn into the whirlpool of war.
And war only brings hatred.
Rumors of the king's imminent bloody vengeance against all the clergy unsettle Dean Anil.
Among the clergy, there may be some who are indeed the secret chess of the Holy Court, but there are also many more who have nothing to do with these rebellions. They are just some pious young people, but now they have to bear this hatred because of the actions of the Holy See and the Pope.
And now, the torrent of hatred has swept over.
The pain caused by the war is difficult to erase, and even if the victory is finally won, the trauma is still extremely heavy. The free town of Legrand, which is directly on the border with Newcana and Balbo, suffered inhumane slaughter during the rebellion, and many of the rebels simply obeyed the lord's orders.
Relatives and brothers on both sides died in this war, and many families were shattered in just two months.
After happiness has become a phantom, people need a target to deflect hatred.
The reason why that rumor was able to spread so quickly was inseparable from this pain and hatred.
Dean Anil had a premonition of this scene at the beginning of the war. And these days, he began to feel a change in people's attitudes towards the monastery: people did not accept their help to rebuild their homes, the poor refused their alms, and fewer people went to pray...
The young priests in the monastery slowly lowered their heads in the face of rejection, not knowing what they were doing wrong.
What are they doing wrong
Are they not merciful
"But… "
Father Lemmy was sore in his heart, what else did he want to say.
"The Lord is above."
Dean Anil tapped several times on his chest and shook his head gently to stop him.
It's not that he didn't know the danger of coming to the Rose Palace this time, but he couldn't avoid it because of the danger. Those young devout people should not die innocently. He wanted to state something to the king, and wanted to ask the king for something. If this is really a murderer, then please start with him first.
It was their sin, and he had no regrets.
The Chief of Internal Affairs came out of the palace.
He asked Father Anil to go in alone.
…
The palace, the king's study.
The king is going through all the records of the funeral ceremony.
A large part of the importance of the Holy See's position in the secular world stems from the intermediary status of their clergy. In the concept of the Holy See, believers are far from the kingdom of God, and bishops and priests hold the key to the "door of the kingdom of God". Funerals are a significant manifestation of this status, and the core point is the "Purgatory Theory".
But not everyone recognizes this intermediary status of the clergy.
It is precisely because some theologians have different opinions for this reason that the Holy See specifically made a formal provision for this at the Holy Spirit Bay congregation in 1411: Purgatory is the death of a person until the "last judgment" before the soul is destroyed. The place of exile and suffering, where the soul will be purified by the fires of purgatory until redemption is complete. [3]
The king had also heard rumors that he would bloodbath all the monasteries and churches, and to some extent, he also secretly pushed the spread of rumors.
However, the king did not intend to really do that.
One reason:
As early as a thousand years, people's daily life has been integrated with faith. It can be said that belief has become an indispensable aspect of life. If you want to eliminate it directly, it will only have an impact on the existing system, and may even cause the existing system to collapse.
The king did not deny that this belief had already become part of Legrand today.
His goal was not the faith itself, but the Holy See as an institution of faith.
After returning to Legrand, the king got some information about Blasey's kingdom:
At the coronation of Prince Charles, he fulfilled the "gift of Cremer V", handing over the secular dominion of the entire Lowlands and the western part of the kingdom to the Pope.
But the Holy See's actions were not all smooth sailing. If they are only limited to this, they will not encounter much resistance, but if they want to really gain control over the secular politics and economy, they will inevitably have some conflicts with the old local interests.
The Saint's energies were on Blasey, and this was Legrand's chance.
He wants to build, Legrand's own church.
The home chief knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The king closed the file in his hand, a record of the 1411 Whitsunday Conference.
In this record, a priest protested the Pope's interpretation of the "Confessions", he denied the "purgatory theory" and the "door to the kingdom of God" key concept.
The priest, called:
Anil.
The author has something to say: I am a little busy at home today, and there is no second watch at night.
[1] In the Middle Ages, "friends" were almost as important as relatives at funerals. “…friendship is a feeling that emerges suddenly and comes violently in pain”. The other is that vigils at funerals are an internal affair within the scope of family obligations, and several popes in history have even refused to include it in religious planning. The king's retention of vigils here is also a form of struggle between the church and family influence in the Middle Ages.
In fact, in the Middle Ages, funerals were always the result of a struggle for influence between the church and the family. If you are interested in the culture of death in the Middle Ages, you can read Daniel Alexandre-Bidon's "Life on Death in the Middle Ages, 13th-16th Centuries"
[2] When noble nobles in the Middle Ages were buried, they would dress up as knights and keep their swords by their side.
[3] The concept of purgatory is closely related to "original sin". Before the Reformation, the concept of eternal life was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so the theory of purgatory was widely spread. There are several ways to redeem souls, such as intercession, mass, and charitable donations. Indulgences are also related to this. In the later reform period, people put forward new concepts of death.
Some reference papers are as follows:
[1] Ren Leping. On the British Funeral Reform in the 19th Century [D]. Nanjing University, 2014.
[2] Song Juan. The Religious Reformation and the British Concept of Death and Its Embodiment [D]. Qufu Normal University, 2016. (The 3rd quote comes from here)
[3] Shi Qinghai. The evolution of Christian death culture: 1st to 17th century [D]. East China Normal University, 2004.