Pope Urban II of the First Crusade, in order to strengthen the religious beliefs of the Crusaders, announced that all those who joined the army could obtain a reduction of crime and penalty, and issued indulgences to every Crusader. The theoretical basis for this

It is Christ who was crucified, and his merits are immeasurable. The Virgin Mary and the saints also accumulated many "good deeds". In addition to atonement for their own sins, there is still excess merit, which accumulates and becomes the "treasury" of the church. The church has the right to decide where sinners should be treated.

When the good deeds done are not enough to fully make up for the sin, some merit can be obtained from the merit bank to offset the debt of the sin and punishment. The bishop has the right to exempt part of the sin and punishment, and the pope has the right to exempt all the sin and punishment.

Although I don’t know what the crucifixion of Christ has to do with the immeasurable merits, and I don’t know why other people’s extra merits should be accumulated into the church’s “merits” instead of allowing them to receive better treatment in heaven.

But in any case, the "indulgence" invented by Urban II was still very useful to the Crusaders at that time.

This is the same reason as Zhao Huan said that after dying for the Song Dynasty, he could choose to go to heaven to be a soldier or a general, or to go to Lingshan in the west to become a Buddha and Arhat.

But, the crux of the problem is that not only the Eastern monks can recite the sutras crookedly, but also those bastards in the West can also recite the good sutras crookedly.

His Majesty Urban II created indulgences for the Crusades. At first, they were distributed to the Crusaders for free to strengthen their faith, but later the Vatican found that these things were very popular, and even reached the point where demand exceeded supply.

Here we have to talk about the issue of “sin”.

Christianity believes that people are born with sin, and people living in the world must constantly atone for their sins with their good deeds. Therefore, the souls of those who do good deeds are saved and can go to heaven after death, while those who do evil will enter hell because of their serious sins.

Of course there is nothing wrong with this theory of leading people to be good, but the punishment system introduced by Christianity is extremely harsh. Even failure to repent in time, eating meat on Friday, etc. are sins and must be punished. If all sins are added

It is impossible for a person to redeem himself even if he spends his whole life.

So indulgence coupons have become a good thing. If you don’t repent in time, get one. If you eat meat on Friday, you will get another one. If you and your wife have a new trick, you will get one. Anyway, there is no sin that cannot be solved by one indulgence coupon. If

Yes, here are two.

Then the Vatican saw that indulgences were so popular. What else was there to say? They were sold out!

In order to sell indulgences, priests often use the pulpit to brag: "Don't you hear? Your dead parents, dead relatives and friends are crying, 'Show mercy, the punishment is too painful, I can't bear it. Give me some charity.

, save us.'" They even used slogans like: "Gold and silver are put into the warehouse, and the souls are dancing."

In the church at that time, even the priesthood could be bought and sold, and buying and selling some merit was not a strange thing.

It was because Eleanor saw this that she wanted to drag the Holy See into trouble.

My husband launched the Crusades with Conrad III to preach for the Holy See. Now that they were defeated and captured, shouldn't the Holy See contribute?

As for dragging the whole of Europe and the Holy See into trouble in order to save her husband, from Eleanor's point of view it was no big deal, it was just a matter of buying a few more indulgences.

But what Eleanor didn't expect was that even though she had planned all these things, Louis VI and Suger were timid again.

For Louis VI and Suger, it was okay to drag the whole of Europe into the water, but to drag the Holy See into the water was a bit beyond their psychological endurance.

"Should we study this matter slowly?"

Louis VI sneered and said: "We can persuade other countries to send troops together, but if we have to drag the Holy See into trouble, I'm afraid the Lord will not redeem us?"

Sure also nodded and echoed: "Little Louis and the others only brought 40,000 troops when they went to Seljuk. If we join forces with other countries, there may be 140,000 or even 400,000 troops, just like Princess Eleanor.

That said, no matter how powerful the country to the east of Seljuk is, can it still be stronger than our entire European coalition?"

After hearing what the two said, Eleanor finally understood that Louis VI and the French Regent were nothing more than mud, and they were no better than a woman like herself.

Speaking of which, if the European coalition fails, Louis VII will certainly not be able to be saved, but what will he and his daughter do in their future lives? Henry of England has always behaved like a peacock with its tail spread, should I give him

An opportunity?

Thinking of this, Eleanor simply laughed and said: "Since you have decided so, then just follow your decision."

Louis VI and Suger naturally heard the dissatisfaction in Eleanor's words, but Louis VI still cared about the safety of Louis VII. After a sneer, he said to Eleanor: "Isn't there the participation of the Holy See?

That’s not possible?”

Eleanor nodded and said: "It's not that it won't work without the participation of the Holy See, but the participation of the Holy See can make us more confident. In addition to sharing some of the pressure for us, it can also share some of the military expenses.

expenditure."

"As I just said, the existence of indulgences allows the Holy See not to worry about military expenses. The indulgences were originally issued by His Majesty Urban II for the first Crusade. Now we have joined forces with the Holy See to form a new one.

The Crusades were not only for the rescue of Louis the Younger and Conrad III, but also for the Third Crusade. Isn’t this the fundamental meaning of the existence of indulgences?”

"Another point is that our lords in France and the Holy Roman Empire have already sent troops. If we don't unite with the Holy See and other countries to form the Third Crusade, do we have to give up our lords and knights?"

…

The entire European continent was stirred up by the French.

Like how Louis the Younger and Conrad III had already occupied the Seljuk Kingdom, but it was the pagan country to the east of the Seljuks who suddenly entered the war that led to Louis the Younger and Conrad III being defeated and captured. What about the Seljuk Kingdom?

The Seljuks and the country to the east of Seljuk are extremely rich, the ground is full of gems, and the rivers are flowing with honey and milk. For example, the pagan country to the east of Seljuk is about to conquer the west. They want to destroy the Son of God.

People were turned into slaves, and other news spread all over the sky, causing panic throughout Europe.

The formation of the Third Crusade has become the most important thing in Europe at the moment.
Chapter completed!