I was pulling trees in Daming, and Lao Zhu begged me to come out of retirement

Chapter 168: Is there something wrong with the King of France’s brain?
The decline of the Roman Curia can be traced back 70 years ago.

It was a confrontation between the Holy See and France, which ended with France imprisoning the Pope, indirectly leading to Pope Boniface VIII's death of shame.

Logically speaking, the Vatican would hate France to the core.

In reality, the French royal family used its influence over French cardinals and Boniface's enemies in Italy to make the Vatican side with France.

Especially after Clement V, a Frenchman, ascended the throne, he directly pardoned the French.

Moreover, after Clement V ascended the throne, he never went to the Vatican, but stayed in the papal territory in Avignon.

It doesn't belong to France in name, but in reality it is France no matter how you look at it.

By doing this, Clement V caused the papacy to begin its "exile outside Rome," just as the ancient Jews were taken captive to Babylon.

Although this is just slander by later generations,

But there is no doubt that seven consecutive French popes have ascended the throne in Avignon and the College of Cardinals is also dominated by French people.

At this time, the Holy See had become France, and the Knights Templar were disbanded by the King of France on charges of heresy during this period.

In fact, the root cause of the demise of the Knights Templar had nothing to do with religion. It was entirely because the King of France coveted the huge wealth held by the Knights Templar, not to mention that they also held a large amount of French debt.

It is worth mentioning here that the senior members or most of the members of the Knights Templar were Jewish. It can only be said that this nation's keenness for money is amazing.

Later, because France controlled the French Vatican and made money, European countries like England directly called the Avignon Vatican a sinner, and its credibility almost dropped to freezing point.

In this era when famine, plague, political and social violence are raging in Europe,
The moral authority of the pope has fallen to a nadir, perhaps even worse than it was in the early 11th century when Catholicism was just emerging.

At that time, the papacy was just a commodity that could be purchased by a corrupt Italian family.

The fact that the Vatican is now even worse than it was back then is enough to illustrate the extent to which its prestige has declined.

Therefore, when the King of France launched a war in the name of the Holy See, everyone's first reaction was whether the King of France had something wrong with his brain.

Charles IV of Luxembourg of the Holy Roman Empire was furious.

Damn it, Rome hasn't fallen yet, and you're launching a war of divine punishment in the name of the Church? Is there still a law? Is there still law!?

Everyone knows that Rome is the authentic church.

My Holy Roman Empire hasn't even said anything yet, and you little France, France...

Ok,

Charles IV sat back on the throne with a sad face.

Although he was the authentic descendant of the Holy Roman Empire, in reality, the Holy Roman Empire was already in name only.

Even his post-Hohenstaufen dynasty was about to collapse.

The minister at the side came up to Charles IV and asked in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, should we denounce France?"

The decline of the Roman Empire was due to the struggle for power between the Pope and the royal family, which ultimately resulted in mutual losses, leading to the rise of European countries.

Charles IV glared at the minister angrily and cursed:
"Denounce? Denounce what? What if they attack us first?"

At this time, Charles IV had issued the Golden Bull, confirming that the emperor must be elected by the seven electors.

In the middle and late period of the empire,

The Habsburg dynasty of the Archduchy of Austria even monopolized the throne of the Holy Roman Empire for 400 years through royal marriages and monetary bribes, and Vienna, the capital of Austria, became the de facto capital of the empire.

This was also a sign of Europe's transition from feudal society to capitalist society. Even the selection of kings was based on money.

The minister curled his lips as he looked at the king who would rather die than let his friend die.
At least nominally speaking, France is also the descendant of the West Frankish Kingdom that split from the Roman Empire. You are a king who has no dignity. The Church and the royal family don't care.
The ministers were naturally happy to watch the show.

Anyway, they knew very well that the king could not control the vassal states within the kingdom's territory.

It is good that Erlang Shen obeys orders but not announcements.

These princes and dukes in Europe neither obey orders nor follow proclamations.

During the hundred years of the struggle between England and France, the army was not even the army of the feudal lords under its own kingdom.
Instead, they were mercenaries that Edward had recruited from the lower class at great expense.

The reason why we fought to the death with France was that
This is also because there are many sheep herders in the UK, and wool is an important source of income for them.

The largest customer for British wool was Flanders, one of the fiefdoms not controlled by the French king.

To put it simply, he is a king of a different surname, and a local tyrant at that.

At that time, Flanders was quite rich because of the wool industry, and used the money to exchange many freedoms from the King of France, so many of its towns were actually more like a union.

The King of France, who once coveted the wealth of the Knights Templar, naturally also coveted the wool trade of Flanders.

So he wanted to take control of Flanders again.

Therefore, this group of people who ran textile factories and exported wool started to fight against France.

The King of England has the blood of the King of France?
It does not matter!

What’s important is that you, a French king with thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually tried to strangle the wool-pulling industry in England?
This can't work.

The Hundred Years' War, which lasted for 117 years, began.

Ultimately, it's all about money.

This talk of the King of England wanting the inheritance of France is all bullshit.

During the war,

The importance of archers was realized during the long war between England and Scotland.

Therefore, in the first stage, the British army relied on 8000 people to defeat the 3 French troops.

In the Battle of Crécy, the noble knights with spears and swords were shot and ran around like rabbits.

Their fine but cumbersome armor was no match for the steel-tipped arrows that were launched with the force of their iron arms.

Before this battle,
War has always been the occupation and pastime of great men.

The knights and nobles rode on their horses in majestic postures, wearing gleaming iron armor, and they would only charge at the critical moment.

Death only accompanies the common people, while the knights only need to enjoy glory and honor.

Even if they were defeated, it would only add a heroic description to their resume, and they would be able to be promoted to another level after their families paid the ransom to redeem the prisoners.

This is why nobles were tied together with knights in the Middle Ages, and those big men, even kings, would appear on the front lines as knights.

It's not that they are brave, but that it is difficult for them to die in war.

After the victory at Crécy, the casualties among these knights skyrocketed, and the glory of war was no longer the exclusive preserve of the nobility.

Edward also relied on his excellent longbowmen to defeat France, causing it to suffer and lose a lot of territory.

But now Charles V has regained his strength.
The first target he locked onto after receiving Tianyu's authorization was Crécy, the place that was once the shame of France!

　I accompanied my daughter to a dance competition today. I was exhausted.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)