Chapter 170 The judgment of history is the final judgment
The cathedral of Bishop Amedeh in Karak City has a towering bell tower.
This kind of bell tower is usually equipped with a large bell, which rings regularly to tell the time and call believers to attend mass or other religious activities.
Now, on the bell tower of the church, in such an excellent viewing position, there are two people looking down at the farce in the square.
"To be honest, Antoine, I never thought that Etienne's gang would actually think of hiring a murderer to kill me, and they still killed me..."
As soon as he reviewed the whole incident, Garris felt that there was something wrong with these people's minds.
Indeed, assassinations have never ceased in human history.
Eight hundred years later, Archbishop Salvador Romero of Latin America, who supported liberation theology, was shot dead on the spot while celebrating mass.
But who shot Archbishop Romero? That's the secret police of the Salvadoran military government!
The military government of El Salvador was even able to order soldiers to shoot at the people at the funeral of Archbishop Romero, attended by 250,000 people!
How rebellious and disrespectful of the church?
Compared with the Salvadoran military government of later generations, which had a secret police and a professional army, what did these half-hearted parliamentarians have?
In addition to the money, the so-called status of members did bring them some privileges, but it was not enough to allow them to enter the ranks of the powerful aristocracy.
Compared with Saladin, Leonard... and those characters, this group of congressmen are nothing more than a group of kittens.
They looked like they were showing off their teeth and claws, but they were actually vulnerable. If they lived outside the city wall, even a family of tax collectors like Ahmed could easily kill them all.
It can only be said that it was the opulent life in the past that made them breathless, coupled with the snatching and taking of the world within the city walls, that made these frogs in the well really consider themselves to be figures.
As for the citizens, it had already been planned. From the beginning, the funeral was a drama.
The congressmen were pulled onto the stage and became clowns without knowing it. The lame Albon and the six of them became tainted witnesses, telling the truth about what happened.
As for the other witnesses in this process, they were all found in advance.
Once the emotions are in place, as long as someone takes the lead and the citizens fall into a state of group empathy, they can easily trample on the seemingly deep-rooted authority of the past.
"Prophet, can this wash away the sins in the city?" Father Antoine expressed his confusion.
"If we can't do it, it's not enough. This is just the beginning. I can only say that when the people can trample on the authority of the past once, then they can naturally trample on it twice, three times, four times... countless times."
Saying this, Garris couldn't help but think of France in later generations.
Since the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, France has maintained its background as an old revolutionary base for the entire hundred years since then.
Dozens of old princes and nobles fell from the altar, and various attempts to restore dynastic autocracy were overthrown by the French people one after another...
What he is doing now is just to let the citizens of Karak City break their fear of the upper city and the fear of those councilors.
Garris does not want to become the master of Qingtian, but to make these citizens realize that there is no master worth fearing.
However, just as the people below were venting their anger.
Garris noticed two things. One was that there was movement in the Adil military camp in the distance, and the other direction was Karak Castle. The suspension bridge leading to Karak City was lowered.
A group of 50 armored soldiers lined up neatly and marched towards the city. Behind the 50 soldiers was another old acquaintance - Stephanie.
……
Theoretically, secular lords and church bishops should have a parallel relationship.
Priests obey bishops, and bishops obey the Pope.
Lower-level lords obeyed superior lords, and superior lords obeyed the secular king.
Neither the king nor the secular lords, in theory, belong to the Catholic Church.
Of course, this is just a theory. In reality, the appointment and removal of bishops has long been a focus of contention between secular kings and the Roman Pope.
However, since there is a competition process, it means that things here are not absolute.
When Bishop Amedei met Leonard, although he was inferior to him, his influence in the city was stronger than that of Leonard.
After all, the union between the church and the laity is far closer than the rule of secular lords over their subjects, so that people are willing to serve.
Therefore, Bishop Amedei's long-term refusal to surrender has almost a veto effect.
This stalemate is undoubtedly a torture for Stephanie.
Compared with the safety of the city, Humphrey is the most important existence to her.
At Stephanie's age, it is impossible for her to have a new son!
Finally, a time came, and Stephanie had decided to use her status as a lord to express her attitude.
Accompanied by the slightly messy steps and the clattering sound of the chainmail.
The 50 sergeants stepped into the square in front of the church, the swords and armor in their hands shining brightly in the sun.
First, some citizens in the outermost circle noticed the approach of the soldiers, and they reminded the citizens in the inner circle that something had happened outside.
Immediately afterwards, the church bell suddenly rang again, a low and solemn sound that instantly broke the hustle and bustle in the square.
The citizens, who had beaten the congressmen to a bloody pulp, woke up from the collective frenzy and noticed the changes around them. The atmosphere was a bit deserted, the citizens were adjusting their positions, and the guards who were originally maintaining order at the funeral were.
To be precise, it was the city guards who had received training from Garris who took the initiative to stand in the front row of the crowd.
If we talk about the sergeants under Stephanie, all of them are wearing armor, holding swords, and are fully armed to kill people.
Then the city guard on the citizens' side is much shabby.
Only less than one-third of the people were wearing armed clothes or cotton armor, and most of the weapons in their hands were spears. They looked like a mob.
During this confrontation, the siege horn sounded outside the city, and Adil's army marched towards the city wall.
However, the sergeant who was supposed to be standing on the city wall guarding Karak Castle instead stood in the square in front of the church, confronting the citizens.
Stephanie, who put on the armor herself, had cold eyes and no mercy on her face.
She walked from the sergeants on the side to the front row and stated her request to all the citizens present.
"Listen! If you don't surrender to the army outside the city, I will kill you all without mercy!"
Secular tyrants, as they have always done, have remained unchanged for thousands of years, relying on the army to humiliate the people who are closely united.
The alarm bells sounded on the city wall, which meant that the city was now under siege by the army. The bells on the church rang again continuously, with melodious and tragic tones, which seemed to indicate the fate of the city.
The citizens did not answer Stephanie's words, after Garris preached again and again these days.
In fact, they all already understood their situation, and Adil's surrender request was unacceptable to them.
Once they surrender to the Saracens outside the city, those who cannot pay the ransom will be demoted as slaves and taken to Egypt for sale, where they will face the most miserable future.
Be it the uptown councilors in the city or the lord Stephanie in the castle...
These guys who were originally aloof never cared about the fate of the poor people in the lower city.
They are the abandoned ones, the forgotten ones, the humble ones with only a few words in the history books...
Garris had already mentioned to them how future generations would record it during his sermon.
[The city was destroyed, Adil's army committed no crime, no one suffered misfortune, Stephanie and her son Humphrey were sent out of the country as gifts, and the properties of those who paid the ransom were properly treated...]
Anger has been accumulated in my heart for a long time, and today's funeral is just an opportunity to explode.
They cannot tolerate being betrayed by rich men or lords of the same clan!
[Man is created in the image and likeness of God, so the groans of the people are really the voice of God. 】
[God is not the Lord of death, but the Lord of life who listens to the cry of his people. 】
[The judgment of history is the final judgment. What is done to the poor and humble is what was done to Jesus,]
[The Savior in whom Christians trust is hidden among those whose faces are distorted by poverty. 】
[Therefore, Christians cannot remain aloof and indifferent to this historical judgment. 】
[We must keep our feet on the ground, take up the cross of history, and fight for each other and the lives and liberation of our brothers and sisters! 】
——Excerpt from the first volume of "The Words of Garris"
Amedei squeezed out from the crowd of citizens, and he protected the believers behind him.
"Amedei, are you sure you want to do this?"
Stephanie's cold question received a response from the bishop that she had never expected.
"Martyrdom is a gift from God, and I don't think I can get it."
"But if God accepts the sacrifice of my life, then let my blood become the seeds of freedom and a symbol before the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven."
"Stephanie, a bishop may die, but the Church of God, the people, will never die."
Today, Amedeh's faith in Christ is unbreakable.
He increasingly understood why the Christian sages could deal with martyrdom calmly.
As never before, he was proud to be a bishop and to be at the forefront of the faithful.
"Attack!" Stephanie ordered coldly, her voice like the biting cold wind.
The second update, and then the additional update for the 700 monthly pass, will be done tomorrow.
(End of chapter)