Chapter 289 - 223: Patulin and Black Rose (Part 2)

He brazenly sold Holy Offices in secret and married secular women. He strongly opposed the celibacy advocated by the Patulin Sect, as well as the proposal for Clergy to emulate Christ, and repeatedly prevented their sermons.

However, his actions only fueled the influence of the Patulin Sect, which spread through Milan with nearly unstoppable momentum. With the citizens’ support, the Patulin Sect began forcing all Clergy to sign a declaration of celibacy and expelled the Abbot appointed by the Archbishop who refused to comply.

Ultimately, the enraged Archbishop had the Patulin Sect’s leader at the time, Arialdo, assassinated. Arialdo’s death ignited the citizens’ fury. Simultaneously, the Pope issued an excommunication, expelling the Archbishop of Milan from the Church. Under the leadership of the Patulin Sect’s new leader, Elrond, the Patrin Sect Monks and the citizens expelled the Archbishop.

Despicably, however, the Emperor once again sided with the Archbishop of Milan. The Emperor ignored the pleas of Milan’s citizens. He ignored the devout, kind, and benevolent Patalin Monk Elrond—who even had the Pope’s support—and reinstated the Archbishop to his position.

The citizens saw this as a blatant sale of a Holy Office, believing the Emperor had been corrupted by the Devil. Thus, during a sermon, they rioted once more.

The Marquis happened to be in Milan at that time, dealing with his financial problems; the Lanzafame family was issuing him a final repayment notice. The citizens surrounded the Marquis’s temporary residence, attempting to coerce the Marquis of Milan into rebelling against the Emperor.

The naive Marquis, assuming it was merely the usual crowd asking for alms, denied his soldiers’ request to attack the citizens. To win their trust and further appease them, he dismissed the few soldiers accompanying him.

By the time everyone realized what was happening, it was too late.

The citizens lifted him up. A goldsmith used all his gold to forge a new crown and forced it onto his head, signifying the Milan Marquisate’s formal independence from the Empire.

The Marquis supported the new Pope’s Church reforms, was disgusted by the Emperor’s practice of appointing Bishops, and sympathized with the citizens’ plight. However, he was unwilling to enter into direct conflict with the Emperor.

The furious citizens, however, imprisoned him.

News of the Marquis’s imprisonment spread quickly throughout the Marquisate. The cities and the villages controlled by the Marquis’s vassals began to blockade Milan, attempting to starve the Patulin Sect and the citizens into submission.

However, this proved to be a terrible move. Starvation caused everything to spiral out of control.

The new leader of the Patulin Sect, Elrond, repeatedly sought the Marquis’s support, but the Marquis consistently refused to cooperate. Elrond soon discovered he was completely unable to control the situation.

Because of the starvation, the Patulin Sect split into two factions. The Municipal Faction, representing the wealthy citizens, sought to use the Marquis as a bargaining chip to negotiate peace with his vassals. If independence for the Marquisate was unattainable, they demanded, at a minimum, complete autonomy for Milan City, with a judiciary free from any interference by the Archbishop or the Marquis.

The Shepherd Faction, composed mainly of the city’s poor, refused peace talks and demanded an offensive to expel all Clergy and Nobility who did not submit to the Patulin Sect, and to realize all of the Patulin Sect’s demands. They sought to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Not just the Clergy, but also the secular Lay People must perfectly emulate Christ and restore the ancient Christian fellowships.

The conflict between the two factions reached its peak after the Patulin Sect’s leader, Elrond, was assassinated by the Marquis’s supporters.

The two sides began to slaughter each other. Black Rose sided with the Shepherd Faction. Soon, the Municipal Faction was overpowered and all but wiped out.

Executions followed, along with a purge of the Municipal Faction’s property and food supplies. At the same time, they launched attacks on the territories of the Marquis’s vassals, and the Patulin Sect began to expand rapidly.

However, the cruel executions soon devolved into mere outlets for rage, spiraling out of control.

The Shepherd Faction soon fractured internally. One splinter group planned to release the Marquis, hoping to prevent further tragedy and return things to the way they were.

The two sides went back and forth, and the Marquis was released and recaptured several times.

Finally, the commander of Black Rose had enough. He killed a group of Patalin Monks and seized temporary control of Milan.

Although it was never stated outright, all members of the Black Rose Corps felt that the Grand Commander planned to take Milan for himself.

When the commander learned that the Marquis was secretly contacting the Emperor for aid, the Black Rose commander quickly switched his allegiance to the Emperor, declaring his readiness to demonstrate his loyalty at any moment.

"What in the world is all this? You’re not just spouting nonsense, are you?" Belem grabbed the ’Priest’ by the neck and pressed a dagger to his throat.

"Tell me about it. But sometimes reality is stranger than the tales of a Minstrel." The ’Priest’ hastily raised his hands.

Eric waved a hand at Belem, signaling him to release the ’Priest’.

"Can you guarantee that’s the truth?"

"It’s true, it’s true! If it’s not, you can have that lord there gouge out my eyes again whenever you want." The ’Priest’ nodded frantically.

"My men have been on official business since this morning. They’re tired, covered in sweat, and then they get attacked by a bunch of worthless guys like you.

"The Knights fought a victorious battle and have nothing to show for it. That doesn’t seem right, does it?" Eric said with a smile.

"Not right, not right at all," the ’Priest’ said, shaking his head连忙.

"And you, a Knight, not receiving the treatment a Knight deserves, only to be killed by us just like that... That wouldn’t be right either, would it?"

"That would be even less right! Not right at all!" The ’Priest’ shook his head even more vigorously.

"What’s your family name, friend?" Eric asked, walking over.

"De...!" the ’Priest’ blurted out, squeezing his eyes shut, thinking Eric was about to hit him again.

"What the fuck is your family name?" Eric slapped him.

"Sforza!" the ’Priest’ roared at the top of his lungs.

"Good. Deputy Commander Sforza, you’re going to take us on a trip to Milan. We need to pick some things up there. Once we do, don’t worry, you’ll get a share." Eric patted Sforza’s head, then swung himself onto his warhorse.

"May I be so bold as to ask who you are...?" the ’Priest’, Sforza, asked, looking at Eric and Belem.

"Robert Belem, Earl of Shrewsbury, and Eric Outville, Earl of Gloucester, from England," Belem announced, jumping in before Eric could speak.

By this time, the Knights had finished clearing the battlefield. Since there was nothing of value and capturing these untitled citizens wouldn’t yield any ransom, the Knights only kept a small number of prisoners.

On the way back to Piacenza, Eric and Belem finally ran into the Patulin Sect’s Civilian Militia returning from a grain run. They were hurrying toward Piacenza when Eric easily routed them and seized their grain.