MTL - I Am Louis XIV-Chapter 516 Archbishop of Toledo and Duke Don Juan of Madrid

  Chapter 516 The Archbishop of Toledo and the Duke of Don Juan of Madrid (middle)

The man who was fortunate enough to be the 243rd Pope was as many expected an Italian, which is not worth mentioning, and what is worth talking about is that his age is stuck on the verge of Pope Election age, which is seventy-nine years old.

Among the seventy red princes in the Vatican, there are not many bishops who are Italian, pro-Habsburg, and have a bit of malice towards France. War of Spanish Succession.

People in the Church of Rome have been dissatisfied with France for a long time, but because the previous Pope Innocent XI came to the throne after a deal with Louis XIV, he has been trying to mediate and ease the relationship between France and the Church of Rome - Louis XIV The fact that he was not very restrained by the Roman church in the previous two decades was a great contribution, but now it seems that it is difficult to say that the death of Innocent XI was the will of God.

   expressly declare that we do not mean to slander the Roman church here, after all, accidents are everywhere.

Let's go back to the original topic. The reason why this man's age is related to his selection is because the Spanish War of Succession has reached this point, and the Church of Rome and its allies can no longer bear another sudden change. In order to ensure this. The Pope was not bribed, intimidated, or cleverly made a deal with the King of France, the Pope they chose was old and stupid, deaf and blind, and even a puppet placed on the Pope's throne in his place would be more dexterous than him. Some, with this lord sitting on the throne of the Pope, can ensure that the position of the Roman Church can always be consistent with that of Leopold I.

But although Alexander VIII was old enough, he did not have dementia. He knew very well that the French king had no deep love for the Church of Rome since St. Louis, let alone respect. After all, before the Reformation, Rome The church is simply a living hell. After the reform, it has only turned from a cesspool to a quagmire, not to mention that the previous popes have been tirelessly trying to regain the rights usurped by the French king from them, that is, religious taxes, inheritance taxes, and priesthood appointments and removals. Power and other things that were originally in the hands of the Pope, but are now firmly in the hands of the King of France.

If he did what those princes in red asked, would Louis XIV still be immobile even if he couldn't move now? Even if the Sun King lost Spain, he still had the Netherlands, Flanders and the original France. A behemoth, it is not impossible to repeat the Avignon incident. At that time, whose authority can the Pope rely on to fight against Louis XIV?

   In hundreds of years, a great man will ask contemptuously: How many divisions does the Pope have? Alexander VIII also wanted to ask the cardinals who could stop the French army from entering the Vatican if they angered Louis XIV? After all, everyone knows that the person in his heart may be...

Interestingly, there were many people who cursed Louis XIV for being "impious", but the Church of Rome remained silent and even avoided - just as people in later generations joked that when someone accuses you of being bad, you better be able to Was not how. If Louis XIV was as devout as St. Louis, or the French king before St. Louis was as devout to the church as the eldest daughter serving her father, the church would certainly be bossing and humiliating him, but just because Louis XIV had almost proved to be an unbeliever, Instead, the church respected him even more.

As soon as Alexander VIII came to the throne, the cardinal couldn't wait to ask him to veto the orthodoxy of the French Charles's succession to the Spanish throne. Alexander VIII agreed, but he became "ill". He lived in seclusion in Castel Sant'Angelo. He didn't see him either, or in other words, even if someone tried to see him, he was still dying, and he looked like he was going to see God at any time.

The cardinals were of course annoyed, but they were helpless. They tried their best to hide the news of Innocent XI's death, and elected a new pope day and night just to suppress the power of faith. Sun King - France is a Catholic country. Unexpectedly, Alexander VIII was chaotic and ignorant before he ascended the throne, but he was sober after he ascended the throne - he knew that once the edict was issued, he would be the ready-made scapegoat.

The process of Pope Boniface VIII in Avignon's ascension was not honorable, as his enemies cursed, he seized the Pope's throne like a fox, ruled the Vatican like a cruel lion, but like a hyena Die so humbly - Philip, the handsome king of France at the time, united with his enemies, the Colonna family, and seized him in the small town of Arnani, where he was born, stripped him of his clothes, chained him in chains, and made him ride upside down. On a mule - like a vile sinner, besides all this, he suffered so many humiliations that even if released (no one dared to kill a pope), he soon died in disgrace.

Alexander VIII is seventy-nine years old today, but it does not prevent him from wanting to continue to live comfortably, nor does he want his family to face the Sun King of France. Although he and his family are both in Italy, the illegitimate son of the Sun King. He has long been the son-in-law of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Although the Grand Duke of Tuscany has two sons, the eldest son is in Paris. The people of Cana are very used to being ruled by Lord Luciano, and countless voices are saying that Luciano may be the dawn of Italy.

Elsewhere, Luciano's life experience will be criticized, but in Italy - Italy has been divided for too long, the people are fed up with the constant suffering of conquests, and they are eager to see a savior, whether he is hired Soldier, or criminal, or an illegitimate child. Moreover, Luciano's father was such a great king. When the blood theory still prevailed, they couldn't help but place high expectations on this handsome young man.

  Then, with the support of Louis XIV, once Luciano became the king of Italy, the family of Alexander VIII would certainly look up to him. Why did Alexander VIII attract such an enemy for the Habsburgs?

However, Alexander VIII also knew that those "people" would not just watch him procrastinate and delay. He secretly contacted Elarius, who was Louis XIV's spokesman in Rome, and gave the Sun King a warning. After a few days of pretending to be "sick", the Pope's decree was issued, but instead of denying the Charles of France's right to the Spanish throne, he condemned Louis XIV's monopoly on the appointment and removal of the priesthood and "no precious metals and assets. outflow” and other policies…

This can not be said to be wrong. Almost every pope will sternly hold the French king accountable for this issue after he ascends the throne, but just like many "condemnations" in the world, this kind of condemnation is only superficial, and generally speaking, it will not get any In response, no country will see this as an opportunity to attack France.

  So, when Alexander VIII finally began to veto the orthodoxy of France's right to the Spanish throne at the religious level, according to the requirements of the red princes, Carlos III was officially crowned in the Cathedral of Toledo.

  ———

   Let's go back to the day when Alberoni returned to Toledo.

   How familiar was Alberoni with Toledo? He is the son of a gardener, but he was taken away by the archbishop when he was a child. His memory of home has been blurred. In other words, the concept of home is the Cathedral of Toledo, and the concept of father and family is the Archbishop of Toledo. He once thought that he would stay here for a long time, beside the king, beside the bishop, he made a lot of friends, especially Jose Patinho of the same age, he also thought that he would become Carlos King II's minister - from the bottom of his heart, the first time he saw the king, he didn't look like a devil if he didn't quite like it.

But the destruction came so quickly, he stood outside the door of the cathedral, and when a priest hurried past, he looked back several times in disbelief, only to find that the person who came was the little Alberoni he was familiar with, and he was pleasantly surprised He screamed - of course, most people don't know what the archbishop did. He thought he was sent to do something important, and he took Alberoni into the church.

As mentioned before, the Cathedral of Toledo is also an ill-fated building. It was once a cathedral in the Reicado period, and was later transformed into a temple by the Moors. In the twelfth century, the king and the archbishop of the time put the It was changed back to a Catholic cathedral, and more decorations and extensions were added, such as the current five halls, fifteen altars, eighty-eight columns, and stained glass that has only been inlaid in the past three centuries, countless Gorgeous specks cast on the ground, seats and walls, making this earthly abode of God as sublime as its name suggests.

   The people in this church seem to have the same fate as it.

   Archbishop of Toledo saw Alberoni, and he was first delighted, then hesitant, then suspicious, and finally his expression froze in sadness.

   "Teacher," said Alberoni.

   "Why did you come back," asked the archbishop, "or what brought you back?"

  Alberoni was silent for a while: "I want to come back myself, teacher."

   "Go back to Paris, or anywhere, as long as it's not Toledo," said the archbishop: "This is going to be **** soon."

   "Your words confuse me," said Alberoni: "I asked His Majesty the King, and His Majesty promised me that he would treat the people of Toledo graciously."

   "The people? Where are the priests?"

   "His Majesty's bishops will be selected and identified one by one—if they are as they swore..."

   "Stop talking nonsense." The archbishop said bluntly. The Inquisition in Toledo can be rotten like that, let alone the church. He also wanted to reform the church in Toledo, but he has neither the support of the church nor the support of those in power—Spanish The church is like a big tree. Although it is rotten, the roots below are so dense, complex and huge that no one can imagine them. Members, there may be a huge shady secret behind them.

   "Monsieur Bishop," said Alberoni, "Your Majesty said that if you wish...you may become the Abbot of the Abbey of Poblet."

"The price is good." The Archbishop didn't even bother to ask who Alberoni was referring to as His Majesty—Louis XIV would not allow the Archbishop to remain in his current position. The Archbishop of Toledo must be someone trusted by Bourbon. In the future, he will become a confidant of Carlos III. The Poblet Monastery is one of the largest and richest monasteries in Spain. It used to be the burial place of the Aragonese and Catalan royal families. Not a bad place, even for the Archbishop of Toledo.

   "But you have seen it," said the archbishop, "we will not surrender." He stared at Alberoni, "unless Louis XIV agrees to our terms."

   "What conditions?"

   "The Church of Spain is still the Church of Spain, and Spain is still the Spain of the Spaniards."

"impossible."

"Then you can reply to your king like this," the archbishop tapped the ground with his toes: "Guess what's under this? Alberoni, my good disciple?" Alberoni followed his movements and looked down. Go, the ground of the church is a flat stone, but there is obviously fresh soil between the gaps. To say that someone brought in the soil from the outside, Alberoni would not believe it, he raised his head and looked at the archbishop.

   "Yes," said the archbishop, "there is enough gunpowder to destroy this cathedral."

   "...that's what you told me?"

The archbishop showed a mocking look: "Otherwise, I'm not the kind of person who is naive enough to think that the king of France will come here unsuspecting, yes, even if I don't say anything, those French people will know, but they know that It's one thing, it's impossible to stop us."

True, it's easy to stop an assassination, but the archbishop's words show that those who were hiding - Alberoni glanced at the high dome of the cathedral, and perhaps there was not enough gunpowder buried under it to destroy the cathedral. , but they will certainly set fire to it. Once such a tall and empty building catches fire, the howling wind from the halls alone can carry the flames in all directions, turning this splendid palace into black coal with no effort. cave.

   "This will not hinder your Majesty." Could it be that the French army will stop outside Toledo and stop moving. impossible.

   "I only know that His Majesty loved his children very much," said the archbishop, "and he certainly did not want Bourbon's start in Spain to be a disaster."

   (end of this chapter)