The Rise of the European Emperor

In the next few years, in addition to fighting in England and using troops overseas, Marin will be dormant in Germany for a long time, waiting for the religious war to come. Then, the war to annex northern Germany begins.

However, there is a big problem here - that is, the religious war broke out too late...

According to Marin's memory, in 1517, Martin Luther posted the "Ninety-Five Theses" and officially launched the Reformation. However, in the early days, the strength of Lutheran was a little weak, and it was only preserved by the protection of Frederick III, the elector of Saxony.

It wasn't until the mid-16th century that Lutheranism flourished in northern Germany. This is so because of the gradual reformation of Lutheran teachings. Of course, it is not a progressive improvement, but an improvement that meets the needs of the princes.

The main contents of Martin Luther's Reformation are:

(1) The core of the thought is "justification by faith".

(2) All men are equal before God and the Bible. This is actually against the prerogative of the Holy See and bishops, and is most hated by Catholics.

(3) The only basis for belief is the Bible. "Reflects the rising bourgeoisie's desire for freedom, equality and anti-feudal ideology." (Actually, the previous sentence was interpreted by some crappy politicians, no different from P. The real core of this sentence , is to deprive the Holy See of the right to interpret and adjudicate, so that the secular forces of Germany can be liberated from the repression of the Holy See. The core idea is the struggle for rights, the conflict between the German feudal lord and the Holy See. It has nothing to do with the bourgeoisie P. Because, these days, Germany is still an agricultural area, business is not very developed, Mao's bourgeoisie. Even if there are businessmen alliances such as the Hanseatic League, these businessmen have no say in German political life. Germany really has It is those princes and nobles who have the right to speak.)

(4) Reduce churches and monasteries, simplify religious ceremonies, and advocate that priests can marry wives. This is not bad. Many monks who have moved their hearts should like it. It is no wonder that some Catholic priests support Protestantism. This one is equivalent to liberating their crotch...

(5) Secular power is higher than religious power, and ultimately dominates religious power.

(6), to establish the church of the German nation.

...

In fact, Martin Luther opposed Catholicism in the early days, mainly because of Catholicism's exploitation of the German region, which caused serious disasters to the German people. Therefore, the early thinking of Martin Luther mainly focused on the first three points. Its core idea is to oppose the intervention and control of the Holy See in Germany.

but,

This kind of thinking is good for the German people, but it is not good for the powerful princes and nobles in Germany.

It was not until later that Martin Luther added the fifth thought that "the secular power is higher than the religious power, and ultimately dominates the religious power", and a fundamental change has taken place.

After this idea was made public, many German princes changed their attitudes and began to support Lutheranism, especially in northern Germany where the Catholic Church was weak. Because this is of great benefit to those princes.

Among them, the most important point is that Martin Luther believed that tithes should be collected by secular monarchs, not by the Catholic Church...

Now the princes are in a frenzy. What is the tithing? That's one-tenth of the income of the entire nation! In ancient Europe, there was no other type of taxation for the whole population except tithe. Kings and princes mainly rely on the output of their own territories and business taxes to maintain. Therefore, the aristocrats are often in poor financial condition, while the church lives very well.

Why does the church live well? Isn't it because of the tithe tax on the whole people? This is a huge cake!

In any case, in the territory of the general princes, there are still tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. If there are 50,000 laborers in the territory, and the income per person is 2 pfennig per day, then the income per person is 12 gold coins per year. 50,000 labor force is 600,000 gold coins. And the tithing is to take one-tenth of everyone's income, so the annual income of this lord is 60,000 gold coins...

But in fact, in Germany, in addition to the lords of the developed commercial areas, the lords of the purely agricultural vassal states, the annual tax revenue is far less than 60,000 gold coins. For many princes, the annual tax revenue is only a few thousand gold coins. Of course, those princes would have starved to death long ago if they had relied on taxes. They are generally maintained by the output of the estate under the name.

But getting the right to tithe makes a big difference. A powerful vassal state like the Electorate of Saxony with a population of more than one million, not to mention the commercial taxes, the tithes alone are estimated to have hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year. Counting the commercial tax and territorial income, it will properly reach more than one million gold coins per year...

You must know that today's France, such a powerful country, only has an annual fiscal revenue of more than one million gold coins...

Therefore, after Martin Luther put forward such a point of view in the middle and late period, especially after proposing to let the princes collect tithes, many princes took a 180-degree turn, quickly joined Lutheranism, and began to "dominate the church" ”, in effect confiscating and looting church property…

Then, the Schmalkalden League was formed...

This alliance was actually an alliance of robbers who robbed the church's wealth. Of course, in the political books of later generations, they were portrayed as heroes who resisted oppression...

...

Marin remembers that the first Schmalkalden War broke out around 1546. The army of Charles V defeated the army of the Schmalkalden League. The main reason was to defeat the army led by the Elector of Saxony Johann Frederick, the leader of the Schmalkalden League. This John Frederick is the baby that Frederick III's younger brother John was born when Marin occupied Wittenberg... After Charles V's victory, he deposed John Frederick's elector. The seat of Elector was given to the descendants of George, Duke of Saxony...

Of course, in the second Schmalkalden War that followed, the Protestant League defeated Charles V and signed the "Augsburg Religious Peace Treaty", which established the principle of "teaching follows the state" and recognized the right of the princes of each state to be free. Select itself and its subjects to be Catholic or Lutheran Protestant. Later, because of this principle, Protestantism gradually grew. After the "Thirty Years' War" in the 17th century, the Protestant forces finally defeated Catholicism, and the power of the Holy See declined completely. Since then, the authority of the Holy See is no longer, and the European monarchs have finally got rid of their spiritual shackles...

...

However, there is a big problem here - when the first Schmalkalden War broke out in 1546, Marin was 68 years old at that time, and the old man was not sure whether he was still alive. It's only 1505, and 41 years from 1546. Where can Marin wait?

By then, let alone Marin, even little Caesar will have to be in his forties...

Marin couldn't wait, so he decided to start early...

How to start early? Of course, the spy was sent to contact Martin Luther early to "guide" him to generate the idea of ​​the Reformation earlier.

Then, the most important point is - must let Martin Luther in the early days of the Reformation, put forward the idea that "the secular power is higher than the religious power, and will eventually dominate the religious power", and put forward the idea of ​​letting the princes control the tithe collection……

As long as this point is raised, not to mention that Frederick III will support Martin Luther, most of the other princes who are not religious enough will also support Martin Luther. Because wealth and silk move people's hearts. The princes are generally poor, if they get the right to collect tithes...

In this way, Martin Luther's Reformation may have been greatly accelerated. There is no need to wait until 1546 for the religious wars to break out early. Then, Marin could use the name of defending the Holy See with a smile to annex the fiefs of the Protestant princes. It is reasonable and legal, and it can also get the support of the Pope. At that time, as soon as the Pope is happy, he can crown him a king...