Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 199 The Crusaders' Hurricane is Coming
The island of Cyprus lacks a highly unified bureaucratic system, and there is no connection between the court and the local areas.

In fact, the island of Cyprus exists only as a geographical concept.

The only social entity that covers the entire island is the Church of Cyprus.

After the "Senate" disappeared from the physical and flesh level, the only one who could represent the people of Cyprus, gather and mobilize the power of people from all over the country, and issue the "Holy Oracle" in a unified manner was the Cyprus Church.

At the same time, the Church of Cyprus, as a branch of Christianity, found itself powerless when faced with an extraordinary being like Garys.

In other words, ever since Gellis performed a miracle at the Holy Synod, killed all the "Varangis" in an instant, and picked up the gilded "Royal Scepter" from the body of Sophronius.

This whole world, the north and south of the earth, the four poles of the universe...

The only true Head of Christ was born.

He is not an archbishop appointed by the false emperor who usurped the church, nor is he a Catholic pope who inherited the legacy of St. Peter.

He is Christ the Head reappearing again, the second reaffirmation of the Word to this earth.

When Garys came to this sacred synod and took up the scepter, he was simply taking back the authority that was rightfully his.

Since Christ is the source of all priesthood, the priests of the Old Testament were only types of Christ, while the priests of the New Testament actually act in the person of Christ.

As part of Orthodoxy, the Church of Cyprus rightly recognizes this.

In fact, in the 12th century, there were not many substantial differences between Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

Christianity maintained relative unity in the first few centuries, with local churches recognizing each other's bishops and resolving theological disputes through ecumenical councils, such as the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople.

But as different cultural and linguistic practices developed in the east and west of the Roman Empire, differences also emerged between Eastern and Western Christianity.

The Eastern Church used Greek, while the Western Church mainly used Latin. Gradually, differences emerged between the East and the West in terms of rituals, theological concepts, and church organizational structures.

To be precise, there are more and more differences between Western European Christianity centered on the Roman Patriarch and other scattered Orthodox Churches under the non-Roman Patriarch.

By 1054, the conflict was officially triggered, and the so-called "Great Schism" occurred between the Eastern and Western Churches.

The immediate causes of the split included the issue of "Filioque" (Latin for "and the Son") and the authority of the church.

The "Philioch" issue refers to the fact that in 1014, the Roman Catholic Church added a word to the Nicene Creed without the approval of the Ecumenical Council.

So that the original "I believe in the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and Life-giver, proceeding from the Father. 】

It becomes "I believe in the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and Life-giver, proceeding from the Father "and the Son."

The change of a word is intended to indicate the equal status of the Son and the Father in the Trinity, emphasizing the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.

Other churches thought, "You bastard Roman Church, you didn't consult us before doing this, why are you talking on your own? Where is their authority, status, and face?"
In addition, almost all official churches in Western Europe at that time were headed by the Pope, who was known to have supreme authority and was infallible.

Other Christian churches rejected the Pope's monopoly and advocated autonomy for local churches.

As a result, the Eastern and Western churches expelled each other's bishops, leading to the formal split of the church into Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

From this we can see that the split between Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism is more a reflection of the conflict over whether the Roman Church and the Catholic Pope have supreme authority in the Christian system.

But this problem is not a problem when facing Garys.

No matter how authoritative and sacred the Pope is, can he be as authoritative and sacred as Gary?
Can the Pope of Rome stand still and let sinners bleed?
Can the Pope of Rome stand still and not be hurt by mortals!

The Holy One of Jerusalem, the body of Jesus who suffered the cross, the prophet who had been hidden for a thousand years, the brother of the heavenly brother! He was the one who died of the sword wound!
The bishops present either rejected Gellis' grace and were accused of being sinners, but they could not use scriptural debate to oppose the actual miracle.

Or you can just accept it from the bottom of your heart and become more and more fanatical.

The Kingdom of Heaven is no longer a lie; the Word of God is now heard on earth a second time.

This bleeding land is bound to welcome the coming of the kingdom of heaven.

Every benefit and power that Garys took away from the powerful and the church was guaranteed by the kingdom of heaven after death.

Eternal life, resurrection of the body, and a beautiful future with God.

It has never been as real as it is now, so real that it makes people unable to help but give everything...

Thirteen bishops, through more than two hundred priests, are spread throughout Cyprus.

Every church proclaimed the true "holy decree" to the surrounding farmers, citizens, and landlords.

[Behold! The tabernacle of the Lord is with men, and God himself will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.]

[There will be no more crying or mourning, and death will be no more. The old things have passed away, and all things are new...]

For a time, in the hearts of countless people, Cyprus seemed to be only one step away from welcoming the coming of heaven.

Even though no priest has explicitly said so, many people feel that if they follow in Gairis’s footsteps, they might get a ticket through to heaven.

This also explains the confusion in many people's minds: why a group of peasants could defeat Isaac's army one after another; but the big figures of the "elder" nobles were easily slaughtered when they rebelled against Isaac.

But if we say that those victories are part of the miracle, it is easy to understand.

After all, everyone knows that this world was created by Jehovah Almighty, and as the offspring of the Lord Almighty, it is natural that we can win all wars.

After more than two hundred priests preached, thirteen bishops, and the deacons vividly recreated the scene in the "Council Hall" to testify for Gellis.

A wave of religious frenzy swept across the island, including the heroes who had already rebelled against Isaac and the devout believers.

Under the organization of priests and bishops, a scene was staged where 14 armies of princes gathered together.

Nearly 30,000 people dropped their jobs, obeyed the priest's call, and joined this "pilgrimage" or "crusade."

This time the "Crusade" was no longer announced by the Pope of Rome, but by a saint from Jerusalem: Gairís.

Of course, it was not an expedition to the east, but a march to the west, towards Isaac's palace.

However, it was different from the disastrous First Crusade.

This time, the 30,000 "Crusaders" were divided into more than 200 small teams, each led by a priest and with only about 150 people in each team.

In addition, the deacons are obedient to the priests and can serve as team leaders. There are also Frank veterans acting as consultants, so the organizational effect is actually quite good.

In addition, the east-west distance of Cyprus Island is at most 220 kilometers. For most people, the round-trip march distance does not exceed 200 kilometers, and they can solve the problem of food by bringing their own seven-day supply of dry food.

So, Gillis was happy to see this happen.

……

There were over ten thousand people and it was a huge crowd.

On this vast coastal plain, an army was assembled that was the largest ever seen on the island of Cyprus.

Most of these people were farmers dressed in simple clothes, with tanned faces and calloused hands.

The citizens had relatively fewer clothes, but more of them carried weapons.

A very small number of nobles stood out from the crowd. They were well-equipped and rode on fine horses, making them particularly conspicuous in the crowd.

Of course, the Greek nobles did not have the martial spirit of the Frankish nobles, so they were all just for show.

Although most of these 30,000 people did not carry any decent weapons, when they gathered together, they were like an ocean.

The soldiers of the Liberation Front patrolled the outer layer, constantly on guard against any suspected potential enemies.

But on the island of Cyprus, no one, no one, dared to launch an attack.

Isaac's Turkish mercenaries were frightened after the war in Gueris.

They could not understand the artillery or Garys. During these days, they were in constant fear and constantly spread their fear to their fellow tribesmen who had not participated in the war.

It can be said that the Turks have given up on Isaac, and all they want is to start running as soon as possible.

I don't want to stay on this isolated island for even one more day.

Dust was raised as the crowd moved forward, sunlight penetrated the sparse shadows of the trees and shone on the ground, and the sea breeze was mixed with a salty and humid smell, just like the unconventional footsteps of these people.

The guards standing on the castle and the palace in the distance began to tremble at the mere sight of the scale of this "holy war" army.

This was a loose army that was nearly a hundred meters wide and stretched for hundreds of steps.

Indeed, they are a mob.

But when the number of the mob accumulated to this scale, the guards on the castle wall no longer had any desire to resist.

This is the largest army that has never been assembled on the island of Cyprus!
A hundred times more than the defenders in the castle!

[So the rule of using troops is to surround them if you have ten of them, attack them if you have five of them, fight them if you have twice as many of them, fight them if you are the enemy, escape if you are fewer than them, and avoid them if you are not as good as them. Therefore, the strength of a small enemy is the capture of a large enemy.]

——"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu

This passage means that if your force is twice as large as the enemy's, you must try your best to defeat it; if your force is five times as large as the enemy's, you must attack it; if your force is ten times as large as the enemy's, you must encircle and annihilate it.

So what if our enemy force is a hundred times larger than ours?

The answer is to defeat the enemy without fighting.

When the army of 30,000 people arrived at Isaac Castle, the billowing black smoke, accompanied by rising flames and loud cries for help, had already filled the castle.

Flames raged deep within the castle, dancing between the stone walls and singing a silent dirge above the ashes.

The huge column of smoke was like a spear piercing the sky, attempting to drag the heavens into this inevitable catastrophe.

In this raging fire, the will of sinners turned into flaming souls, and eternal ghosts rose from the abyss, devouring city walls and hopes with a hissing sound.

Even the ground beneath the feet of the 30,000-strong army was shaking slightly, as if responding to the faintly audible anxious whispers in the air.

The bishops and priests were stunned, and the "crusaders" who came here for pilgrimage and holy war were also at a loss.

This was an ending they never imagined.

Amidst the whispers, the laughter of revenge, or the cries of grief, the castle gate was opened from the inside out.

A man, riding a horse alone, with the sound of crisp hooves, is heading towards the ocean in this silent world.

Behind him was the castle that towered like a giant, and the column of smoke that rose into the sky, and each flame in it seemed to chant ancient scriptures. [The day is coming, it will burn like a furnace, and all the proud and all who do evil will be like stubble; the day that comes will burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.]

—Malachi 4:1:

As he got closer, Archos and the others could see who was coming.

It was Isaac, but his attire was not the royal robe he usually wore.

In fact, in the eyes of Aljos and others, Isaac today is not only lacking in "royal" dignity.

Instead, he looks more like an actor on stage.

He wears traditional purple robes and his face is painted red, imitating the oldest statues of the god-king Jupiter.

This was the treatment that the victors of the ancient Roman Empire should have, but now, a "Basileus" in his twilight years dressed himself up like this.

But it was all worth it. He became the only protagonist in the world, and the eyes of tens of thousands of people were focused on him.

The sky is high, the earth is deep, and he is alone.

"Holy One of Jerusalem! Stand up and look me in the face!"

However, no one responded to Isaac, and just when Isaac was getting impatient.

From the crowd, there were voices of "Excuse me", "Sorry", and "Make way".

Then one person squeezed out from the crowd.

In the cold wind of February 1188, the man was wearing a thick coat. Only when he took off his hood and revealed his rather young face did everyone realize his identity.

He is Garys, the mastermind behind all this today.

Now, he stood in front of Isaac.

However, compared with the lonely Isaac, behind Garys now is the ocean, the waves, and thirty thousand people!
A tyrant who places himself above all things is just like a man who steers a small boat from one side of the sea to the other and then dares to claim that he has conquered the sea.

Garys transformed himself into water and merged into the ocean, breathing together with the people.

Everyone became a priest, and what was sacred now was no longer the consecrated bread or the sacrifice, but the people.

These people lost only their shackles and overthrew only the tyrant idols, but what awaited them was the Lord's mercy and the whole world they were bound to gain.

This was the first time Isaac met Gailis. He never thought that Gailis would dress so simply and look so young.

Garys walked slowly to Isaac's horse.

The "Lonely God-King" and the "Christ" who stirred up the sea met under this canopy.

Once upon a time, the island of Cyprus was dotted with temples to old gods, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was believed to have been born on this island.

Even Augustus of Rome was regarded as a god, and even his daughter Julia and his wife Livia became the "Goddess Augusta and the New Aphrodite" respectively.

But the old beliefs and idolatry eventually vanished with the coming of the gospel of Christ.

But those dead old gods, those demolished idols, are ultimately the eternal ghosts that rise from the abyss and return to the world once again.

The idol of the tyrant fell from heaven, causing sorrow to the innocent. Therefore, the power of Gelis must defend these victims.

Idols cause injustice in the world, and Gelis must exercise justice and implement righteousness;
Idols make his priests indifferent to the suffering of all living beings. Garys is like a kind Samaritan who wants to bandage the wounds of the broken hearts.

Jesus' kingdom does not belong to this world, and it does not seek a legitimate foothold in this world.

Because this world is full of forces that rebel against the Kingdom of Heaven and are pushing people into the sinful realm of destruction, we must resist the shackles of idolatry.

Jesus declared that the temple, which symbolized the law, would be destroyed because the meaning of fighting for life is to challenge the authority of death, because this world is a harsh anti-life kingdom.

One side appeals to divine life, the other relies on the tyrant's sword. This is a struggle between the Lord of life and the idol of death.

This irreconcilable conflict sent Jesus to the cross.

Only this time it was Garys who came.

Facing Garys, Isaac, who was on horseback, asked condescendingly:
"Everyone who sees me should bow down with every step. Who are you? How dare you call yourself the Saint of Jerusalem and shake the sacred order that never changes in the universe?"

The Greeks have their own unique spiritual world. Even though Isaac was wearing the robe of the Roman god-king, his spiritual heritage still remained.

There is only one law under heaven, the universe is perfect, and God must rule over everything.

The monarch in heaven rules over heaven, and the monarch on earth rules over the world.

There should be a clear boundary between the two.

To this, Gaillis responded: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Death came for one man, but the resurrection of the dead comes for all."

"I am the resurrected dead, and I have come back to this world for the sake of all the living, to let them live and live to their destined age."

“And there will be those who cry out on earth: How long, Lord, holy and true, wilt thou not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

“The LORD said to them at the beginning, ‘Rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers who were to be killed like them should be completed.’”

"Now, the number is almost enough, so I came."

When Garys finished speaking, those who were closest to Garys heard a crisp explosion.

Those who were crowded in the front row saw with their own eyes that Isaac's head had a dent in it, as if it had been hit and exploded.

Later, someone with sharp eyes saw that Garys was holding the gilded royal scepter in his right hand, and noticed that the top of the scepter was stained with blood and brain matter.

But Garys was clearly still a few steps away from Isaac!

And Isaac, still on a horse!

But no matter what, it's over, and this drama called "Death of the Old Gods" has come to an end.

This actor used his own life to give his last performance to the 30,000 audience members present.

After seeing this, Alchos lowered his head and made the sign of the cross in front of himself over and over again.

He began to chant in a low voice.

"Dismantle the teeth of their mouths, O God; break the jaws of the young lions, O Lord."

"May they be like a rushing stream, and wither like grass that is trodden down; may they melt away like a snail that crawls by, and disappear like a miscarriage that never sees the light of day."

"May the raging wind scatter them all before their cauldrons catch fire!"

“The righteous will rejoice when he sees great vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.”

The vow that Aljos made two years ago was fulfilled just two years later.

But he knew very well that this was just the beginning. There were many more evil people roaming freely in this sinful world, and there was an urgent need for people like him to follow Garys closely.

Go and smash the teeth of those evil men!
The wind blew, and a hurricane from the sea blew up to the end of the sky.

……

In February 1188, in the small town of Gisors in northern France.

The three leaders, King Henry II of England, King Philip II of France and Prince Richard "The Lionheart" of England, are accepting mediation from the Vatican.

By now, the news of the fall of Jerusalem had spread throughout Europe through messengers seeking help.

The Holy Land is in danger! The faith in God is crumbling!
All believers should stop what they are doing at this time, pray to God, and prepare for a new Crusade.

During this mediation, though, the bishop delivered some nonsense.

But a realistic problem lay before these three: after years of war, their pockets were actually empty and they even had to borrow money from the Jews to survive.

When Henry II saw his son, he was filled with anger. He knew that he was now 54 years old and as he grew older, the throne would sooner or later fall into the hands of Richard or his younger brother John.

But in the past few years, Richard, the rebellious son, couldn't wait!

"Richard, what I give you is yours; what I don't give you, you will never get unless I die."

Henry II couldn't help but speak when he reunited with Richard "The Lionheart" after a long separation.

Facing his father's words, 31-year-old Richard responded with a playful smile: "Father, you are going too far. I am not here to kill you."

Philip II was the youngest person present, but he also felt very embarrassed listening to the argument between the father and son.

Over the years, the story of this father and son's love and filial piety has spread throughout Europe.

Although the civil strife between this father and son was beneficial to the King of France, he had always supported Richard the Lionheart.

But after years of war, he did not achieve any results and instead emptied the national treasury.

"So, why don't we stop fighting for a few years and take the opportunity to collect Saladin's tithe to replenish our respective treasuries."

In order to break up the childish quarrel between father and son, Philip made a constructive suggestion.

Henry and Richard had different reactions to this, but both clearly understood that they were no longer able to continue the war.

"Although collecting tithes from Saladin is to make up for the deficit, we can't not send troops." Richard pondered for a moment and said slowly.

"This is not a big problem. It can just serve as a way to use up the surplus second sons of nobles in the country. They are willing to sponsor the children for the new fiefdoms, and we don't need much money." Philip was very shrewd in this regard, showing a side that was completely different from the image he showed to his subjects.

Finally, peace talks were reached.

According to the external propaganda of the Vatican envoys.

King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France were moved to tears upon hearing about the dire conditions in the Holy Land.

They decided to put aside their past grudges and jointly organize a Crusade to support their Christian brothers in the East.

At the same time, Count Philip of Flanders, who had been warmly received by the "Leper King" Baldwin IV in his early years, also expressed his willingness to join the new Crusade.

This crusade will go out with the White Cross of England, the Red Cross of France, and the Green Cross of Flanders.

　Today we continue with the two-in-one, super large chapter!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)