Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 275 Cultural Hegemony
But both local nobles and localized Franks were extremely rare in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Even local nobles would be suppressed by foreign nobles like Guy, while the localized Franks were a separate community that might have some connections with other Frank communities, but in fact not very close.

Whether they were local nobles or localized Franks, they mostly concentrated in cities such as Jerusalem, Nablus, and Tiberias.

What about coastal ports such as Acre, Tyre, and Tripoli?

In 1104, Genoa assisted the Kingdom of Jerusalem in conquering Acre, and then obtained ownership of one-third of Acre.

In 1124, Venice assisted the Kingdom of Jerusalem in capturing Tyre, and then also obtained ownership of one-third of the territory of Tyre.

About a quarter of the land around the city of Tripoli was also given to the Genoese as a reward for military assistance.

It can be said that the success of the Crusader States in the Levant was inseparable from the support of the Italian city-states. The Italians provided troops, finance, markets, and goods.

What the Kingdom of Jerusalem gave them in return were privileges and land.

“The significance of publishing a newspaper is not to make money, but to make the citizens of the Kingdom of Jerusalem realize that the honor and disgrace of the country is related to them personally.”

"Whether it's the Saracens, the local Franks, or the Antiochians from far away, what we need is for them to understand what a country is through the medium of newspapers and to realize that the Kingdom of Jerusalem is different."

"We only collect 30% tax in rural areas. This is a good policy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This kind of thing needs to be publicized. All farmers need to know that it is because of the existence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem that they can enjoy such low taxes. If the country is gone, they will be exploited by the surrounding feudal lords at will."

"We have set up factories and provided jobs for people in cities and farmers in villages, allowing them to work harder and earn more money than before, and their lives have become more prosperous."

"The goods produced in our factories are not only of good quality but also abundant and cheap. This is also the advantage of our country, and all of this needs to be promoted through newspapers."

Because he was in a good mood, Aljos couldn't help but speak a lot of truths.

The economic base determines the superstructure, and the superstructure reacts on the economic base. The dialectical unity of the two constitutes the social form.

This idea was first proposed by Karl and Friedrich and elaborated in their works, especially in The German Ideology and the Preface to the Critique of Political Economy.

According to this theory, communism will inevitably lead to communist revolution, and it will inevitably break out first in industrialized Europe.

Due to the nature of the socialist mode of production, a cultural and political superstructure corresponding to socialism will be produced in this process.

Despite Carr's prediction, a century later, workers still have not accomplished the task.

Gramsci, who was born in 1891, believed that the lower structure "constrains" rather than "determines" the superstructure.

A country or a society can only be maintained by a compulsory political system and the support of hegemonic culture.

In other words, the factors that limit a medieval country from becoming a modern country are far more than just the progress of certain indicators such as steel production, but also include ideas and culture.

As an organization that started out as a religion, Gellis is naturally not a simple industrial party. On the contrary, he attaches great importance to breaking the self-limitations in people's minds.

Aljos also benefited greatly from it.

On the other hand, Gellis now needs to use his organizational characteristics to establish a new "cultural hegemony" and thus build a new social system.

In this process, cultural production in the fields of media, religion, education, literature, and art are all necessary means.

Guide the voluntary identification of members of society and emphasize intangible "cultural consent" rather than forced indoctrination.

"In feudal society, personal dependence constitutes the social situation. Serfs depend on manor knights, knights depend on small lords, small lords depend on big lords, and big lords are loyal to the monarch. Therefore, the monarch is the head of the country and the symbol of national unity."

"There is nothing wrong with this logic, but it also means that people in society are loyal to people, not countries. In Europe, people say they are from a certain territory, not a certain country. This objectively splits the perception of a country, which is what we want to oppose."

"We are creating a new country based on the original Kingdom of Jerusalem. The success or failure of this country's policies and honor is closely related to everyone in the country."

"When we formulated the electoral system, in addition to requiring voters to be taxpayers, we also required voters to be able to write out their election pledge from memory, which means we required voters to have a high level of literacy."

"Regarding literacy, Isabella, you should know that the literacy rate in the Kingdom of Jerusalem is not low because of the widespread presence of Imams and Kuntabs in the Muslim community. And localized Franks like you, Kafi, will be influenced by local Muslims and will consciously learn knowledge."

Hearing this, both Kafei and Isabella nodded. Isabella also said, "There is actually a school in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. My brother and I both received education there."

In contrast to the European nobility and ordinary Franks, who were renowned for their high culture, lawyers and clerks were plentiful in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the study of law, history, and other subjects was also a favorite pastime of the royal family and nobility.

"With a good cultural foundation, the newspaper format is effective."

"We have already established a preliminary framework for the postal service. With the help of regular ships, newspapers printed in Tyre can reach Tripoli in one day, Latakia in two days, and even Antioch in four days."

“The Holy Land Weekly is published once a week in simplified Latin, Arabic and Greek, and is delivered to towns and villages through the postal system under the Ministry of Commerce, informing the vast majority of the country of what has happened in the past week and making them aware that the country is closely related to them.”

"This is a considerable expense, but it is very necessary. I suggest that newspapers like the Holy Land Weekly be subsidized. Any village that pledges allegiance to the kingdom should receive a free copy of the Holy Land Weekly."

By manipulating culture and ideology, social values ​​are shaped so that people identify with and obey the legitimacy of the current system.

The significance of doing this is to shape a brand new country.

It can be said to be the country and the people, rather than the monarch and the subjects.

After the disastrous defeat in 1806, Prussian Prime Minister Karl Stein began to implement reforms, including: allowing citizens to participate in politics to awaken their nationalist sentiments, freeing serfs, implementing local autonomy, and reorganizing central government agencies.

Prussia gave the people of its territory national status, allowed them to participate in politics, and freed them from the situation of serfdom as much as possible.

Coupled with the universal compulsory education in Prussia, the concept of nation was instilled in elementary school classrooms, and nationalism also arose due to these measures.

Nationalism is not something that can be shaped by unilateral efforts and contributions from a country, a nation, or a certain group; it depends on many factors.

To put it more bluntly and simply, wolves need to eat meat.

If the existence of a country cannot bring glory and benefits to its citizens, how can the citizens support the country from the bottom of their hearts?

On the one hand, there needs to be real benefits, and on the other hand, there is a need to truly spread the glory and inform everyone.

That is the meaning of newspapers.

Of course, in this process, some transitional things will also be born. It is quite troublesome to make people recognize an abstract social cognitive entity.

There is inertia between humans and society.

The dead people living in people's minds still drive the living to act according to the old order.

Garys can deflect the ball, but he can't build a castle in the air.

For medieval people in the 12th century, the country was an illusory concept, and the word "country" was meaningless to the lower classes.

Serfs paid taxes and performed services for their lords, and the lord was a specific individual, not an abstract concept.

Therefore, a transition and an alternative are needed.

This plan is actually called "monarchy".

Historically, although royal power was born in feudal society, it is not exactly the same as feudal aristocratic lords.

At least royal power symbolizes the center, and royal autocracy is also a form of centralization.

Even from the perspective of the development direction of royal power, efforts should be made to reduce the influence of aristocratic lords, just like Louis XIV in the era of autocracy.

Louis XIV weakened the power of the nobility by making a large number of them members of his court, removing their rights as local rulers, and for this purpose he built the Palace of Versailles.

The rules of the court forced the nobles to pay huge sums for their clothing, and they had to stay in the palace from morning to night to attend balls, banquets and other celebrations.

According to historian Philip Mansel, the Sun King Louis XIV turned his court into a marriage market, an employment agency, and an entertainment center that almost all aristocrats could not refuse, with the best drama, opera, music, gambling, sex, and hunting in Europe at the Palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV established a special censorship system to check the letters of the nobles. He forced and bribed traditional military nobles to become his ceremonial courtiers, thus keeping them away from their fiefdoms and armies and weakening their influence.

Then Louis XIV used bureaucratic aristocrats and those promoted from the common people to hold various positions in order to consolidate the royal power.

When Louis XIV said "I am the state", he believed that he was the symbol of the will of the French nation.

It can be said that the monarchical system itself is incompatible with the local feudal aristocracy.

Of course, Guéris did not intend to create an absolute monarchy in the model of the Sun King.

Gillis chose another path.

This road is called: For the sake of the country, let the king act as an idol!
Don't talk about opposing idols. No matter how much Gillis dislikes personality cult, he is a de facto religious idol.

Even now he still acts as a human mascot in the south, participating in various ceremonies and announcing the successful recovery of lost territory.

In Tyre, Isabella also played the role of a mascot, attending various activities in Tyre and Acre, two important cities in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Even though Isabella has not yet been crowned, she is more active among the people and has enough contact with the citizen groups.

Isabella would carefully discuss many of the issues raised by the citizen groups and then draft relevant proposals or provide help with her personal abilities.

Over time, many citizens of Tyre began to only know Isabella and did not know that Sibylla was still on the throne.

In addition, Sibilla has been seriously ill these days and has not appeared in public for a long time.

For the grassroots citizens, Isabella is actually about to become the uncrowned king.

Crack down on the lords' control over their subjects, make the monarch a symbol of the state, and centralize power in the form of parliament.

This was a situation that Gellis could nod in approval of.

Some discussions were conducted on the situation of newspapers, determining the significance and value of newspapers in public opinion, and paving the way for certain things.

Everyone in the room also discussed Balian and Sibilla's conditions.

When Isabella mentioned Balian and Sibilla, her mood became noticeably lower, and a bitter taste appeared in her mouth.

No matter how many conflicts there were between Sibilla and Isabella, they were now her few blood relatives and her last sister.

As for Balian, although he was not her biological father, he filled the gap in her childhood.

This is the way it is in this era. No matter whether you are aristocrat or commoner, those who live long lives are ultimately a minority.

It can be said that at the end of everyone's life, death is waiting for everyone equally.

Everything that is taken from the earth will eventually return to the earth.

The unstoppable fate was approaching. Even Isabella could only pray that after everything was over, she could reunite with Balian and Sibylla in heaven.

However, at this moment, Isabella in the room suddenly felt extremely nauseous for no reason and wanted to vomit.

The maid beside her hurriedly helped her out of the room.

After Isabella left, Aljos looked thoughtful and called out to the little girl beside him with a smile.

"Beatrice."

"what happened?"

After hesitating for a while, Aljos said, "Forget it..."

He was actually not sure in his heart, and if it was really as he thought, this matter was not suitable to be spread outside.

All I can say is that another variable may be about to appear.

(End of this chapter)