Chapter 116 Prague

After many hardships, Peter finally arrived in Prague.

At the end of the 9th century, Czech Duke Boživoi moved his residence from Lev Hradec to Prague Castle. Gradually, craftsmen and merchants came to the area below the castle. Thus, the city began to be born. By the beginning of the 12th century, Prague developed into a prosperous city.

In 1348, Charles IV ordered the establishment of Prague New Town on the vast area between Vyšehrad and the Old Town. As a result, this area was gradually filled with citizens' houses, markets, gardens, churches and monasteries. From the perspective of scale and exquisiteness, Prague can be compared with the most famous cities of the time, such as Rome, Florence, Paris, and Cologne. Although Prague is one of the largest cities in Europe and the third largest city in the Holy Roman Empire in terms of area, Prague has a smaller population than Rome, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Milan, Constantinople and Paris.

This is a more prosperous city than Buda and Brno, so Peter naturally wants to see more.

"Your Highness, Prague has become one of the largest cities in the empire after the expansion of the previous king. And it is the permanent residence of the current emperor."

At this time, Peter was already on the bridge, and the charm of the old town was tempting him. And he couldn't help but want to see the city.

However, Peter's timing may be a bit wrong. At this time, the cholera plague spread to Bohemia, causing a sharp decline in the Czech population and barren land. In addition, the impoverishment of the nobles and the lack of interest in politics by Wenceslas IV, the son of Charles IV, led to a decline in Bohemia's international status and a tense domestic political situation.

"Let's go to the university first!"

Charles University was built during the reign of Charles IV. It was the first university in Central Europe and a cultural gathering place in Bohemia.

Peter came here not only to enjoy the scenery, but also to see the person who would cause the biggest war in Bohemia's history in the future. At this time, he should develop in the university.

And near the church, a pot-bellied man in bishop's clothes was chattering something, and he was holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know, he seems to be selling something."

Looking at this man, Peter felt that he must have paid for the bishop's position. And he would extort money even more.

This is indeed the case. Like tax farmers, these people will go even further to get more money. The most important thing is tithes, followed by various donations. Of course, if indulgences can be issued, they can get more.

The Christian priests selling indulgences was a unique phenomenon in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Pope Urban II launched the first Crusade in 1095. In order to let the Crusaders strengthen their religious beliefs, the Pope announced that all those who joined the army could be exempted from punishment, and indulgences were issued to each Crusaders. The theoretical basis for the church to reduce punishment is that the church has a "merit bank" to store the infinite grace of Christ and the good deeds of martyred saints, which can be allocated to believers to offset the punishment they deserve for their crimes.

Catholic theology believes that after a sinner obtains forgiveness through confession, the church can exempt him from the earthly punishment for his sin, that is, "absolution". Catholics believe that Christ was crucified and had infinite merits. The Virgin Mary and the saints also accumulated many "good deeds". In addition to redeeming their own sins, they also had extra merits, which accumulated to become the "merit bank" of the church. The church has the right to decide that when the good deeds of the sinner are not enough to fully atone for the sin, some merits can be obtained from the merit bank to offset the debt of punishment. The bishop has the right to exempt part of the punishment, and the pope has the right to exempt all the punishment. In 1313, the Catholic Church began to sell this coupon in Europe. The pope claimed that believers could be absolved of "sin punishment" after purchasing this coupon.

After the Great Schism of the Catholic Church, Avignon and Rome began to issue indulgences indiscriminately in order to obtain more funds. The Holy Roman Empire was the most serious. The money squeezed from this country every year could be compared with the trade volume of Venice, so the Holy Roman Empire was called the Pope's cow.

As part of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia naturally suffered the most oppression. The indulgence propaganda this time is a microcosm.

"As long as you have this, you have redeemed your sins and your soul can go to heaven."

The bishop promoted the indulgence with great fanfare, and when the people in the audience heard that they could go to heaven, they put their few money into the other party's wallet, just for this piece of torn paper.

Peter saw that it was selling well, so he spent a few gold coins to buy a few.

"Is this what they call the indulgence?"

Peter looked at the paper, and he couldn't see where the redemption was. Except for cannibalism, he didn't see anything.

"A few ducats in exchange for such a torn piece of paper, what's the point?"

Peter complained about the so-called indulgence to the people next to him, and he became more and more angry. He just wanted to bury the bishop alive. Anyway, no one reported missing in this era.

In order not to be upset, Peter left here and went to the hotel. He wanted to have a good rest and think about how to commit a crime. After they left, another person also came here.

This man was about 20 years old, with a beard and wearing priest clothes. He was very sad to see people scrambling for indulgences like crazy.

"John, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing, just walking."

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At night, there was a big cart at the back door of the church, loading something. The bishop during the day was instructing the coachman to transport these things to his manor, the sooner the better.

The groom naturally did not dare to slack off, but it was already late, so he decided to transport it out of the city the next day. He rested in an inn and kept a close eye on the truck.

At this time, a man planned to play a dice game with him. The loser would drink a glass of wine. The groom naturally fought to the end because he liked this the most.

The two of them drank one glass after another. After an unknown amount of time, the groom was dizzy and wanted to surrender, but was dissuaded by the enthusiastic opponent, and even added a bet - two ducats.

The groom also persisted, but he was already at the end of his strength. Not long after, he fell asleep on the table, and the truck he was staring at was naturally tampered with by others.

When the groom woke up the next day, he saw two gold coins beside him. He thought he had gotten a bargain for nothing, so he didn't think much about it and happily drove the carriage away.

"Sir, everything has been replaced, and he will definitely not find it."

"That's good"

Peter couldn't help feeling happy as he watched the other's carriage go farther and farther. Now I'm rich.