Steel Empire
The Cordoba Council 2

Many of the Cardinals and Bishops have gathered inside Cordoba Cathedral to discuss many of the issues currently plaguing the Catholic Church. Although they had finally found a solution to the old Western Schism that had been going on for almost half a century, there were still two major problems that presented themselves. Chief among them is the ongoing German Reformation, which has spread beyond their control. To the south of Germany. Therefore, various Cardinals and Bishops are discussing how to move forward. With Simeon and Avillius removed from power, the conversation became much friendlier among the various factions of the Church.

Right now, the answer everyone agreed on was military force. However, the military orders of the Catholic church were all busy fighting external enemies at this time, and the last Crusader group, tasked with eliminating Berengar and clearing Tyrol from heretics, was massacred in battle by Berengar's forces. As for the Vatican, they were aware that Berengar was using advanced weapons inside his army. A man, in particular, acted as a second witness to this information. It was the Prince-Bishop of Trent, whose lands were annexed by Berengar during his winter campaign to seize Tyrol. 

The Prince-Bishop spoke with deep hatred for Berengar about the problems at hand and how it was not an easy task to expel the Reformers who were largely formed in the Alpine region. 

“The weapons that Berengar infantry used had the capacity to kill a man at a distance of over 400 yards; they pierced through the plate armor easily and left an untreatable hole in the body of the victim! This was not a mere hand cannon but something else entirely! The average Warrior was equipped with plate armor that covered their vital areas, and was almost impenetrable to human weapons! If we want to march in the Alps, we will need a great power, which is armed with a large number of hand cannons!"

The surrounding priests listened to the harsh words of these Princes, and many of them did not believe their ears. After all, how could such a weapon exist? Nevertheless, what happened next shocked them even further.

"He used a cannon, whose cannonball exploded upon impact, killing many people within the blast zone! This cannon is highly maneuverable and far more destructive than anything we've seen before! I don't know how he obtained this advanced weapon, but we can't win by sheer numbers. After all, the Teutonic Order tried this tactic, and they were stuck in the mountains where heretics mercilessly slaughtered them!

The more the Prince-Bishop rambles and rambles about the spectacular performance of Berengar's weapons and the soldiers who use them, the more the priest in the meeting begins to dismiss his words as pure fiction. At one point, the relatively fat and disgusting Cardinal raised his head and began to insult the Prince-Bishop.

"I guess you personally witnessed these weapons being used?"

This question immediately made Prince-Bishop Trent frown; after all, he had not witnessed the battle that had occurred; instead, he had frowned, he hid like a coward in his cathedral before fleeing the city while his soldiers sacrificed themselves. Finally he had to acknowledge the fact that this was all the former information of his garrison commander.

"Unfortunately not; however, this information was reported to me by my garrison commander before he and his men distracted the heretics long enough that I could escape to the Vatican to deliver the news!"

Several members of Cordoba's board in attendance began to mock the words of Prince-Bishop Trent. Clearly, the Prince-Bishop believes the wild story of a terrified soldier, or so many council members believe. Finally few decided to take the Prince-Bishop's warning seriously. After all, they were severely short of manpower to attack South Germany from the start. That was, of course, until one of the Cardinals presented an opportunity.

“Why don't we call for the Crusades to eliminate heretics in Germany? It's worked before. Even if they were well armed as the Prince-Bishop claimed, what might they do to an army of a hundred thousand people? those who carry the cross? Surely we can sponsor such a large army, by calling upon the European Powers and Knights to defend the Christian Order from this heinous blasphemy? Do we really need to wait for the holy orders that are there to finish their war when we can make a new one?"

These are all very good questions, which can be easily answered, after all, it has been quite a while since a Pope declared the Crusade, and because of the success of previous Crusades in this world, it is quite long since a Pope declared a Crusade, the idea was quite popular and would undoubtedly attract many potential troops to attack Southern Germany with. After a bit of discussion, this is how the Cordoba Council chose to deal with Berengar and the Reformist movement. 

"The Teutonic Order has angered the Golden Horde by waging war against the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which is their protectorate; they are currently facing a crisis we have not seen in decades. If we help them, we will only advance the rift formed with the Eastern Orthodox Church. How are we going to proceed?"

Instantly the opinions of the participating priests were divided, some supported the Teutonic Order, and others believed that they should never have attacked Orthodoxy in the first place. Therefore, they quickly turned to arguments on the matter. One of the Bishops present voiced his support for the Teutonic Order and their conquest of the East.

"The Teutonic Order is the stronghold of Christianity in the East; they must not fall into the hands of these pagans! I say we provide them with the necessary funds and equipment to win the war on their doorstep!"

However, a Cardinal immediately voiced his objection to the matter. 

"Not unreasonably, we should have never been involved with the war of the Teutonic Order from the very beginning. If Simeon did not support them in their efforts, they would never have the ability to take over Moscow. Now more than ever, we need to rely on our allies in the East. The German Reformation will cause many problems in the future, and we will need Orthodox support if we try to end it quickly!"

Without the Pope's presence, there was no way to move forward with the ideas presented unless all parties agreed; they could easily agree on a Crusade to destroy the German Reformation, but supporting the Teutonic Order during the crisis they brought upon themselves? It was a point of contention between the various factions of the Church. Because of this, the men continued to quarrel among themselves about this one matter for a week before concluding that they would provide material assistance to the Teutonic Order, but they will not provide any troops or economic support. 

The Teutonic Order was left alone to fight the enemies it had created, at least for the most part. After all, the Church was more concerned with stopping the German Reformation, which was a far greater threat than the Golden Horde. If this was the army of Genghis Khan from centuries before, then there might need to be some attention. However, at present, Berengar posed a much greater threat to the Church, and they needed time and resources to prepare for the great Crusade against him and his followers. 

Berengar, of course, anticipated this move of the Church, and he did not hesitate to build up enough strength for a while to face the threat the Crusaders would pose in the near future. However, for now, he was quite relaxed as he focused his efforts on what he had been doing since returning from the campaign in Tyrol. Building up his army and defense while maintaining his trade with the various factions who want his weapons and armor.

As for the place of Reformation in this world? It was not so easily mitigated; word got out that the German Reformation had begun, and many saw it as an opportunity to reclaim power from the Church, something that most secular rulers had wanted for some time. Even if they did not always agree with the teachings of the German Reformation itself, the idea of removing the influence of the Church over secular affairs was attractive enough to join the Reformist Movement as Berengar's allies grew in number, he said, that will be useful in the coming war with the Catholic Church.

In the end the Council of Cordoba ended with what could be considered a monumental success for the Catholic Church, the Western Schism was corrected, and a plan was made to deal with the German Reformation, while for the Teutonic State, the Catholic Church, was restored, they are left to them. own devices for the most part. Thus the Catholic Church has overcome the ongoing crisis it is suffering from today. Ultimately, however, this would not be enough to stop the tide of the German Reformation and Berengar's rise to power.

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