The Rise of the European Emperor

Julius II's enthronement ceremony was set on September 28. Although he was elected as the pope on the evening of August 26, the pope's enthronement ceremony must invite the monarchs or messengers of the surrounding countries to come to watch the ceremony. ?

Moreover, in this era, there were no planes and cars, and it took at least ten or twenty days for the monarchs or envoys of Italy's neighboring countries to arrive in Rome. Therefore, despite the urgency of sending people to inform, those monarchs or envoys would not arrive until a month later.

The enthronement ceremony of Julius II mainly invited the monarchs of the Italian states, the Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, the King Louis XII of France, the twin kings of Spain, the king of Portugal and the three electoral archbishops in Germany.

Of course, as the monarchs of a big country, King Louis XII of France and the twin kings of Spain may not come in person. Maybe they will just send a foreign minister to perfunctory, and Portugal is barely qualified to do so.

But Marin's boss, Maximilian I, didn't have that confidence. Because his Emperor Shinra has not yet been crowned, and he also asked for the Pope.

Therefore, it is very likely that Maximilian I personally came to Rome to attend Julius II's enthronement ceremony. After all, Maximilian I was counting on Julius II to officially crown him.

As for the three electoral bishops in Germany, the Archbishop of Cologne, the Archbishop of Mainz, and the Archbishop of Trier, because they are the Pope's direct subordinates, as long as they are not seriously ill and cannot leave, they must go to Rome to support them. As for the bishops of other small bishoprics in Germany, they may not be eligible to participate in the Pope's enthronement ceremony...

As for the other secular princes in Germany, that might be the case. If you have a good relationship with the Holy See, you may be invited. Those who have a bad relationship with the Holy See will naturally not be invited.

After sending off the bald Aben, Marin also summoned his men and gathered 300 cavalry as escorts to escort him south to attend the enthronement ceremony of Julius II.

Julius II was his father-in-law, and Julius II's army that attacked Rome was also his subordinate. So Marin got an invitation, and that's normal. Even before Julius II went south, the invitation letter had already been written, only the date was missing.

However, from Aurich to Rome, the distance is already very far. Generally, the pope's enthronement ceremony is not invited by countries that are too far away. Countries that are relatively northern, such as the United Kingdom and Denmark, are rarely invited.

The distance between Aurich and Rome, Marin estimated, was about 1,600 kilometers. If you ride a single horse and run an average of 70 to 80 kilometers a day, it may take about 20 days. But if there is one person and three horses, it will only take about ten days.

As a result, Marin and the soldiers under his command, one person and three horses, drove south without stopping. Moreover, in order to save physical strength, everyone did not wear a full set of plate armor, but only three-quarters of the chest plate.

In just 13 days, Marin and his 300 men ran a long distance of 1,600 kilometers from Aurich to Rome. However, riding a horse is hard work. After the 1,600-kilometer long journey, when he arrived in Rome, Marin was already exhausted.

Fortunately, when he arrived in Rome, it was only September 24, and there were still four days before the enthronement ceremony. He had time to rest and rest.

In fact, Marin came to Rome this time because he had very important things to do. First, Marin brought in Stade to replace Schwartz.

Stade is also an important general under Marin's command and is fully capable of commanding the 7,000 East Frisian army. Moreover, Stade himself is very willing. Because, as long as Schwartz succeeds, Stade can temporarily become the temporary supreme commander of the Papal State army. Before Julius II selected a new Supreme Military Commander, Stadt was the Supreme Military Commander of the Papal States.

It was a very honorable resume, so when Marin approached him and asked him to replace Schwartz, Stade agreed without hesitation.

After all, in this era, the authority of the Holy See is still very high. Being able to serve as the highest military commander of the Holy See for a period of time is very attractive to devout believers like Stade.

In addition to replacing Schwartz, another important task of Marin was to accept the public thanks of Julius II on behalf of the Holy See. Thanks for what? Thanks to Schwartz for leading the East Frisian army and escorting him safely into Rome...

In fact, this thank you is just a foreshadowing. Marin's ultimate goal was to give Julius II an excuse to give him the Bishopric of Munster after the army helped the Papal State to conquer Florence.

So, when he came to Rome this time, Marin actually showed his face. And, let everyone know that the army of the new pope is supported by himself. In this way, when his own army helps the Papal State to conquer Florence and is "gifted" to the Bishopric of Munster in the future, it will not appear so abrupt.

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Moreover, Julius II was also very interested in the idea of ​​"exchanging Italian territory for the German bishopric" put forward by Marin.

The so-called idea of ​​"exchanging Italian territory for the German Bishopric" means that after a certain country helps the Holy See to conquer an Italian state, the Holy See is willing to give the territory of a certain German Bishopric as a reward to a certain country.

Julius II was an ambitious pope whose wish was to unify the whole of Italy. Originally, Julius II's plan was to strengthen the army of the Papal State and use an invincible army to conquer the Italian states.

However, Marin's method of "helping the Papal State to conquer the Republic of Florence in exchange for the Bishopric of Munster as a reward" gave Julius II a great inspiration.

Julius II discovered that there is a way to unify Italy without having to do it yourself...

The bishopric in the German region belongs to the Holy See in name, but in fact, it is in the hands of the three great emperors and archbishops. Although these bishopric states also pay a lot of "tithing" to the Holy See every year, but for the Holy See, those episcopal states far away in Germany are not as beneficial as a state in Italy.

Because, those bishopric states that are far away in the German region, the Holy See can't reach there at all. And if you have the Italian state on the edge of the Papal State, the Holy See can easily control it.

Therefore, to exchange a bishopric in the German region that is out of control anyway, for an Italian state that is easy to control, whether it is Julius II or the cardinals of Rome, they are very happy.

For example, the Republic of Florence, that is, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany controlled by the Medici family, the later Tuscany region, is a very prosperous secular state in Italy.

The prosperity of this state makes the greedy cardinals of the Holy See salivate. At present, the commercial and handicraft development of the Republic of Florence is second only to Venice, Genoa and Milan, and even more developed than the city of Rome.

If the army under Marin's command, in the name of Marin, will lay down the Republic of Florence and exchange it for the Bishopric of Munster. For the Papal State, this is definitely a good deal without losing money. After all, the Florentine Republic was prosperous in business and taxed a lot. For Julius II and the cardinals of the Holy See, it is definitely a piece of fat!

For Marin, while eliminating the Florentine Republic, one thing was also important. That is, the army can arrest a person in the city of Florence. That man's name is Machiavelli...

Yes, this guy is the one who wrote about Machiavelli, one of the greatest thinkers and statesmen in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century.

Now, this person is probably the chief of the Second State Office of the Republic of Florence and the secretary of the ruling committee, and can be regarded as a high-ranking official of the Republic of Florence.

Before, it wasn't that Marin didn't think about winning over this person. However, they are already high-ranking officials of the powerful Republic of Florence, and they rarely go to the Counties of East Friesland?

However, if Marin's army destroyed the Florentine Republic, Machiavelli, a high-ranking official of the Florentine Republic, would lose his survival.

As long as his army captures this man and brings him back to East Frisland, Marin will have time to wait for him to be loyal to himself...

Moreover, Machiavelli is not a dead brain of "one minister does not serve two masters". After the demise of the Florentine Republic, in order to survive, Machiavelli once served the Medici family, the former mortal enemy, and also flattered the Holy See.

So, this Machiavelli, is a realist. It's not particularly difficult to win over this person...