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Notes -
I’m reminded of a saying from Sir William Marshal as he was on his deathbed.
The context is that William has had an extremely successful career beating other knights in tournament, and at the time the earned reward for that was taking the loser’s equipment. The church argued that this was an unlawful taking and William had to make amends for it for the good of his soul.
The Marshal replied: ‘Bear with me a moment, Henry. The clerics are too hard on us! They shave us too close! I’ve captured five hundred knights and kept their arms, their destriers and all their gear. If that means the kingdom of God is barred to me then that’s that – I can’t give them back! I can do no more for God, I’d say, than yield myself to Him repentant of all my misdeeds, of all the wrongs I’ve done. Unless the clergy mean to see me damned they should stop their harrying! Either their claims are false or no man can have salvation!’”
We live in an age when the priests have accrued too much power, no one has the capacity yet to tell them to get wrecked, and it will keep leading to passivity until the fever breaks.
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