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Chapter 935: Church Reform

The archbishops in the room were instantly struck dumb with shock.

For the Holy See to rush into a decision regarding the replacement of Cardinals—a matter of immense gravity—without even summoning the Spanish archbishops back to Rome for consultation was unprecedented.

Campos watched the disbelief and resentment etched onto their faces, a surge of profound satisfaction washing over him.

Back when he had served King Charles III in his attempts to reform the Church, these very men had used every trick in the book, both overt and covert, to leave him overwhelmed and reeling. This was a long-awaited vindication!

When the French Crown Prince had first told him that he could make the Church bow to the Spanish government, Campos hadn't believed it for a second.

And yet, the Holy See had actually removed three Cardinals from their posts.

What Campos didn't know was that this time, the Roman Curia had been the ones begging Joseph for help.

Thousands of Roman citizens had surrounded St. Peter's Basilica. While they hadn't resorted to violence yet, they had already sent representatives to the Pope several times to demand an elected assembly and secular autonomy.

Under the day-and-night chanting of the protesters, the members of the Curia had become as skittish as birds startled by a bowstring. They lived in constant fear that the mob would lose patience and storm the gates at any moment.

Joseph had readily promised to let the Holy See "hire" the army of the Republic of Milan to restore order. The condition, however, was that the Curia would perform a thorough "rectification" of the Spanish Church.

The Pope and dozens of archbishops had spent a mere half-hour in discussion before deciding to sacrifice three of their Spanish colleagues in exchange for Rome's security.

Per Joseph's requirements, the Holy See would not only remove the three Spanish Cardinals "suspected of corruption," but would also split Spain's largest dioceses into smaller ones.

However, this "rectification measure" was likely to cause a massive upheaval, so it would only be officially launched after Campos finished the first step of weakening the Church's local influence.

Joseph's reasons for putting so much effort into helping Spain solve its deep-rooted ecclesiastical issues were far-reaching.

First, he needed to help Carlos IV "squeeze" a massive amount of military funding out of the Church.

Once war broke out in Portugal, for every gold coin Spain invested on its own doorstep, Britain would be forced to match it or spend even more.

This was because Spain would be fighting in its own backyard, while Britain had to transport soldiers and supplies by ship over 1,200 kilometers to reach Portugal.

Secondly, only by suppressing the power of the Church could Spain hope to end its century-and-a-half-long decline.

Joseph didn't expect his Spanish ally to provide troops for his own wars, but at the very least, their economy needed to be functional enough to serve as a proper market.

Furthermore, the Spanish fleet remained the third-largest in Europe, serving as a significant deterrent to Britain. This was especially true in the Americas, where the two nations shared a deep-seated, irreconcilable animosity.

On the other hand, Spain's natural resources, geographic conditions, and population size ensured that it could never develop enough national strength in the industrial age to pose a threat to France.

As a "helpful and harmless" junior partner, France was naturally inclined to give Spain a helping hand.

Campos looked at the archbishops again and said in a low voice, "Until the military funds 'contributed' by each diocese have been paid in full, the Holy See's investigation into corruption will continue for some time."

This was a blatant threat—if the money wasn't enough, there was no guarantee that the men sitting here wouldn't also be dismissed for "suspected corruption."

Though the archbishops looked grim, they all kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound.

It was true that they were deeply rooted in Spain and possessed immense influence. They had a thousand ways to give the King a headache and, in extreme cases, could even incite the faithful to riot.

However, this time Joseph had struck directly at their "roots."

No matter how much local power they had, if their status as archbishops was revoked, they would instantly turn from powerful dragons into lowly worms.

Furthermore, once the Holy See sent new archbishops to their dioceses, the newcomers would surely prioritize dismantling the previous administration's power base to establish their own.

As the archbishops left the room looking as though they were attending their own funerals, Campos immediately picked up a glass of wine. He raised it toward the north and said with sincere emotion, "To Spain's true friend, the great Son of Divine Favor. I thank you for your support."

How could he not be excited?

In his briefcase lay another edict signed by Carlos IV.

It stipulated that henceforth, the monopoly taxes on tobacco, iron, and gunpowder in each diocese would be collected by the Spanish government.

Simultaneously, the Church's land income would be integrated into the "Royal Tithe."

Furthermore, all future clerical appointments and removals within the dioceses would require the King's signature to take effect.

If forcing the Church to hand over a massive sum of money earlier had been a blow to its bones, this edict was a complete severance of the Church's financial lifeblood.

Returning various monopoly taxes to the state was significant, but the most crucial change was the King taxing the Church's land income—the Royal Tithe amounted to roughly a 30% tax rate.

Combined, these measures would increase the Spanish government's annual revenue by several million escudos!

Of course, as a veteran Church reformer, Campos knew this would inevitably trigger fierce resistance.

However, the French Crown Prince had already prepared the "weapons" for him.

The Spanish dioceses were to be reorganized into sixteen separate entities.

The most powerful, the Diocese of Toledo, would be split directly into three.

The newly created dioceses would collect taxes according to the new reform model from the start. Since the newly appointed archbishops would be the King's trusted confidants, they would naturally offer no opposition.

If any diocese dared to be uncooperative? The next slot for reorganization would fall on their heads, and their jurisdiction would be instantly shrunk to a third of its former size.

Campos could already foresee that with the help of the French Crown Prince, the ecclesiastical problems that generations of Spanish kings had failed to solve would be largely settled by this time next year.

In truth, Joseph was also using Spain as a pilot program to test his concepts for Church reform.

If the implementation went smoothly, France could simply follow the same recipe later.

If there were pitfalls, Spain would encounter them first, allowing Joseph to make adjustments at his leisure.

...

On the west bank of the Rhine.

In Worms, the largest city in the Palatinate region.

On a flat stretch of grass in the suburbs, twenty-two young men were chasing a black-and-white leather ball, running with everything they had.

A five-tier wooden spectator stand had been erected around the lawn, where four or five hundred spectators sat, watching the match with practiced elegance.

From time to time, servants carrying drinks and snacks would circulate, politely asking the guests if they required anything.

In reality, at least seventy percent of the Worms nobles and wealthy merchants attending the match didn't even understand the rules of football. However, that didn't stop them from paying as much as 10 Florins per ticket to be there.

In fact, black-market prices had already skyrocketed to as high as 35 Florins.

This was all because His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of France, would be attending today's match in person.