In the next few years, in addition to fighting a war in England and using troops overseas, Marin will lie in Germany for a long time, waiting for the arrival of religious wars. Then, the war to annex northern Germany will begin.

However, there is a big problem here - that is, religious wars broke out too late...

According to Marin's memory, Martin Luther only posted the "Ninety-Five Outlines" in 1517, which officially launched the Reformation. However, in the early days, Lutheran's strength was somewhat weak and could be preserved with the protection of Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony.

It was not until the mid-16th century that Lutherans grew stronger in the northern part of Germany. This was because Lutherans' teachings were gradually improved. Of course, it was not a progressive improvement, but an improvement that adapted to the needs of the princes.

The main contents of Martin Luther's Reformation are:

(1), the core of thought is "justified by faith".

(II) Everyone is equal before God in the Bible. This is actually the privilege of opposing the Roman Catholic Church and the bishops, and is most hated by the Catholic Church.

(III), the only basis for faith is the Bible. "Reflects the rising bourgeoisie's desire for freedom, equality and anti-feudal ideas." (In fact, the previous interpretation is the interpretation of some poor politicians, which is no different from the P statement. The real core of this is to deprive the Vatican of the right to interpret and judge, and liberate the secular power of Germany from the suppression of the Roman Catholic Church. The core idea is the struggle for power, a conflict between the German feudal lord and the Vatican. It has no relationship with any bourgeoisie. Because, these days, Germany was not very developed in agricultural areas, and the Mao bourgeoisie. Even if there were merchant alliances like the Hanseatic Alliance, these merchants had no say in the political life of Germany. The ones who really had the right to speak were the princes and nobles.)

(IV), reduce churches and monasteries, simplify religious rituals, and advocate that priests can marry. This is a good one, and many monks who have moved the minds should like it. No wonder some Catholic priests support Protestantism. This one is equivalent to liberating their crotch...

(5) The power of customs is higher than the power of education, and ultimately governs the power of education.

(VI), establish a church of the German nation.

...

In fact, Martin Luther's early opposition to Catholicism was mainly because the Catholic exploitation of the German region made the German people deeply suffer. Therefore, the early Martin Luther's thoughts were mainly concentrated in the first three items. Its core idea was to oppose the interference and control of the Roman Catholic region in the German region.

However, this idea is of course beneficial to the German people, but it is not good for the powerful German princes and nobles.

It was not until later that Martin Luther added the fifth idea that "people power is higher than the power of the church and ultimately dominates the power of the church" that a fundamental change took place.

After this idea was made public, many German princes changed their attitudes and began to support Lutheranism, especially in northern Germany, where the Catholic Church was weak. Because this was of great benefit to those princes.

Among them, the most important point is that Martin Luther believes that tithes should be collected by secular monarchs, not by the Catholic Church...

The princes are in a bad mood. What is the tithing tax? That is one-tenth of the income of all citizens! In ancient Europe, except for tithing tax, there was no other type of tax that targeted the whole people. Kings and princes mainly rely on their own territories and commercial taxes to maintain them. Therefore, the nobles often had poor economic conditions, while the church was very prosperous.

Why is the church prosperous? Isn’t it because it imposes tithes on the whole people? This is a huge cake!

In any case, there are still tens of thousands or tens of thousands of people in the territory of the princes. If there are 50,000 laborers in the territory and each person's income is 2 Finneys per day, then each person's annual income is 12 gold coins and 5,000 laborers, which is 600,000 gold coins. And the tithe is to draw one tenth of everyone's income, then the annual income of this lord is 60,000 gold coins...

But in fact, in Germany, except for the lords of those commercially developed regions, the lords of pure agricultural vassal states had a tax revenue of far less than 60,000 gold coins per year. Many vassals had a tax revenue of about a few thousand gold coins per year. Of course, those vassals would have starved to death long ago if they had relied on taxes. They were generally maintained by the output of their famous manors.

But if you get the right to collect tithes taxes, it will be very different. A powerful vassal state like the Saxony Electorate, with a population of more than one million, not to mention those commercial taxes, but just tithes, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year. Including commercial taxes and territorial income, it will definitely reach more than one million gold coins every year...

You know, today's France is such a strong country, and its annual fiscal revenue is only more than one million gold coins...

Therefore, after Martin Luther put forward this view in the middle and late stages, especially after proposing that the princes collect tithes. Many princes make a 180-degree turn, quickly join the Lutherans, and begin to "dominate the church", which is actually confiscating and robbing the church's property...

Then, the Schmalcalden League was formed...

This alliance is actually a robber alliance that robs robbers. Of course, later political books have portrayed them as heroes who resisted oppression...

...

Marin remembers that the first Schmarcalden War broke out around 1546. Charles V's army defeated the Schmarcalden Alliance's army. It was mainly defeated the army led by John Frederick, the leader of the Schmarcalden Alliance. This John Frederick was the baby who was just born not long after Marin occupied Wittenburg when Frederick III's younger brother John... After Charles V defeated, he deposed the throne of John Frederick and gave the throne of the Duke of Saxony to the descendants of George Duke of Saxony...

Of course, in the subsequent Second Schmalcalden War, the Protestant Alliance defeated Charles V and signed the Augsburg Religious Prayer, establishing the principle of "culture follows the state", and recognizing that the princes of the state had the right to freely choose their own and their subjects to believe in Catholicism or Lutheran Protestantism. Later, because of this principle, Protestantism gradually grew stronger. By the time of the "Thirty Years' War" in the 17th century, the Protestant forces finally defeated Catholicism and completely declined the power of the Holy See. From then on, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was no longer there, and the European monarchs finally got rid of the spiritual shackles...

...

However, there is a big problem here - when the First Schmalcalden War broke out in 1546, Marin was 68 years old at that time, and the old man was the only one. I wonder if he was still alive. It is only 1505 now, and there are still 41 years left before 1546. Where can Marin wait?

At that time, let alone Marin, even Caesar will have to be in his forties...

Marin couldn't wait, so he decided to start early...

How to launch it in advance? Of course, it was to send spies to contact Martin Luther early to "guise" him to come up with the idea of ​​the Reformation earlier.

Then, the most important point is to let Martin Luther put forward the view that "people power is higher than the power of the church and ultimately dominate the power of the church" in the early days of the Reformation, and proposed that the princes control the collection of tithes...

As long as this is raised, not to mention that Frederick III would support Martin Luther, most other princes who were not pious enough would also support Martin Luther. Because wealth is so touching. The princes are generally poor, and if they get the right to collect tithes...
Chapter completed!