On the front lines of confrontation between different sects, the usefulness of such books is even more obvious.
For example, in order to fight against the Polish policy of forced conversion, some parts of the Kiev Diocese were considered front lines. Local priests not only preach in their own parishes, but also often sneak to the opposite side to carry out propaganda activities.
Although the Poles pay more and more attention to religion, their management is still very rough in comparison - this is not a problem of attitude or technique, but their administrative level cannot support stricter management. As long as there are still people alive, there is no way to strictly control it, and no matter how cruel it is, it is useless.
In this case, the local church produced a large number of easily concealed pamphlets and distributed them widely among Orthodox believers in occupied Poland. In the early years, the local Orthodox Church looked down upon these propaganda, because they believed that the Roman Church and the priests attached to them were more serious heretics than the Polish Catholic Church.
In fact, this was the norm at the time.
Although the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church fell into a split, the conflict between the two sides was not as intense as later generations imagined - or perhaps it was because the Protestant movement was the focus of education, so people would inevitably regard this situation as a general rule. But in fact, the Catholic Church's dislike of Protestantism, and the conflict between the two parties, are far more serious than those between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
Although they often debated and quarreled with each other, and excommunicated each other from time to time, these two churches stayed at this step for most of the time. Back then, the Pope even opposed the Crusaders' attack on Constantinople. In comparison, the difference in attitude is quite obvious.
But the church in the Purple Horde Khanate was different. Ever since their power gradually expanded and entered the sight of major countries, they have been under attack.
The nobles here hate the Purple Horde Khanate's land distribution behavior very much, and they can't explain it no matter how they do it. At the earliest time, Guo Gai also wrote to the aristocratic parliaments of Poland and Hungary, saying that this was a measure that had been in place since the time of Shang Yang. It had been nearly two thousand years ago and was a tradition of the Eastern Seris Kingdom. They were just acting according to their habits, not specifically trying to go against anyone.
Unfortunately, the local nobles neither knew Seris nor had any idea about two thousand years. They felt that such an exaggerated figure was just nonsense at first glance. In the end, the letters disappeared, and there was no news at all.
And the local church is extremely hostile to them. Some people believe that the Purple Horde's deprivation of church property in Bulgaria is a threat to the entire church - although they and the Bulgarians are not of the same sect.
More people used religion as a banner, believing that the sect adopted by the Purple Horde Khanate was so heretical that it could not be considered a branch of Christianity. However, due to the work of Patriarch Zhang, this sect spread among the people very quickly, so they must be eliminated as soon as possible to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Under such circumstances, the Purple Horde Khanate has been constantly attacked by various Crusaders since its official establishment. The Tianfang believers in Jerusalem did not suffer more Crusaders than them. In the beginning, it was only some nobles with related interests who came forward for their relatives. Later, as the power of the Purple Horde Khanate expanded, big countries such as Poland and Hungary joined in as organizations. Finally, it became what it is now.
Ever since Basil III marched into southern Italy and interfered with the Naples succession issue, the Catholic Church in Rome had changed its tune and recognized the Church of the Purple Horde - the official full name should be "The God-Worshipping Church of Rome" - as its own sect.
Of course, the upper echelons of the Catholic church have no control over the choices of various local churches.
At this time, they were in the middle of a confrontation between the two Holy Sees of Rome and Avignon. According to the old European saying, Barbarossa crossed the river - he could not save himself. It's good if you can maintain your own existence, and you don't have time to care about anything else.
In the following time, the Hungarian church gradually collapsed due to civil war and attacks by the Purple Horde. The Polish church survived and became stronger as a result, while the local Orthodox church suffered.
In the early years, the two sides could barely coexist, but as the Purple Horde Khanate turned to the offensive, the mentality of Polish people and clergy became more and more extreme. Both the secular nobles and the upper echelons of the church were in urgent need of someone to be a scapegoat.
The policy of forced conversion during this period was even more intense than that of the thirteenth century. In the rear areas and big cities, it is relatively easy to talk, but in the frontline areas near the border, sometimes they simply skip this step and massacre Orthodox villages to vent their anger.
In this case, the local Orthodox church actually has no choice.
When the Queen Mother Helena was in power, the Poles suffered successive setbacks in their attacks. They thought there was a spy inside and began to arrest prisoners. Therefore, the Queen Mother secretly ordered her confidants to go to the northern shore of the Black Sea, where military districts had not yet been established, and from time to time pretend to be local forces and contact Poland.
These headless letters were intercepted by Polish nobles from time to time, making them increasingly suspicious. Some people immediately thought that the current situation was very similar to the Sicilian Vespers incident.
It is said that the Greek Emperor Michael VIII was behind the riot that expelled the French. Through conspiracy, he can weaken the Kingdom of Sicily, which has been against him for a long time, and prevent French power from continuing to advance eastward in the Mediterranean.
The situation now is exactly the same as that time. It is obvious that the cunning Greeks are going to repeat their old tricks and incite the local Orthodox people to rebel.
Moreover, in their view, those most suspected of betrayal must be those Orthodox Christians whose hometowns are in the south and who fled their hometowns because they opposed the worship of God. After all, the hometown is under the rule of the purple tent, so it is easier to collude, and who knows if any of them are spies themselves?
Therefore, the Poles decided to strike first. Now is not the time to discipline friendship, so we can only strike hard.
The local nobles arrested a large number of ordinary people, but failed to find the existence of the spies. This made the nobles even more panicked, suspecting that the spies had begun to act and the plan had already begun. When they thought they did not have time to conduct a detailed search, they found the only remaining local management organization that was still in operation, the church, and demanded that the suspicious persons be handed over immediately, otherwise they would attack the church first.
In panic, Dmitry, an Orthodox bishop from the Galich region, tried to go to the capital to protest. He promised that the church would be loyal to the king, strictly secular, and not participate in any military or political confrontation. However, others did not believe him at all. On the way, Dmitry was killed by Polish thugs and the documents he signed were burned. Arrests and killings of Orthodox Christians also followed.
The Poles called Galicia Galicia, so this incident is also known as the "Galician Martyrdom" incident. After learning the news, Queen Mother Helena ordered the Patriarch to make Dmitry and more than 20 famous figures who were killed for refusing to convert as saints. She called on Orthodox believers to abandon their past grievances and, in the face of extreme threats, Let go of past stereotypes and unite.
After that, the local atmosphere gradually changed. Many monks and believers from the south fled Poland and returned to the territory of the Purple Horde. Others insist on continuing their activities in Poland and are committed to organizing and calling on Orthodox Christians in other regions to fight against religious oppression in Poland.
Since the conflicts in some other areas were not so sharp, and because they were far away from the Purple Horde, they were worried that the Polish army would retaliate. Therefore, there were still many Rus villages and towns that insisted on neutrality and did not want to respond directly. But this underground activity has continued since then.
The Poles were very tired of this, and some people even suggested that they should "reform the Orthodox Church" and drive away all these annoying guys, especially the southern areas close to the Purple Horde. Even if they are not on the border, they should be driven back to the south. Go to the purple tent.
However, because many nobles owned properties in the Orthodox areas of Lithuania and Rus, they were worried that things would be out of control as soon as they started. Therefore, the plan of "returning Orthodoxy to the south and Catholicism to the north" could not be truly implemented.
(End of chapter)
