While Marin was busy calculating Frederick III, Pope Julius II, who was far away in Rome, was not idle. He had long received a secret letter from Archbishop Hermann IV of Cologne, and naturally knew what was happening in Germany.

At first, Julius II was furious, thinking Frederick III was too bastard. Therefore, Julius II initially wanted to punish Frederick III with the harsh measure of "excommunication".

However, having calmed down, Julius II abandoned the idea. After all, he had only been pope for a short time. Moreover, Frederick III was also a leading figure among the Electors of Germany, and he could certainly finish Frederick III by using excommunication on others. However, the impact on yourself is not good.

In any case, the dispute between Marin and Frederick III was a struggle between the princes within Germany, and he, the pope, could not excommunicate Frederick III for his son-in-law Marin.

Moreover, there is not no opposition within the Holy See. If he had excommunicated Frederick III for no reason, the opposition within the Holy See would have been strong.

Of course, that was for the secular princes, but for the religious ones, Julius II was easier to deal with. This is because the bishop or abbot of the German region is nominally subordinate to the Holy See.

For his subordinates, although Julius II could not be "excommunicated" at every turn, it was still easy to order a reprimand. The bishop of a bishopric state is also very face-saving. If you are reprimanded several times by the Pope's decree, you will lose your face.

Moreover, if he repeatedly fights with the Pope, who is a superior, the Pope can also use this as an excuse to carry out an excommunication. And the archbishop who was expelled by the pope will inevitably end miserably. The secular princes were excommunicated, and at most they were boycotted, and no one wanted to serve them, and they were almost betrayed. As long as no one takes the opportunity to send troops to destroy the country, the secular princes who have been excommunicated will still be his nobles. Because, secular nobility is dictated by blood, and has nothing to do with religion.

The archbishops of the episcopal states, on the other hand, are a priest as a prerequisite for becoming the head of the episcopal states. Because, that is a religious country, it is impossible to let non-religious people preside. If you are excommunicated by the pope, the only end is to abdicate and get out. Therefore, the secular princes may fight with the Holy See, but the religious princes will never dare.

……

After much deliberation, Julius II decided to issue an edict to the German princes, declaring Marin to be a loyal supporter of the Holy See and a prominent noble believer, and that the bishops and abbots were not allowed to send troops against him without the permission of the Holy See. Failure to do so will result in penalties within the Holy See. In serious cases, the penalty may be excommunicated...... In addition, all religious princes, do not be bewitched and instigated by irrelevant people to act irrationally......

When this edict reached Worms, it caused an uproar. This edict is almost a sure indication that the Pope is openly on Marin's side. In this way, all the religious princes had no possibility of participating in the anti-Marin alliance, and Frederick III was immediately embarrassed.

What embarrassed Frederick III even more was the last sentence - do not be bewitched and instigated by irrelevant people to act irrationally......

Who is this "irrelevant person"? It clearly refers to Frederick III......

At this time, Protestantism had not yet appeared, and the Pope, the supreme leader of the spiritual realm in Europe, was alluded to by the Pope as an "irrelevant person", which greatly damaged Frederick III's prestige.

Among the secular princes, in addition to those nobles who had long been bribed to oppose the joint army, many nobles who were still hesitant chose to accept Kohler's bribes after learning the content of the papal edict, and then no longer joined the anti-Marin alliance. They are just princes and nobles, and they dare not oppose the Holy See. Back then, Henry IV, as the Emperor of the HRE, had to kneel down and beg the Pope for forgiveness after being excommunicated, how could they, as ordinary princes, dare to go against the Pope? So, when they saw that the situation was not right, they flashed decisively...... Moreover, before Shin, he also took the opportunity to collect Kohler's money......

In the end, it was the remaining dozen nobles, that is, Frederick III's hardcores, who chose to continue to die hard and follow Frederick III to the dark.

Marin's 300 cavalrymen sent to Worms arrived in Worms and handed over the contents of the notices and leaflets written by Marin to Kohler. However, before Kohler could take action, the papal edict of Julius II caused a drastic change in the direction of Worms. Frederick III suddenly became isolated, and it seemed that there was no need to put up notices and distribute leaflets to rebuke Frederick III. Because, although this will achieve certain results, it is also easy to arouse the disgust of many nobles. After all, attacking a top German nobleman with such a big fanfare will definitely provoke the dissatisfaction of many nobles. They may not be on the side of Frederick III, but they must be very unhappy with this kind of attacking a great nobleman by handing out leaflets. Because, this greatly challenged the authority of the aristocracy......

After careful consideration, Kohler believed that since the Pope had already made a move and the victory was decided, it was better not to use this more drastic method, so as not to cause a backlash from the nobles.

In fact, after sending his men, Marin also felt regretful. After all, this is feudal times. This kind of poster to denigrate a great nobleman, in the early 16th century, was definitely a kind of rule-breaking behavior, and it was easy to arouse the disgust of those order-abiding nobles. So, having figured this out, Marin sent someone to Worms to get Kohler to stop posting notices and handing out leaflets. It's a pity that Marin sent people a little late. Fortunately, Kohler was careful not to carry out Marin's plan in time. When Marin's messenger arrived, he was relieved to learn that Kohler had not carried out the radical plan.

In fact, although Marin canceled the blatant act of posting notices and distributing leaflets, he still planned to send people to spread "inside information" in the tavern to spread rumors and truths and attack Frederick III.

But after learning that the Pope's edict had settled most of the nobles of Worms, this method of spreading rumors was directly abandoned. Now that the problem has been solved, why take the risk of using those methods that don't work on the table?

……

Pope Julius II's edict helped Marin solve a great problem. At the same time, it also brought great humiliation to Marin's opponent Frederick III, making Frederick III almost a laughing stock.

In the papal edict, the "irrelevant man" almost defined Frederick III as a "little man who jumps up and down and tries to make trouble...... This dealt a huge blow to Frederick III's prestige......

From that moment on, Frederick III had the idea of fighting the Catholic Church in the back of his heart......

Although history changed, Frederick III came up with the idea of opposing the Catholic Church. Moreover, earlier than in the original history. When Marin sent Martin Luther to Wittenberg, he quickly hit it off with Frederick III. Then, Martin Luther remained the leader of the Reformation. And Frederick III is still the mastermind and the most important supporter behind Martin Luther...... It's just that this time is much earlier than the original history......