Just when the merchant forces in the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Florence were in secret contact with the Pope, the Pope and the Holy See, who were originally hesitant, became more and more tense because of an incident...

The Diocese of Parma, belonging to the Duchy of Milan, is located in the south of the Po River Plain, close to the Parma River, not far from the capital of the Republic of Genoa to the west, and belongs to the Emilia-Romagna region, Emilia is a road built by the Roman Republic from Rome to northern Italy, called the Emilia Boulevard, Romagna is the name of the Lombard for the Ravena region,

This bishopric is in the rich Po River Plain, and close to the Republic of Genoa, the usual taxes and tolls and so on will not be less, so the bishopric here is also very popular, people are vying to come here to serve as the bishop, the bishopric belongs to the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Ravenna, it is a very good place, the Cathedral of Parma is also very famous, it is the proud work of the Renaissance master Correggio,

Such a good place with both culture and economy will naturally attract the attention of those who are interested, and Francesco Sforza, Grand Duke of Milan, is obviously one of them, because the diocese of Parma is an ecclesiastical asset, so Francesco will be so concerned,

Francesco Sforza, originally a mercenary, Francesco was not from a very good background, he was an illegitimate child, during his career as a mercenary, he served in several countries, because he was able to bend metal rods with only his hands, so he was very popular as a mercenary, jumping repeatedly between various forces,

Filippo Maria Visconti, the last ruler of the Visconti family, the ruling family of the Duchy of Milan, died childless, Francesco happened to marry Filippo's daughter, coupled with his mercenary strength, Milan was seized by Francesco after the establishment of a short republic, Francesco was officially known as the Duke of Milan, and was gradually recognized by everyone,

Well, I feel that I am almost the same as Dong Zhuo, and I can fight and be ambitious.

But it is useless to be recognized by the small countries of Italy, the Duchy of Milan is a secular principality, how can it be justified without the canonization of an emperor?

Therefore, the arrival of Frederick III's envoy may not be good news for the Duchy of Milan, but for Francesco, it is simply perfect, if Frederick III canonizes it, the Sforza family will be transformed into a duke family, such an opportunity is rare.

After the Duchy of Milan submitted to Frederick III for the first time, the tax envoys who collected taxes from the whole country came to the Bishopric of Parma, and at the same time collected taxes from the local nobles and commoners in the name of war taxes, which caused quite a stir in the local area.

Of course, Francesco was not in a hurry to get his hands on the ecclesiastical assets, but the matter was already being planned, and the arrival of the tax collector was only a test reaction, and it was possible to do anything after that.

"Bishop Galaton, you can help us, the taxes are already very heavy now, not to mention that Francesco did not consult us at all about this tax increase, it was on his own, this is an insult to the power of the nobility, and we can't accept it anyway."

Several nobles cried to Bishop Graton of Parma at the Cathedral of Parma.

In this era, the lords generally relied on the income of their own direct fiefdoms, for example, in France, the income of the French royal domains, and "the king should live on his own", which was typical of medieval Europe.33

This is why King Charles VII of France wanted to raise taxes in his early years, and he had to go through the support of the Estates-General, and the king could not raise taxes without permission unless there was a major event such as war, which was regarded as a great affront to the sacred right of "the inviolability of private property".

But this is the greatness of Charles VII, who bypassed the restraint of the Estates-General's Legion through various means, mastered the right to levy, and also created three major taxes: salt tax, excise tax, and tax on crop harvest and gold and silver.

But now Francesco is not targeting the commoners, but these noble territories, all the commoners and nobles have to pay taxes, which makes the nobles very dissatisfied, and they want to levy more taxes without consulting me?

From this point of view, what the master said, the money of the big households is returned in full, and the money of the common people is divided into thirty or seventy, which really makes some sense.

"This, this, although Francesco's actions are indeed not very in line with the traditions of the aristocracy, but as a bishop, I try to get involved in secular disputes as little as possible."

Do you not usually cry out that God's work to God's work and king's work to the king's? Remember me now?

Of course, this is not a reason for Bishop Goradon not to intervene, it would be too childish to be angry with the nobles, the main reason is that Bishop Goraton is waiting for instructions from the Holy See, and Parma is so close to Rome that he must know what the Holy See means before he can decide what to do next.

"Now is not the time to dwell on this, Francesco's ambitions are well known, but he can use the funds in the ducal realm to show his loyalty to His Majesty Frederick III, why force us? Forced taxation was not in line with the tradition among the nobility, and Duke Francesco did so much, how could the nobles be convinced? ”

There was contempt in his tone, and everyone knew what he meant, mocking Francesco for not understanding aristocratic etiquette as an illegitimate child.

"I'm sorry, guys, I can't answer you right now, but you'd better figure out how to deal with the tax collector sent by the duke."

Bishop Goraton shook his head, and finally rejected them, Bishop Goraton's behavior made the nobles very helpless, their original intention was actually to want Bishop Goraton to go up, because behind Goraton is the Holy See, only the Holy See can confront the Holy Roman Emperor behind Francesco, and no one else has this qualification.

In the dispersed crowd, several people looked at each other tacitly, as if they were planning to make trouble.

Sure enough, only three days after this discussion, several nobles around Parma united to expel the tax envoy sent by Duke Francesco, and Francesco was very annoyed by his disobedience to the order, and soon Francesco's accountability messenger came to the Cathedral of Parma and came to the Bishop of Goraton.

"Your Excellency, the Duke is very eager to understand what is the reason for the nobles' resistance to taxes this time, is it because Your Excellency is behind the mastermind and wants to rebel against the Duke?"

The envoy is very direct, why, because he is not afraid, the duke's envoy they dare not move, they are also resisting taxes, if they really rebel, it is estimated that they will not have the courage to do so.

"No, Your Excellency, I have no knowledge of this, it was carried out without my knowledge, and it has nothing to do with me at all."

Bishop Goradon naturally tried his best to distance himself from Francesco, and Francesco was not afraid, mainly of Frederick III behind him, for fear that he would cause tensions between the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire to reappear.

Yes, after Francesco donated money to Frederick III, in the eyes of the people, Francesco was already a vassal of Frederick III, which was a normal thing, and the condition for the division of power in this period was to pay taxes to which lord.

"Since Your Excellency does not know, then as the Bishop of the Diocese of Parma, I also ask Your Excellency to cooperate with my mission to take down those nobles who have rebelled, and I can go back and reply to Duke Francesco."

The emissary's incomparably tough attitude overwhelmed Bishop Goratun, and now is he going to take sides? But the Holy See's meaning had not yet been conveyed, and he was unwilling to make his own decisions.

"Your Excellency, can you wait, I'll get back to you in a few days."

Bishop Goraton instinctively wanted to put the matter off until later.

"Wait? I can afford to wait, can the Duke afford to wait? Can the Duke afford to wait, and His Majesty Frederick III can afford to wait? Tomorrow is the deadline, and the rebellious nobles of Parma must be punished, and it depends on your sincerity whether your Excellency will punish you or whether the Duke will personally lead the troops. ”

The envoy sneered, as I said earlier, Francesco made his fortune as a mercenary, he was able to fight well, and he was famous, which was also the source of the envoy's confidence.

"Wait, wait, it's only a few days, and if the Duke comes in person, he won't blame me for these few days."

Bishop Goraton was still ready to procrastinate.

"Hmph, Lord Bishop, do it yourself."

Although the messenger said this, it was obvious that he acquiesced to this practice, and turned away without mentioning it.

However, what Bishop Gorlaton did not expect was that all the situation here had been seen by the envoy sent by Frederick III, and that the situation in the Diocese of Parma had already been placed on Frederick III's desk.

On December 29, 1460, Frederick III's plenipotentiary envoy arrived in Palma and read the following edict:

“... remove the Bishop of Parma from the office of Goraton and re-elect the Bishop of Parma by the Holy See or the Council for the Election of the Clergy..."

Although the ceremony was very successful with the help of Francesco, the impact of this event was very serious, the political volatility was very large, and the impact on the situation of the entire Apennine Peninsula was very great.

In the Worms Religious Agreement of 1122, only the bishops and abbots of the German regions were elected by the Council of Priests, and the right to appoint bishops was entirely in the hands of the Pope, and the Emperor had no right to intervene, and today Frederick III is doing war against the Pope.

What's going on? How could Frederick III make such a decision? In the face of the impending war with Laszlo, how could Frederick III dare to go to war with the Pope again? Could there be something hidden in this?

Some people died, but not completely......