The somewhat rabid response has stunned me somewhat... a number of posters in this thread seem somewhat unbalanced on the side of hasty judgements and baseless proclamations.
Having a priest along to reinforce the troops morale isn't a far-fetched idea. Even today when many people aren't even certain a higher power exists, the U.S. military still has chaplains. There have been spiritual leaders in virtually every war mankind has fought. The priest wielding a cudgel is a matter of taste. Many probably didn't carry any sort of weapon at all, relying instead on the protection of their attendents and faith. Some most likely did carry some sort of simple weaponry for basic defense... a simple club works as good as anything else...
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