Duke Leopold rises from his stand and extends regal bows to the Kaiser and the Chancellor, before turning his full attention to the Diet.

I wholeheartedly agree with Chancellor Mandorf that the recent struggle between Emperor Heinrich and the false Pope Gregory have cast shadows on our every souls. God has favoured Heinrich in the battle against Gregory, surely this shows that God favours the Reich and its inhabitants. However the spell of excommunication may not be taken lightly from our shoulders.
A Crusade is a noble and holy cause that will purify the soul of every man that undertakes this difficult journey. I agree that we should not be shocked or thrown back by the difficulties this will impose on the Reich, a sacrifice is necessary to right the wrongs caused by us in the past. Much Christian blood has been shed and it is our divine duty to remedy our sins by freeing the city where Jesus, God's own son, our saviour, has accomplished so much in his lifetime. That heathens now control the city and soil the sacred halls can not be tolerated. I therefore support the call for a Crusade and would be the first to take up the cross and journey East!

What is this talk of an unsanctioned Crusade, that Mandorf has proposed though? Without the divine mandate of God's representative on Earth any army marching East will be nothing more than a conquering, plundering host. It does not matter how noble and pious our hearts and goals may be on the upcoming journey, but without the blessing of the leader of Christendom we would be nothing more than invaders, and instead of salvation and the forgiveness of our sins, only more bloodshed will lie at the end of our journey.
To even think of undertaking this holiest of journeys in the Name of our Lord and Christ while we're standing outside of the church sounds like blasphemy to my ears!

The struggle has been between Heinrich and Gregory, the holder of the office, not the office itself. An unlawful upsurper that has been overthrown by the continued and persistent effort of our beloved Kaiser!
We have to seek unity with the new Papacy again, by showing them that our recent actions were not aimed at the Holy See, but against Gregory and his false claims! What better way to show them our reverence than to give them what has been theirs ever since Saint Peter. I urge every one here to consider giving the Papacy what has been rightfully theirs, give them Rome!
Reconciliation would be assured for us and a great amount of our sins repaid with little effort. Once this has been done it will only be another small step to persuade whoever holds the office to grant us our mission, to sanction our journey East, to give us the divine mandate we need to accomplish the holiest of all journeys!

You want the Pope to wait until this long journey is finished before granting them any land? Would you have them ponder around these lands without shelter, knocking on the doors of every Duke and King to gain entrance like some poor beggar? This is no way to treat God's representative on Earth, the Pope! If we give them back what is rightfully theirs and was only taken to weaken Gregory's position, we will be assured of their eternal gratitude. No longer can they claim that they proclaim the Kaiser, when we are the ones that have given them the powerbase they need to oversee the well-being of all Christendom.
Also consider that other countries may approach the new Pope to offer him the shelter he so desperately needs, thus raising themselves above their fellow Catholics as preservers and saviours of the Papacy. For a long time they would hold sway over the Holy See, while we would be left with an unauthorized expedition to nowhere that would lead to nothing.

Because of all the reasons above I present you a rough draft of Edict E1.4:
The City of Rome is to be returned to whichever Cardinal gets elected as Pope in the upcoming Elections.
Once we have been reconciled and the proper amount of time has passed we will ask the current Pope to call a Crusade against Jerusalem so that every man in the Empire willing to take up the sword may do so to redeem the sins we have laden upon us in the recent bloodshed between Emperor Heinrich and Gregory.
After the city is captured, it will be given as a gift to the current Pope, to allow him to permanently reign over Christendom from the land of Christ. The Crusade will be governed as follows:

1: Every general who wishes to join the Crusade may do so.
2: For the duration of the Crusade, all limits on army composition will not apply to any Crusade armies.
3: The Crusade is authorized to declare war on any non-Catholic faction it encounters, if it deems such a declaration of war to be necessary.
4: All strategic decisions regarding the Crusade, such as choice of settlements to attack and commanders of the Crusading armies, will be made by the generals who participate in the Crusade. All decisions will be made by majority vote, without regard for earthly influence. We are all equal in the eyes of God on this Holy Mission.
5: All Edicts relating to the Crusade will remain in effect until the Papacy governs Jerusalem or until every last Crusader lies dead, whichever comes first.


If you have anything you wish to be changed or amended to this Edict please speak up. You may notice that I have taken the liberty to base some of my draft on Chancellor Mandorfs propositions. While his ideas ring true with me, a Crusade is only a Crusade if authorized by Papal law, and I will not join or support any other military action that aims on imitating this holy and honorable journey!