James Turnbull

This petition is recanted.

My Lords, I write to you with fervent apology in hand. I made swift yet non-essential changes to the wording. Free Investiture is a direct compromise of the Canonist Faith, and wholly against it's dogma. Instead, 'cuius regio eios religio' gives each lord the capacity to practice according to the beliefs of themselves or their people. However, I will return the petition to its original form, for I made these alterations without your consultation believing it to be non-essential do to its arbitrary changes of wording. Additionally, I accept the Emperor's suggestion of Diet, and will attend if such safe passage is truly upheld.

Addressed to John Frederick Horen, Holy Orenian Emperor We Lords of Orenia have felt the oppressive sting of the presumptuous Church of the Canon under Everard II for years now, and refuse to stand for their divine proclamations any longer. It is the right of a Lord to rule his people, and establish law in his land; not the Church. The Church, however, has established laws they claim to be of divine nature. No man can maintain law in his own land while the Church claims to enforce the law of God in that very land. The Emperor can not act without the support of we noblemen, and so know that we ask for your action in this with the utmost desire to see freedom to practice separately from the Church be granted. While we love and respect our Emperor above all rulers before, we beseech him to act, and wait no longer. Our great Emperor, we seek to henceforth instate ‘cuius regio eius religio,' and Free Investiture. We do this only at your behest. We beg of you, act righteously, and know we act to please and protect none but God and our Mother Nation. ~ Otto Sarkozy, Duke of Carnatia ~ Jan Kovacs, Count of Kvaz ~ Adrian de Bar, Count of Drusco ~ Bryce Vimmark, Viscount of Alamar ~ Arthur Roswell, Count of Pompourelia We invite all the Lords of Orenia to add their name to our petition, so that the Emperor may know our unity on this matter.

To be accurate, I have called for no new church, merely a reform to the doctrine which declares the High Pontiff divinely inspired, and freedom for the Lords of the realm in the form of free investiture. I have asked men of Faith to turn away from the fallacy that God's voice is spoken through the High Pontiff. My various opponents have attacked me personally; a heretic, craven, whoreson. Their outcry and argument has been almost entirely, 'You must not demand people turn away from the High Pontiff, for he is just.' I have no hatred for Everard, or his fellow clergy. I simply believe them to be diluted in their ridiculous belief that man can speak for God. I will no longer offer a response unless my opponents address the matter of the High Pontiff's unjust declaration of divine inspiration, the divinity of the Canon Laws, or the i statement of free investiture. I am not here to argue on fallacies and irrelevancies.

The High Pontiff claims to be divinely inspired. This in and of itself is blaspheme, for no man knows God's will. This is the primary issue I wish to represent and resolve. This is not a matter of 'some' or 'few.' God is absolute, if all High Pontiffs are chosen by him to lead the Faith, then they must be of utmost virtue and inspired by His word which guides with perfection. They are not, though, and therefore they do not speak God's word unto us. If even one law is false and must be amended, it is not God's law. A single falter is proof enough. The High Pontiff is not God's avatar, but merely his faithful servant whom administers the Church. In order to dismantle this notion, Clerics whom support it must be barred from practicing their falseness in the lands of the faithful. The most peaceful way to go about this would be the instatement of free investiture. I condemned the Emperor in my previous letter. This is by no means an issue by the State, which I oppose for it's slothfulness and inability to rid us of the infallible doctrines the Church has produced. I hope soon that he gains resolve, and acts, lest he be a simple and willing observer as the Church continues its' development of destructive precedents.

A small pamphlet is distributed across the lands of the Holy Orenian Empire discretely, to Lords, Clergy, and the Emperor himself. To those pious men of the realm; We walk now in the wake of the truth. The Church’s response to my most recent declaration is clearly folly, an effort to defend itself with failing logic and irresponsible declarations. I will detail the dismemberment of their defensive and accusatory response herein; “Such words from a man not inducted or versed in the Holy Scrolls is heresy.” I am very much a man versed in those Holy Scrolls up to the most recent discoveries of the Scripture. I challenge you to detail the Admonishment of God’s many children by Him, or otherwise any excerpt of the Scrolls in a way far superior to myself. I claim to be equal in my knowledge, no greater or worse; but certainly not ignorant. “Our lord GOD has placed his trust in the previous Pontificates and has done so within our current Church. If the only two examples you can find are John of Darfey and Regulus then you are unfortunately at a loss, for let us not forget Blessed Daniel I, St. Lucien, St. Everard, Blessed Adeodatus, High Priests Marcus, and Bernard, this Church has produced pious men and women.” Our lord GOD’s will can not be determined by this letter you write. Bestow upon me the action or excerpt from the Gospels which determines the Church and the High Pontiff as God’s willful messengers, and I shall yield you this. You simply assume to know God’s trust has been placed in you. I agree with my opponent on another point, however. There are many pious men and women produced by the Church. But the question is whether all men seated as High Pontiff are pious, genuine, and divinely inspired; not whether most of them are. If even one High Pontiff were evidently counter to the sanctity of God’s ministry or the traditions of the Church, then surely by my opponent's own standards they are not divinely inspired; therefore the High Pontiff is not an inherent voice of God, who wields a divine and irrefutable connection to Him. “As for your interpretation of Canon Law, his Holiness bares no responsibility for the twisting of previous legislation passed under the yoke. He will however prioritize the updating of Canon Law as well as amend the finite passage that allowed the Auditor to act in the manor he did.” I interpret nothing. The laws permitted the Auditor to do as he did, even to the point where you yourselves found it necessary to amend the law. How can a law which was written by man that must have been false, for it was amended, be the will of God? How can a law which was written and amended by man be the will of God? "The Church furthermore invites John Tuner to join the clergy if he wishes to express his ecclesiastical opinions with access to our holy scripture." I have access to known copies made of the Holy Scriptures, and I do not need the permission of your Ministry to practice and debate matters theological as His servant. I am no heretic. So there you have it. The responses presented by the Church to my previous letter (detailed above) has proven they are incapable of understanding the falsehood in their divine precedents, as well as any acknowledgement as to the matter and necessity of Free Investiture, to free the Lords of the realm from agents of this corrupted Ministry. I call upon my brothers faithful, scholars, monks, priests, bishops and Lords, turn from Everard II, henceforth to be known solely as the Bishop of Luciensport, as your divine word-giver. Know him as a colleague in doing God’s work and nothing more, and continue on your paths as men who seek to teach all of God and His word. In order to establish a true peace amongst the Faithful, separate from the corrupted Ministry which seeks to further itself by declaring divine provenance, we must understand what we separate ourselves for. These are my suggestions, as a brother and scholar to you all, for the Doctrine by which this Reform may prosper. The only true word of God is the Holy Scrolls, and no mortal man can assume to know God’s will detailed elsewhere, for he is not knowable and all-knowing.The Church of the Canon is a body through which God’s faith is spread, and those who follow the Canonist faiths will be respected as brothers in the faith. However, the Canonist clergy will not be acknowledged as leaders of the Reformist faithful, and will not be permitted to practice the sacraments in the lands of Reformist lords till they renounce the supposed divine knowledge of the High Pontiff and the assumed infallibility of clergymen.Individual preachers and friars whom spread God’s word and perform sacraments upon God’s faithful shall be acknowledged not as the Church’s servants, but God’s Himself. It is the role of the Reformist clergy not to dictate or amend the Holy Scrolls, but instead solely act according to their words, and teach interpretations of those Scrolls so that the faithful layman may know them and their meanings.The lords of the realm must have the capacity to determine the clergy allowed to practice in their lands; Free Investiture.The performance of the sacraments of the faith are an imperative part of an individual’s connection with God, as well as prayer. In these ways, and not through the Church of the Canon, can the faithful establish a relationship with God transcendent of mortal interference. These are merely my suggestions, and matters I believe require discussion. I shall be meeting with those whom seek to offer more suggestions, and will aid me in continuing to craft further documentation for this most righteous Reform. Again and finally, I beseech the Church to submit itself to truth, a most holy virtue, and surrender to me my accuracies. God's will is not man's to decide. By the Grace of God, James Turnbull

A finely crafted letter is copied dozens of times over and delivered unto the lords of the Empire. To you, most esteemed and pious lord; In the souls of all men, there is sin. In the souls of all men. For many years, since its reformation by High Pontiff Daniel I, the Church of the Canon has been docile and supportive, assisting the realm of man in its endeavours. It was a rallying light during the schism wars, and a beacon of unity in the years following. Then, however, the Church had begun to fade into obscurity. Only in the few years prior, with the establishment of Luciensport and the Crusade in Tarchary, did the Church find itself gaining relevance, trust and moral authority once again. Soon after, Everard II acceded to the High Pontificate. Under Everard II, the clergy has grown, as has the relevance of its movements and actions. However, the nobility of the Holy Orenian Empire has grown distraught with formation of the Inquisition, and other actions by the Church. At first harmless, the Inquisition began its first episodes of intrusion into the law of state. Complaints from several lords were issued to the Crown as the Inquisition practiced as an independent judiciary body, sentencing men and women within the city of Felsen, and the realms of the noble lords. Yet the Crown did nothing on this matter, instead preferring to simply turn a blind eye to the excesses of this paramilitary. The Inquisition and the Church had claimed that their law was God’s word, and established a precedent that they were infallible in their actions, and those who defied even the most insignificant of their dictates defied God. This is a farce. Man has always been full of sin, and the High Pontiff is no exception to this. Two namely infamous High Pontiffs whose actions are damnable entirely are John of Darfey, and Regulus. These two men who infiltrated the Church with purely political desires abused its influence over the once powerful Order of Saint Lucien to start a rebellion and murder King Francis. It is worth noting High Pontiff Owyn as well, who abused his seat to form a secular body for his own gain, that of the first Kingdom of Savoy. We must then ask this - how can the High Pontiff be the inherent giver of God’s word if such godless men have held the holy office in the past? The answer is that he cannot. Like all men, he is fallible, and subject to sin both mortal and venial. The High Pontiff is no voice of God. The current regime in the Church has established a precedent of divine judicial superiority, derivative of the word and hand of the High Pontiff. This is absolute folly. The High Pontiff, despite the claims of many today and in the past, is not chosen by God to deliver God’s word. The High Pontiff is chosen by man embodied by the Pentarchy, to administer God’s ministry in the mortal realm; the Church. To suggest otherwise is to simply deny reality. Therefore, the High Pontiff and his Curia have absolutely no right to establish a set of ‘Canon laws’ which supercede the laws of man. They have shown their utter disrespect and contempt towards the codified Imperial Law in several instances, but most notably in their interference of the trial of a cleric Augustus, a slanderer and a common criminal. The Church broke Father Augustus out of the Emperor’s prison, claiming that only they have the right to try the crimes of a clergyman, though his crimes were secular and not theological. They also claimed that if they were to acquit him, their acquittal supersedes any charges placed on him by legal secular bodies. Accordingly, they unanimously pardoned their friend and comrade Augustus in what was a complete and utter miscarriage of justice. Without a statute or precedent, they continue to affirm this doctrine of clerical infallibility. The Pontifist functionaries of Luciensport claim that to defy Church law is to defy God. This is pure blaspheme. They view their High Pontiff not as the Vicar of God, but an Avatar of God, whose pen scribes His very word - we should, then, be careful to call such an assertion what it truly is: idolatry. If the Church has the right to claim that all of their ilk are innocent of crime, and they claim this Empire, though lethargic it is, has no right to stop such acquittal, it is an evident breeding ground for corruption, iniquity and treachery which threatens the foundation of our state. The doctrine of infallibility and autonomy that the Church now practices is a present danger that the lords of the realm must face. These mortal men who believe they can scribe laws and claim them as the word of God are blasphemers, and must simply repent and cease. However, they are stubborn, and must be shown that there are consequences for betraying the sanctity of God’s word, which no mortal man may know through any medium but the Holy Scrolls themselves. Damn he, the Emperor, who has supported and permitted these clerics who dismember our faith in the Church, God’s ministry which he is sworn to protect. On occasions several, he has responded with little besides a pig-like grunt to the assaults of the clerics on the Emperor’s own peace. He must no longer allow these crimes to go without answer. It is your duty as Defender of the Faith to remove these iniquities from the Church, or reconstitute it as a body righteous enough to be defended. If you chose to do nothing, then damn you once again, for your lethargy and incapacity to act in God’s name and not your own. It is the duty of every lord to reject their polluted wisdom and know this; there is Faith without the Church. In the meantime, we invoke the Church of the Canon to cite but a single precedent or statute, applicable in our Empire and approved by secular authorities, which legally justifies these instances where agents of the Church have contravened the law of the land, namely the intervention in the Crown’s justice on Augustus of Laria or the extrajudicial and illegal flogging of Jan Kovac, the Count of Kvaz, as ‘just punishment’ for a mere off-colour joke towards a corrupt and depraved bishop. Expel the clergy from your lands, and instate your own men of true faith. Free investiture for the lords of the realm, so that we may purge our dioceses of agents of this ‘infallible’ and ‘divine-proclaimed’ Church. Harm no man, but make it known till their ways have changed that they will know no home in your realm. It is the duty of the lords of the realm to establish the clergy in their lands, and reject the authority that the Curia and the Pentarchy seek to abuse. By the Grace of God, James Turnbull