Excommunication: Difference between revisions

'''Excommunication''' was an act of religious punishment in which a person was deprived of the privileges of their religion. Depending on the degree of integration of church and state, it could also be a grave political act — since it would force the excommunicant outside of the ''institutionalised'' religion, making it impossible for them to fulfil their sworn duties.  

In early [[17th century]] [[France]], the church and the state were intertwined to a particularly profound extent, since [[Cardinal]] [[Richelieu]] — as he called himself, "the [[Pope]]'s representative in France" — was also [[King]] [[Louis XIII]]'s [[prime minister]]. When Richelieu's political goals were opposed by the king, he used his role as cardinal to threaten Louis with excommunication from the [[Roman]] [[Catholic]] [[Church]]. Had he been successful, this would have at least theoretically made it impossible for Louis to fulfil his [[coronation]] oath. In the end, however, Louis simply had Richelieu jailed and thus prevented the necessary communication with [[Rome]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Church and the Crown (audio story)|The Church and the Crown]]'')

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