Chapter 46: Conscription
Since the June trial which soaked half of the square in front of the Grand Tribunal with blood, Pope Sistine I had re-established the supreme status of the Crown of Thorns in Florence. The papacy reclaimed its authority from the divided lords, and the blood of the principal offenders and their accomplices was spread across the marble floor. Cleaners scrubbed the floor over and over with pig bristle brushes, and buckets of water were poured. During that time, even the river in Florence was filled with a faint scent of blood.
Recruitment notices from the Papal Palace were posted on the bulletin board outside the large iron gate. Black-robed monks, carrying gongs and a white linen bag, travelled through the streets and alleyways of Florence, orally conveying the Pope’s will to all the people.
His Holiness was going to organize an army to attack the territories of those lords who had committed crimes, so that the Papal States could be reunited.
This news flew into every household like wings, and even more striking was the military recruitment conditions proposed by the Papal Palace.
Those who participated in the war and were recruited as soldiers would receive an annual salary of ninety gold florins. Those who served for more than five years would have priority in purchasing apartments in the upper city and could also advance their salaries from the Papal Palace to purchase real estate. Their children would have priority admission in all public schools and colleges affiliated with Florence. If they died in battle, the Papal Palace would pay the family a lump sum of two hundred gold florins and allow one of their children to work in an industry affiliated with the Papal Palace.
Ninety gold florins a year!
Most people in the lower city of Florence may not even earn ten gold florins even if they worked day and night for the whole year!
The conditions offered by the Papal Palace were so generous that even the nobles found it incomprehensible, let alone the people who were struggling at the bottom of society. Their trust and love for the Pope made them believe in the authenticity of these benefits without much questioning, and the number of people who volunteered to join the army was staggering.
Although the monks repeatedly emphasized that those who joined the army needed to stay in the army for a whole year and were not allowed to leave the barracks, these conditions were insignificant compared to the temptation of ninety gold florins.