Chapter 123: Matters Of Faith

### Story Date

Tuesday, 3 May, AD 1043/6551 ε.Κ/20 Ramadan 434 AH/20 Huai-Yue Huangyou Era Year 1/20 Harpa ÅrO -1

## Appearances

### Locations

Berk
Rouen
Vedrarfjord
Caen

*According to the Catholic doctrine of **Papal Supremacy,** the Pope has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, by virtue of his office as Vicar of Christ and as the pastor of the entire Catholic Church.*

*The scriptural roots of this doctrine are found in the Christian Bible, specifically the section known as the Confession of Peter, recorded in Matthew 16, where Peter acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, and Jesus instills in him the authority over the Church as Jesus’ successor, a mantle to which the subsequent popes of Rome are successors in turn.*

*Historically, during the first few centuries of the Christian Church, there was no central authority; doctrine was decided by consensus at councils convened by Byzantine Emperors, although some of those councils did acknowledge that the Roman Church was “head of all Churches” in a manner that made them first among equals as opposed to a legal head. It was only in the late 6th to early 8th centuries that the Byzantine hold on the Roman bishops was reduced and weakened, allowing the Roman popes to fully assert their authority over the western half of the Church as its head, even as they broke with the imperial Byzantine remnants of the Roman Empire. The Popes first gained support from the Frankish rulers, especially the Frankish king Pepin the Short, who ceded to the Roman Popes the Italian territories that would later become the Papal States. Later, Pope Leo III’s coronation of Charlemagne—done partially in response to and in protest against the ascension of Irene of Athens to the Byzantine imperial throne—further bolstered the Roman Church’s separation from the Byzantine Emperors by giving them a supportive secular authority.*

*From here, the trend towards increased centralization around the Pope of Rome continued, accelerating with the coming of the Dragon Mail of Berk in the mid-1000s, when the Roman Church began to assert its authority over investiture—the ability to choose and install bishops, abbots, and even the Pope himself into their high Church offices. Due to the decentralized nature of the Church in the preceding centuries, this had been the prerogative and privilege of secular nobility and royalty…*

*—Papal Supremacy (n.d.) In Wikikenna. Retrieved February 17, 1862*

## Major Events

* Back in Normandy, Duke William's courtiers report to him all the domestic and non-domestic problems the duchy and the region in general is suffering.
* Archbishop Octavianus, newly appointed to the newly created Primate of Eire and Alba, arrives in Eire and meets Hakon.
* Hiccup shows Jonna his discovery that he can shoot the fire of his sword at a distance.
* Tuffnut introduces the Uppsala priests to Gothi, Shortshanks and Ebba. Gothi agrees to teach them their ways.

## Characters

### Humans

* Taskill Thaddeusson
* Heather
* Atali?
* William of Normandy
* Duckquack Hensteethsson
* Orvi clan Hofferson
* William FitzOsbern
* Roger de Montgomery (first appearance)
* Roger de Beaumont
* Hákon Mortensson
* Gunvor Dugaldsdóttir
* Cinaed Mortensson
* Archbishop Octavianus (first appearance)
* Jonna Asgersdóttir
* Hiccup clan Haddock
* Shortshanks clan Trygvesson (first appearance)
* Gothi Hiccupsdóttir
* Ebba Bóthildrsdóttir
* Uppsalan priests (first named appearances)
	+ Hemming Ákisson, priest of Odin
	+ Ragnar Holgarsson, priest of Freyr
	+ Vragi Sundrisson, priest of Tyr
	+ Stigr Njállsson, priest of Thor
* Tuffnut Thicknutsson
* Rivkah bat Hadassah (first appearance)
* Shimon (first appearance)
* Rivkah's father
* Fintan mac Ionatan
* Bláthnat
* Roisin
* Mainchín mac Dáire (first appearance)

### Dragons

* Mjolnir
* Cloudfox
* Sunflower
* Bumblebee
* Piscispestis (first appearance, unnamed)

## Analysis

### Epigraph Tie-In

* The epigraph discusses the Pope's legal authority over the entire Christian Church. The chapter shows the Pope exerting that authority over the previously de-facto independent churches in France and Eire.