Tag Archives: Catholic Church

History and Legends of Game of Thrones: The Faith Militant

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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE MOST RECENT EPISODES OF THE SHOW AND SOME OF THE BOOKS!

Today we are going to talk about the newest political player in the show and one who threatens to turn the entire balance of power upside down: the Faith Militant.

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Members of the Faith Militant are easily recognizable from their plain black robes, the seven pointed star of the Seven scarred into their head, and their rabid devotion to the fundamental teachings of the Faith and hatred of all vice and foreign influence.  Over the course of just a couple of episodes the Faith Militant has essentially taken over Kings Landing after being shrewdly backed and re armed by Cersei Lannister.  With their new power they patrol the streets forcefully removing activities such as gambling, prostitution, and worship of foreign idols.  They have also proven to be completely fearless and even the king himself must submit to their authority.

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Before the events of the show the Faith Militant had a long and often troubled history.  They were established during the early reign of the Targaryans when they perceived the Targaryen family as unfit to rule (they didn’t like the practice of each Targaryen marrying a family member, incest is a big no no in the Faith of the Seven) and rose up in revolt.  The early faith was divided into two groups.  The Poor Fellows, who were recruited from the lower classes and women, were light foot soldiers who looked exactly like the zealots running around in King’s Landing now.

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And the Warrior’s Sons, who haven’t shown up in the show but are mentioned in the books.

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The Warrior’s sons were different from the Poor Fellows in that they were nobles and knights who fought with full armor and better weapons while the Poor Fellows had nothing more than clubs and axes.

After the Faith rose up against the Targaryens they met serious opposition with the rise of King Maegor the Cruel.

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Maegor lived up to his name and brutally suppressed the revolts of the Faith, but any attempt at crushing them would be met with horrendous casualties and even more revolts to put down.

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The Faith Militant would eventually be disbanded with the death of Maegor and the rise of Prince Jaehaerys who agreed to pardon any member of the faith who had revolted in exchange for peace.  The revolt was over and the Faith remained peaceful until the War of the Five Kings and the new rise of the Faith Militant.

The role of the Faith Militant and the power that orders like the Warrior’s Sons and the Poor Fellows wielded follows a direct parallel to real world organizations such as the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller.

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Like the Warrior’s Sons, military orders like the Templars recruited from the nobility and knightly class.  They were originally founded to help guard the routes to holy sites like Crusader occupied Jerusalem (a service which they charged fees for) and protect the well being of Christians everywhere.  While orders like the Templars are among the most well known they were certainly not the only ones and each order enjoyed the privilege of have to answer only to God, an authority that would help lead them to do terrible things in the name of their faith.

The Poor Fellows of Game of Thrones have a slightly different origin then their wealthier brothers.  During the Medieval Ages it was not uncommon for large groups of poor and downtrodden penitent sinners to gather into large groups and wander around the country performing penitence for their sins and others.  They would often beat and whip themselves in their shame and became what we call flagellants today.

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The flagellants became infamous in the mid 1300’s when the Black Death was sweeping Europe.

L0004057 The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio's Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://images.wellcome.ac.uk The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio's Decameron. Etching by L. Sabatelli after himself. Engraving By: Giovanni Boccaccioafter: Luigi Sabatelli and Pier Roberto CapponiPublished: - Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html

Since it was believed that the Death was divine punishment from God large bands of people gathered together to whip and beat themselves in an act of penitence.  This culminated in a large number of revolts such as the Peasant Revolt of 1381, when a large number of English peasants who were fed up with lousy pay and the fear of death, revolted against their former masters demanding substantial change.

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With rich knights and lords defending the Church with their lives and swords and the peasants using their faith to rally and punish those they saw fit the Church/Faith Militant was and continues to be a powerful political force that lords and nobles must pay heed to.

History and Legends of Game of Thrones: Church and State in Westeros

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WARNING!  THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE MOST RECENT EPISODES OF GAME OF THRONES.  IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS WILL BE SPOILED.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

One of greatest things about Game of Thrones in my opinion is the book’s treatment of organized religion.  George R.R Martin doesn’t treat the Faith of the Seven and the worship of the Old Gods as some minor subplot but rather establishes it as a powerful force in Westeros, both as a form of identity and as a powerful political force in its own right.  In the show the Faith is represented and nominally led by the High Septon who resides in King’s Landing.  He is seen officiating over the marriages, funerals, and coronations of all the important nobles, a job that gives the Faith the ability to shape the future of Westeros by declaring marriages and the alliances that come with those marriages valid.

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He is also seen crowning the kings of Westeros, implying that the right to rule comes from the favor of the gods and as their chosen representative the High Septon has the power to validate the rule of kings.

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Unfortunately the high Septon is revealed to be a bit…lax in his duties as the leader of the Faith and in the show he is seen cavorting with prostitutes which the Faith generally frowns upon.

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As a result of these activities certain members of the Faith rise up against the High Septon while being led by another individual called the High Sparrow.  The High Sparrow has a more literal and by the book interpretation of the Faith’s teachings by shunning things like fancy clothing or even shoes.

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Feeding the poor and destitute of Kings Landing.

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And punishing anyone who disobeys the rules of the Faith.  Even the High Septon is not immune to the Sparrow’s discipline once the Lannisters give him the authority to do so.

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Due to his zealous adherence to the rules of the Faith and worship of the Seven the High Sparrow has shown himself to be absolutely fearless in his use of violence and punishment for those deemed wicked.  He even arrests the children of the Tyrell family, one of the most powerful families in Westeros, on charges of sodomy and purgery to the Faith.  He is able to do this because he believes that everyone is equally accountable to the gods no matter what their status.  With an army of zealots at his back and a righteous cause to lead them the Faith of the Seven is a political power that is to be feared and is only growing stronger.

I’ve mentioned before that the Faith of the Seven is similar to the established worship of Christianity in Medieval Europe and the Faith’s organization and power in Westeros is no different.

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During the Medieval Ages the Catholic Church was an incredibly powerful, wealthy, and important organization that had a huge impact on the livelihoods of everyone from the most powerful king to the lowliest peasant.  While the kings and monarchs of Europe lorded over people and territory the Church lorded over the souls of all Christians and if you crossed the Church you risked losing your soul to Hell and nobody wanted to be associated with someone like that.  Since the Church was responsible for overseeing the state of Christian souls they had the power to approve and annul the joining of souls, an event some like to call marriage.  Since the Church was responsible for overseeing marriages this allowed them to approve or condemn any royal alliance formed by marriage giving them incredible power over the royal families of Europe.

Like the High Sparrow’s mission the Church also played a major part in the social welfare of Medieval Europe.  The Church was incredibly wealthy controlling acres of land, building massive cathedrals, and receiving roughly 10% of every Christian’s income in the form of tithes.  You don’t build structures like this

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without some serious money.  Despite a considerable amount of corruption and greed one of the greatest missions of the Church was its charitable works and what it accomplished for the poor and destitute of Europe.

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Alms giving and humble living were important hallmarks of Medieval Christianity and many religious orders and other holy groups devoted themselves to teaching the poor and healing the sick, traditions that carry on to this day.

Finally there is was the Church’s firm belief that they answered only to a higher power and had authority above and beyond the laws of men.  Probably the greatest example of Church power was the battle of wills between Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire (what we now know of as Germany).  The Pope and the King began to quarrel over who should be allowed to appoint important church officials to certain lands in an event known as the Investiture Controversy.  Basically what happened was that The King argued that he should decide who got to hold and collect income from land he owned while the Pope argued that no religious official should be controlled by an earthly king.  The Pope wound up excommunicating the king, cutting him off from the moral support of the Church and effectively banning him to Hell.  It got so bad for Henry that he had to travel to Rome dressed in rags and prostrate himself in front of the Pope as a repentant sinner.

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The message was clear.  The Pope was the supreme authority over the souls of Christians and would not be bullied by kings and other earthly rulers.  Since the Church had a responsibility to safeguard these souls it should have a certain measure of authority over them on Earth allowing the Church to tie itself directly to the affairs of the state.