The Burning Time by Robin Morgan

Author:Robin Morgan [Morgan, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781612193069
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2006-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

XI

FAMILY CONNECTIONS

ONCE CONFINED with the time to think about it, the Bishop discovered that he was, after all, not a man to welcome martyrdom, not even of his reputation. Reputation was ultimately a matter of history, and history was written by those who survived. So better to fight back—and better still to win. Nor was Richard de Ledrede a man to languish in jail, and he was nothing if not resourceful. Even from behind bars, he struck back.

Although imprisoned, he could not be denied visits from his priests and monks, to consult on bishopric matters. Alyce had miscalculated in overestimating the independence of Irish priests by basing her model on Father Brendan. The rabid Father Donnan was not alone in his zealotry; there were other priests closer to his temperament than to Brendan’s, and there were abbots and friars quite willing to use and be used by the powerful prelate from abroad. Consequently, de Ledrede—employing a repertoire of indulgences literal, figurative, and spiritual—had over two years built himself a loyal clerical following.

Through these intermediaries, and still wielding his diocesan seal and the signet of his bishop’s ring, he placed the entire diocese of Ossary under religious interdict. Every inhabitant was now in danger of excommunication and no one was allowed the full services and ministries of the Church.

To the heath-people this mattered little. But to the townsfolk it was cause for considerable unease. They had long grown accustomed to observing a combination of the old rites and the new, and now were confused and frightened by the open schism. Like most people, they disliked anything unfamiliar, disliked being trapped in the middle of a fight between powerful adversaries, and disliked having to choose sides. They found the situation particularly upsetting because Church affairs were intricately bound up with financial matters, tied to customers, favors, jobs, and land holdings. Consequently, the markets and taverns of Kilkenny and environs were loud with argument. Some people blamed the Bishop for this misfortune, some blamed Lady Alyce, and some began to blame the Wiccans. But whomever they chose to denounce, everyone felt cut adrift—as if a storm were about to break, with themselves shelterless in the open sea.

Meanwhile, Lady Alyce remained calm. She kept watch from a distance to ensure that her lawyers in town pressed the lawsuit through the courts, but she stayed at Kyteler Castle and threw herself into estate matters.

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