Ambrosio Luis Monçada
Overview
“It is a pity, that most of the pieces had to be swept from the board”
The facts about Monçada's early life are clouded; the best guesses posit him entering Madrid with Alfonso VII's repopulation efforts as a priest assigned to the city's central church (formerly a mosque). Monçada apparently was a man of ambition, talent, and faith, according to scattered documents from the period that detail his rapid ascent in the Church hierarchy. He eventually gained the rank of archbishop, but was prevented by politics from ever attaining the Papacy; even with the proliferation of popes and antipopes, there was no place for an outsider whose agenda lacked the support of powerful patrons. So, Monçada found himself and his ambition restricted to Iberia. The tide of the Reconquista had turned irrevocably in favor of Christianity at this point, and serving as a pillar of the Church during a religious war could be an advantageous position indeed.
To no one's amazement, Monçada made the most of his position. To the surprise of many, however, he did so while holding himself to a strict monasticism. Not for Monçada were the hunts, lavish banquets, and lascivious pursuits beloved by so many clergymen of the time. Rather, he was absolute in his faith, unshakable in his conviction, and resolute in his use of power for what he considered to be Heaven's causes. During an age when the corrupt clergyman became a stock character, Monçada was a towering anomaly on the ecclesiastical landscape, and an intriguing conundrum to certain Lasombra who had a vested interest in the Reconquista.
Welcome to our World of Darkness tabletop world.
To gain full use of the site you will need to LOGIN to world anvil and come back to this page.
once you are logged in you will be able to select a species in the right nav
Comments