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II

II: An Unorthodox Christmas
By late 774, the severance from the Church began. Desiderius decreed that from then on his people would not celebrate the birth of Christ in Roman Churchs .Many of his god fearing subjects continued to go to Roman Churchs where the priests would preach about the foulness of the royal family. The nobles and merchant class were upset with the church as well since they were barred from entering Papal lands. On the night of Christmas, an organized group of peasants overtook the mayoral palace of Milan in an act of protest. The peasants held the palace for a week before a sizable army could be mustered nearby, at which point they were captured and hanged. Meanwhile, Bernard had be coronated at Reims and proclaimed sole ruler of the Franks to which many of the Frankish nobles rejoice, but a faction arises that would rather see Bernard as a regent to Charles' sons.

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