### q7 church power came from religious authority not political manipulation > Moreover, while in fantasy fiction the machinations of these literate cabals are seemingly unnoticed by the secular rulers, actual medieval kings were well aware of the influence of the Church and pushed back on it to secure what they saw as their own prerogatives (with mixed success). Where the church won these confrontations, its power was not in manipulation, [but in religious authority](https://acoup.blog/2019/06/04/new-acquisitions-how-it-wasnt-game-of-thrones-and-the-middle-ages-part-ii/); these people, after all, *believed their religion*, which invested the clergy with spiritual powers that mattered to folks. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fn50akcs097g0nx0vq9j9rt0) - [[Hidden String-Pullers, Falling Empires and Tactics Against Horse Archers by Bret Devereaux#q7 church power came from religious authority not political manipulation|View in Vault]]