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When that still happened (namely, in the Middle Ages) most Kings just ruled on as if nothing had happened and they usually called on their local bishops and cardinals to give out a statement that the excommunication itself was illegal. But in the meantime, they sought through quiet diplomacy to solve the issue that had caused the Pope to issue the excommunication.

They had to, because excommunication relieved the local lords of their oath of fealty and obedience to their king, and this might give these vassal lords a pretext to stir up trouble or support another member of the ruling House in a bid for power. Occasionally a Pope excommunicated a King so often that even his vassals and bishops stopped taking it seriously.

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8y ago

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